By Gordon Opiyo
Reputation Above Money
This is one lesson I would like to give to Kenyans, especially the young people.
Life will always give you options as you grow up.
You may find yourself in a tight corner and be tempted to do things that may affect your life in future.
It is a battle that faces people right from their youth to old age.
In whatever you do, think about tomorrow.
I taught German Language in Kentways Travel Institute where Steven Ngwalla was my Director German Institute and then Mombasa Technical Training Institute between 1994 and 1996. I was privileged to teach many including my Buddy Mureithi wa Lucy.
I interacted with several young men and women and always asked them why they took up learning German.
There emerged two camps. One camp wanted to learn German in order to improve their Profesional life. The other camp wanted to learn German in order to make quick money by talking to Wazungu.
20 years later, I still meet and chat with my former students, and you can clearly see a major difference.
Those who took the professional path struggled for long to settle, but ended up doing pretty well 15 to 20 years later.
Those who rushed to Mzungu for money did very very very very very well for 5 or 6 years, but majority degenerated and are now hopeless 20 years later.
If you follow up, it was all about Reputation.
It was all about the name they made for themselves.
There are things you can do that are fashionable and great fun, and at times we’ll paying….. But are short lived.
Then there are things that may look tough at first, but give you a good name later.
It is the name and reputation that will outlive the short term gains.
Before rushing into anything, kindly think about the future. Do not look at the short term gains.
Think about your future. Money can grow wings, but your reputation will always be with you.
