This week in the Khuta -Festive season blues…

Finally the festive season is over, town is not as busy in comparison to last year’s year end.  It is that time of the year when plenty are working on a tight budget, especially parents.
Accounts need to be paid, school uniforms bought and school fees paid: The list is endless.  But those who are wise have learnt to include expenses such as new school uniforms in the Christmas budget or save up for this month.
Yes! it is the dry month. January 2012 is here yet many of us  have not learnt how to adapt to its harsh conditions and this reminds me of the time when I was growing up. Whenever I would ask for anything that is not school related , my dad would whine, saying “kandina imaliwa”, meaning I don’t have money, and today I still hear him using that same line on my younger siblings.
And the question that comes to my mind is: why do we as people not learn from the previous years where we found ourselves in a financial crisis.  Are we not supposed to learn from our mistakes and take charge of our lives? But surprisingly there are still a lot of us who continue to pull a bit harder in January due to financial mismanagement yet we do nothing about it.
It has become routine, the same pattern of starting off with no surplus, then in the middle of the month you save up, just to misuse your year’s savings on alcohol and other unnecessary stuff. I remember when I once saw a lady with about four trollies full of goods, mostly beverages and I wondered whether she was trying to clear up her life’s savings in case she does not make it to the next year.
I am not one that supports heavy partying and drinking especially over the festive season. I totally believe that people use the festive season as an excuse to drink and party uncontrollably. Pardon me on this one but if Christ was really born on the 25th as believed, then as Christians or religious people, should we not be celebrating this wonderful time worshiping him?
Of course we should! But most of us would much rather be out partying and drinking that time away because it is what we are accustomed to. It’s what our parents did and we are most likely to carry that legacy for many more decades to come.
But I believe that it is time we change the festive season perception. It’s time we changed it from the heavy drinking overspending perception to spending time with our families,  and cutting down on  unnecessary expenses especially alcohol. Maybe then, less lives will be lost over the festive season.
January ought to be a great month for each and every Namibian because it marks the beginning of a new journey but presently this is not the case with most of our people. It really is a shame to see kids starting school with old school shoes because their parents misused money over the festive season while their classmates are having brand new ones.
I for one will take charge. I refuse to stay trapped within the January month financial crisis, and I urge you as a reader to do the same, after all, one really is never fully independent until you are financially independent.