ly by the will to live. They want to save their lives and that of their families from death that may be brought by famine and other natural disasters. Several years ago, women driving their donkeys loaded with firewood to sell, traveled many kilometers from Mulot division in Narok District, Kenya, to the highlands of Bomet District, Kenya, to sell firewood and buy food or to exchange the firewood with food, mainly made up of maize and potatoes. Many donkeys died of exhaustion, injury and starvation. Each day, thousands of donkeys carrying firewood, and wounded, arrived in the highlands. There are innumerable stories of women going extra miles during hard times to preserve their families. .And still many do an assortment of businesses to enable their children to eat, clothe, and warm them. Some have even survived on loans of 1 ? dollars borrowed eachRobert has become a mobile fast food shop. He was released recently from prison, after having served for one year on petty-theft which he had practiced for several years before the hand of the law came knocking. Now he has changed, if his rehabilitated status passes the test of time. He sells meat soup lased with a few pieces of meat. His other menu includes eggs, rice and potatoes. He carries all the food on his body, complete with cutlery! He has an oversize coat with many pockets. The coat has some of the pockets when he bought. He sewed in many more of different sizes to accommodate plates, cups, spoons, spices, and a small salt container. The only visible containers that he carries around are two containers of almost 10 liter size, one for soup and meat, and the other for rice and potatoes. He moves around with all these as he mingles with his drinking colleagues. Strange! One would wonder how he can serve his food, and if he has customers, until he sees how he removes an assortment of cutlery, plates, cups, and bowls from his coat pockets to serve human turn beasts-ferocious, hungry, dirty, drunkards.

Robert is just one among many in the third world who have not decided to leave their lives to fate. There are many people, mostly made up of young and middle ageds who are doing crazy things and some have gone to suicidal extents to survive. Some are falling down out of exhaustion and many suffer from mental fatigue. Privileged members of society, whose feelings have been ironed out by rampant poverty and misery, cannot do anything to help. And what is worst is that they would want to be the only ones in the privileged positions. The only concern to them is their security. And even if some would want to help the poor, they may be suspicious of them, and therefore retreat back. They think that some of the poor may be thieves and hardcore criminals.

Many of the poor are turning entrepreneurs for real, and some are becoming entrepreneurs of some sort. Real entrepreneurs want to break away from the vicious cycle of poverty, while entrepreneurs of some sort only do what they do to get some “purchasing power” to satisfy their addictions. Entrepreneurs of some “sorts” would work to get money for cigarettes, alcohol and women. Real entrepreneurs would not want to entrust they life to anybody but God, who would want to see them exploit their potential. There are some striking examples of people who took radical steps to be in control of their destiny and things were never the same again. Edith Masaai, a famous world long distance athlete, when divorced and with a boy child, went into athletic training to be an athlete, something that she did not do in school. Her training and her athletic pursuits paid. And Robert Cheruiyot, also a world famous long distant athlete, and who came from a very poor background had to run for food, not realizing that in just a few years ahead, he was going to have enough to eat and live a lucrative celebrity life-style, besides improving the life of his parents and his siblings. And there are young people who are trying to learn and sell herbal medicine, traditionally a preserve of some old men and women. Though the profession is sometimes tedious, takes a lot of time, persuasion, and perseverance, those who have tried are biting and holding hard, hoping for a breakthrough.

Some of the people at the cutting edge of survival are driven basically by the will to live. They want to save their lives and that of their families from death that may be brought by famine and other natural disasters. Several years ago, women driving their donkeys loaded with firewood to sell, traveled many kilometers from Mulot division in Narok District, Kenya, to the highlands of Bomet District, Kenya, to sell firewood and buy food or to exchange the firewood with food, mainly made up of maize and potatoes. Many donkeys died of exhaustion, injury and starvation. Each day, thousands of donkeys carrying firewood, and wounded, arrived in the highlands. There are innumerable stories of women going extra miles during hard times to preserve their families. .And still many do an assortment of businesses to enable their children to eat, clothe, and warm them. Some have even survived on loans of 1 ? dollars borrowed each

drinking colleagues. Strange! One would wonder how he can serve his food, and if he has customers, until he sees how he removes an assortment of cutlery, plates, cups, and bowls from his coat pockets to serve human turn beasts-ferocious, hungry, dirty, drunkards.

Robert is just one among many in the third world who have not decided to leave their lives to fate. There are many people, mostly made up of young and middle ageds who are doing crazy things and some have gone to suicidal extents to survive. Some are falling down out of exhaustion and many suffer from mental fatigue. Privileged members of society, whose feelings have been ironed out by rampant poverty and misery, cannot do anything to help. And what is worst is that they would want to be the only ones in the privileged positions. The only concern to them is their security. And even if some would want to help the poor, they may be suspicious of them, and therefore retreat back. They think that some of the poor may be thieves and hardcore criminals.

Many of the poor are turning entrepreneurs for real, and some are becoming entrepreneurs of some sort. Real entrepreneurs want to break away from the vicious cycle of poverty, while entrepreneurs of some sort only do what they do to get some “purchasing power” to satisfy their addictions. Entrepreneurs of some “sorts” would work to get money for cigarettes, alcohol and women. Real entrepreneurs would not want to entrust they life to anybody but God, who would want to see them exploit their potential. There are some striking examples of people who took radical steps to be in control of their destiny and things were never the same again. Edith Masaai, a famous world long distance athlete, when divorced and with a boy child, went into athletic training to be an athlete, something that she did not do in school. Her training and her athletic pursuits paid. And Robert Cheruiyot, also a world famous long distant athlete, and who came from a very poor background had to run for food, not realizing that in just a few years ahead, he was going to have enough to eat and live a lucrative celebrity life-style, besides improving the life of his parents and his siblings. And there are young people who are trying to learn and sell herbal medicine, traditionally a preserve of some old men and women. Though the profession is sometimes tedious, takes a lot of time, persuasion, and perseverance, those who have tried are biting and holding hard, hoping for a breakthrough.

Some of the people at the cutting edge of survival are driven basically by the will to live. They want to save their lives and that of their families from death that may be brought by famine and other natural disasters. Several years ago, women driving their donkeys loaded with firewood to sell, traveled many kilometers from Mulot division in Narok District, Kenya, to the highlands of Bomet District, Kenya, to sell firewood and buy food or to exchange the firewood with food, mainly made up of maize and potatoes. Many donkeys died of exhaustion, injury and starvation. Each day, thousands of donkeys carrying firewood, and wounded, arrived in the highlands. There are innumerable stories of women going extra miles during hard times to preserve their families. .And still many do an assortment of businesses to enable their children to eat, clothe, and warm them. Some have even survived on loans of 1 ? dollars borrowed each

some would want to help the poor, they may be suspicious of them, and therefore retreat back. They think that some of the poor may be thieves and hardcore criminals.

Many of the poor are turning entrepreneurs for real, and some are becoming entrepreneurs of some sort. Real entrepreneurs want to break away from the vicious cycle of poverty, while entrepreneurs of some sort only do what they do to get some “purchasing power” to satisfy their addictions. Entrepreneurs of some “sorts” would work to get money for cigarettes, alcohol and women. Real entrepreneurs would not want to entrust they life to anybody but God, who would want to see them exploit their potential. There are some striking examples of people who took radical steps to be in control of their destiny and things were never the same again. Edith Masaai, a famous world long distance athlete, when divorced and with a boy child, went into athletic training to be an athlete, something that she did not do in school. Her training and her athletic pursuits paid. And Robert Cheruiyot, also a world famous long distant athlete, and who came from a very poor background had to run for food, not realizing that in just a few years ahead, he was going to have enough to eat and live a lucrative celebrity life-style, besides improving the life of his parents and his siblings. And there are young people who are trying to learn and sell herbal medicine, traditionally a preserve of some old men and women. Though the profession is sometimes tedious, takes a lot of time, persuasion, and perseverance, those who have tried are biting and holding hard, hoping for a breakthrough.

Some of the people at the cutting edge of survival are driven basically by the will to live. They want to save their lives and that of their families from death that may be brought by famine and other natural disasters. Several years ago, women driving their donkeys loaded with firewood to sell, traveled many kilometers from Mulot division in Narok District, Kenya, to the highlands of Bomet District, Kenya, to sell firewood and buy food or to exchange the firewood with food, mainly made up of maize and potatoes. Many donkeys died of exhaustion, injury and starvation. Each day, thousands of donkeys carrying firewood, and wounded, arrived in the highlands. There are innumerable stories of women going extra miles during hard times to preserve their families. .And still many do an assortment of businesses to enable their children to eat, clothe, and warm them. Some have even survived on loans of 1 ? dollars borrowed each

hlete, when divorced and with a boy child, went into athletic training to be an athlete, something that she did not do in school. Her training and her athletic pursuits paid. And Robert Cheruiyot, also a world famous long distant athlete, and who came from a very poor background had to run for food, not realizing that in just a few years ahead, he was going to have enough to eat and live a lucrative celebrity life-style, besides improving the life of his parents and his siblings. And there are young people who are trying to learn and sell herbal medicine, traditionally a preserve of some old men and women. Though the profession is sometimes tedious, takes a lot of time, persuasion, and perseverance, those who have tried are biting and holding hard, hoping for a breakthrough.

Some of the people at the cutting edge of survival are driven basically by the will to live. They want to save their lives and that of their families from death that may be brought by famine and other natural disasters. Several years ago, women driving their donkeys loaded with firewood to sell, traveled many kilometers from Mulot division in Narok District, Kenya, to the highlands of Bomet District, Kenya, to sell firewood and buy food or to exchange the firewood with food, mainly made up of maize and potatoes. Many donkeys died of exhaustion, injury and starvation. Each day, thousands of donkeys carrying firewood, and wounded, arrived in the highlands. There are innumerable stories of women going extra miles during hard times to preserve their families. .And still many do an assortment of businesses to enable their children to eat, clothe, and warm them. Some have even survived on loans of 1 ? dollars borrowed each

ly by the will to live. They want to save their lives and that of their families from death that may be brought by famine and other natural disasters. Several years ago, women driving their donkeys loaded with firewood to sell, traveled many kilometers from Mulot division in Narok District, Kenya, to the highlands of Bomet District, Kenya, to sell firewood and buy food or to exchange the firewood with food, mainly made up of maize and potatoes. Many donkeys died of exhaustion, injury and starvation. Each day, thousands of donkeys carrying firewood, and wounded, arrived in the highlands. There are innumerable stories of women going extra miles during hard times to preserve their families. .And still many do an assortment of businesses to enable their children to eat, clothe, and warm them. Some have even survived on loans of 1 ? dollars borrowed each morning from better placed businessmen to be refunded in the evening. They will buy “Sukuma Wiki”, a type of green vegetable, and other vegetables from farmers who bring in the morning to sell on a wholesale price, they divide into tiny bundles and sell. Others will buy Wheat Flour so that they can bake “Mandazi” and “Chapati” and sell. To make Mandazi and Chapati, flour is mixed with water until it is a bit hard before they are fried to be served with stew or tea. They will use the profit to buy food and fuel, and return the money they borrowed, and the same is repeated the following day.

There is some justification to imagine that with all the desperate acts, determination, and innovations, and a matter of necessity, third world countries would be on the path to an industrial and technological revolution. But no, at least fro some foreseeable future, if many prohibiting factors are not death with. High taxation, lack of growth incentives, and corruption stare menacing at many of the third world countries. Governments claim they are taxing to get revenue in order to provide services to people and to use for development. But in reality, the money is used to pay bloated civil service that is fast embracing lucrative private culture packages, and for political favours. And still some of the money may be stolen through non-existent government contracts and corrupt tendering. In the end, taxation would extract the last hard earned coin from citizens, but do not benefit them. Businesses are dying in the third world while governments proudly broadcast economic growth figures that do not relate to living standards of its citizens. This paints a grim picture of poverty, unemployment and underemployment. Many have just resigned to fate, and are completely discouraged, while a good number have decided to be life-proactive and stay at the cutting edge of survival. Some of them barely meet basic needs, and still a very small number are taking off as successful entrepreneurs. It need a little bid of imagination by third world leaders to save their citizens vicious cycle of poverty and live instead of just surviving.