By Sylvester Oluoch
Would you give up your legs so your brother can walk; or your eyes so your brother can see; or even your ears so your sister can hear? For it is in giving your all that you get all you want. Anything worth having is worth giving yourself away for. Become your brother’s keeper. Africa needs it.
In early civilization Germany (1400s) a father raised a family of 18 with the wages of a goldsmith – which was not much. The earnings were so meagre that of the 18 siblings, two brothers, Albrecht, and Albert Durer, devised a way of going to Nuremberg College of arts to advance their talents in drawing.
The Durers had a pact. Because they were equally good at drawing, they were going to toss a coin. The loser was to go down the mines, the winner to college. The one who went to the mines was to work and put the brother through four years of college, after which, they would trade places.
Albrecht won the coin toss. He went to Nuremberg College and showed exemplary mastery of all the lines of art that he studied. Albert worked his back off to bankroll Albrecht’s way through college. In was a desire to succeed by whatever means. Albert gave away his youth and energy to this noble cause.
At Albrecht’s graduation party, with the family gathered, he proposed a toast in honor of his brother, Albert. Then he told his brother that it was now his turn to go to college. Albert was quiet for a while before struggling up with tears rolling down his cheek. Then he spoke.
“No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look … look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother … for me it is too late.”
Albrecht lived to be one of history’s finest artists. He drew Albert’s hands to pay the debt of gratitude that he owed his brother for the sacrifice. He named the drawing “hands” but the bigger world, that world that is always enlarging the good renamed it “The Praying Hands.” Albrecht metaphorically drew on his brother’s hands, for Albert lost his hand’s efficiency so Albrecht could increase his own efficacy.
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” Saint Augustine
The sacrifice by Albert demonstrates love as defined by Saint Augustine. He gave his all, contracted arthritis and grew old at a young age so his brother could live his dream. Yes, if your sister gives her eyes so you can see, please be sure to draw her entire face. Gratitude is a sure recipe for success.
Let us beware and alert. When you see suffering, bring solace and when you see burning desire to rise to higher ranks of riches from a young person, reach back and lift them up. The expectation and optimism among young Africans – from Cape Town, South Africa to Tripoli, Libya, and from the Shores of the Atlantic to the edges of the Indian Ocean – is potent. All it awaits is how many of us will give ourselves away in resources – be it knowledge of capital.
No one makes it alone. When you get to the top, reach back, lift others, and feed the mouths attached to “the hands that helped you draw.”
The true secret in making the world a better place, and Africa a better continent is in giving yourself away in the most productive manner in a way that only you know how.
