THE MODERN AFRICAN LIFE.

The typical life of an African child like every other person, starts with the emergence of the baby from the body of his mother. After this comes the spread of laughter across the faces of loved ones, families and friends. There is jubilation, joy and laughter as the new child is welcomed. Consequently there is the pampering, the care and the love from people around as the child begins to grow. As he takes his first steps and also begins to run, he is gradually introduced to the realities of the world around him, there and then he begins to find out that he doesn't get all he wants just by crying, also he starts to realize that actions have consequences, like running off to play with his friends and not returning home on time would lead to some spanking on his bottom by his Mum.

As the child gets within the age of four and five, he is taken to school. This is where he meets some of the people that will form allies with him in the battle of life. At this stage his mind is centered on two things, which are the moral and the spiritual life. Here his life is centered on the the satisfaction he gets from the fact that he doesn't steal from his mothers pot, also that he doesn't tell lies, or disrespect his elders. Also that he says his morning prayers and he is in constant communication with God and that he gets to play with his friends once he gets home from school. Here his academics and finance is not so much of a concern to him, as his parents and guidance help with his assignments and pay the bills. He also has dreams of becoming someone noble and notable in life, like a famous doctor, or lawyer or an engineer.

However, as he advances in school life gets tougher, as he now takes charge of his academic, moral and spiritual life. Here morality is no longer just about not stealing meat from his mothers pot, or respect to his elders, but it now involves his conversations with people, here there is a girl that makes his emotions go wide. His spiritual life becomes a struggle, as he tries to grow his self in God, but this desire is met with so much things that draw him down the Christian ladder, like the pressure from friends to do things like smoking, drinking and all that. Amidst all this struggles, he still has the duty of maintaining a good grade. He has to make his parents and family proud.

Next, is the stage after high school; the time between graduating from high school and getting into college. This time is notably the most important period in the life of the child, here the child is introduced into economic and financial struggles. This stage can be liken to stage where the mother bird pushes the chick out of the nest for it to fly. At this point the parents begin to cut down some of their responsibilities, thereby pushing the child to make use of his wings. Here the child gets fully aware of the economic hardship in his environment. Requests from the child like, "mum, i need a new shirt" would be met with replies like " I do not have money, you are grown up, go and get something doing". At this stage the child is at breaking point, life has added financial responsibilities to his struggle. Here the child goes out and discovers that there are no jobs available; the few ones available for him at that stage would be to teach first graders, and this comes with a little salary at the end of the month; the child is tired. Sometimes the parent take the child to learn a trade, like Dress making, Hair making, shoe making, technologies etc. He learns this with reminder that he will still go to college once he gets admitted into one; however this might take years as colleges get so many people applying, as the amount of colleges are very few compare to the amount of people applying each year. so the child might be stock in this stage for a while; the colleges sometimes change the course of study of the child; the first event that stains the dream of the child. Here the child tries to go close to God as that is where he draws hope from.

Joy and celebration spreads the moment the child gets into college, uncles and aunties celebrate with child; the church is also informed. Getting into college the child realizes that it a different ball game, his parent would only pay for his fees in school, and give him feeding allowances, which is never enough, and when he complains, he is told that there is no money. The child is faced with the a responsibility of earning his own money and also meeting up with school. Amidst this is the reality that after school there is no job, as the number of unemployed is on the rise. The child is caught in a state of self discovery, he tries to discover who he is, how he can make money with the state of his environment. And also how he can meet up with school. The child gets more and more tired as each passing day he fills unfulfilled, as the dream he once had is slipping away. There is the expectation from people that he should be using his hands and be independent in away, even though his environment does not make it possible.

The child finishes from college, and in most cases does not find good employment. He begins to make use of the skills he has learnt while growing up, and also some of the connections he had made during his financial struggle, as this is the moment he needs them the most. when the struggles pays less the child begins to get tired but cannot stop. He is left with dreams that pushes him to strive harder. Here the Childs relationship with God gets stronger as he realizes that he needs God the most. Others go to some religious or traditional home, just in search of some extra support.

From the point where the child is born to the point where he becomes an adult, he learns that nothing comes easy, and that life is a struggle, so he fastens his seat belt for the whole ride, in this spirit he learns to be kind and helpful to other people he meets alone the way. Success finally comes to those that do not give up.