Umulilo Uchingilila Abakulu Tawocha
The Older the Wiser: ”Umulilo Uchingilila abakulu tawocha” (Fire that is surrounded by elderly people can’t burn you). Yesterday as I went through my 40th birthday I was drawn to this Bemba saying which a lot of people and young millennials might not be familiar with. However, imagine people in a cold season surrounding a campfire for warmth in the open with kids running up and down. As long as the elderly are the ones closest to the fire, the rest of the people are safe. This means a fire surrounded by the elderly can not harm anyone.
This brought me to think that now that I’m 40 years old, I’m now in the circle of the elders to protect others running around from being burnt by the fire. ”Life begins at 40,” they say and yes by the time you are #40years you should have the knowledge to understand what happens in this world, by the time you are 40 you should have the skills to Captain or Champion a cause in the country or world, you should also have developed abilities to make you prolific in whatever you do.
”Umulilo Uchingilila abakulu tawocha” to me means people above 40 should be leaders in their sphere, ”the big 4” should have solutions to protect, inspire, challenge and move the nation in various fields or professions. @40 we should no longer be talking about the elementary issues but the core issues, to move our lives, our nation beyond mediocre debates, fake public images and petty deals.
The question I ended with on my Birthday and I leave it to those turning #40years and also to those above #40years is ”FROM WHAT FIRE ARE YOU PROTECTING THOSE CLOSE TO YOU & THE NATION”.
