The majority of the Brazilian population does not want the FIFA World Cup to bless their shores. I’m sure FIFA isn’t very happy about it.
I don’t know much about soccer,but who doesn’t watch the World Cup? It’s like ignoring the Olympics because you’re not athletic – a silly reason not to watch history being made, to watch the greatest athletes with the most skill and prowess in fluid, beautiful motion.
Global events like the Olympics and the World Cup give humanity a chance to unite; to gaze upon the heights of perfection that we can reach and conquer. It is a glimpse into a dream where everyone gets along, but this is not true of Brazil as we speak.
It’s three weeks to the World Cup and an image by street artist Paulo Ito has gone viral. The image is of a crying child holding cutlery, about to partake of a feast that is a soccer ball!
This graphic speaks volumes about what Brazilians – most of them, anyway – think about the World Cup – that is, they don’t need it.
Brazil is one of the most unequal countries in the world, much like our beloved country, Kenya. The vast abyss that parts the rich from the poor is almost insurmountable, and has resulted in multiple riots over a broken health sector, insecurity, gangs and other ‘third world’ problems.
Brazil does not want the World Cup, simply because it needs other things more; perhaps, a working healthcare system, a functional police force and better economic prospects for the people.
Riot police have been busy attempting to quell uprisings and protests against the tournament.Why spend billions on a one-time, though amazing, event when much of the country is struggling?
Bringing this back home to Kenya, we, too, are a terribly unequal country. We may not be at Brazil’s level, but we will soon be.
Many Kenyans did not think that paying the Anglo Leasing money was a good idea. Whether it was or not is not the issue here, but rather that money was somehow found to do it, long before the public knew the money was being paid out. Yet people in Baringo are starving. Last week, the seventh victim of hunger, a 54 year old woman, died, because she had not the energy to go looking for food.
We have known of this famine since February. We have money to pay for Anglo-Leasing; and yet, the seventh person died from hunger in Kenya, in 2014, last week. I’m surprised we haven’t yet pulled a Brazil.
Twitter: @AbigailArunga
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