This uncle, who was Jana’s father, was a veteran soldier who had fought for the kingdom at one of its most dangerous battlefields, Dragon Spike which was to the extreme South of the nation. Right before the end of his service, he was severely injured and discharged back home.
“Father was injured at Dragon Spike four years ago. His legs, his spine, his nerves, pain, you all know this better than me, don’t you?”
“My mother, you know her issues don’t you?”
“And Pendo, don’t you want better for her?”
“Of course I know and I do,” Jana answered the questions, his voice already dripping with emotion. He had always been called emotional before. Mwana’s three questions were already enough to rile him up and tickle his tear ducts.
“I will tell you something someone once told me,”
“The country would rather a dead soldier than a disabled one,”
“This has always been their stand regarding veteran benefits, though they claim they will compensate injured soldiers like father, they would prefer not to touch their own pockets, and after a while the burden gets passed to the tribe. Then guess what, the tribe also does the same after some time and passes that to the village! Before you know it, there is no one behind you anymore!” Mwana said everything in almost a single breath and by the end, his voice was already breaking.
Jua on the other hand could not believe it. At his young age, these were concepts he had never come across. After all just like every other child, he had big dreams of fighting for his nation against hostile foreign nations just like his father. He would become a renowned hero all over the kingdom whose name would be sung praises wherever he went. Songs would be composed and poems written.
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“Impossible! How could that be! I don’t believe you.”
“What about Mwanga’s family?” Jana continued asking.
“Dead!” A simple reply from Mwana was enough to shut him up. Mwanga’s father was indeed dead. He had died a warrior on the battlefield and his family had indeed been compensated but only once. It was nothing in comparison to the continued support a disabled veteran would need.
“No way!”
“My father, same thing. It is much easier to dump a lump-sum to a dead soldier’s family compared to continuous support for the living but injured and disabled. After a while, that burden gets passed to the tribe and the tribe passes it onto the village.”
Jana looked a bit lost hearing all this. His father had never been one to show weakness despite being confined to a chair for the rest of his life. At least as his son, Jana was not too aware of his family’s financial situation. He was well fed and taken care of, it was hard for a child like him to consider anything else beneath the surface.
Mwana continued explaining even further, “While the village might not let families like us sink into poverty and helplessness, there will always be those who see us as moochers living free off their hard work. Just because we are connected by blood as one clan won’t stop them from feeling this.”
“Think about how much support father requires.”
Jana’s at least knew that his father had severe injuries to his spine, legs and even his nerves. These injuries required regular treatment otherwise his father would be wracked with indescribable pain. The medicine couldn’t be cheap yet it was not even a permanent solution.
Is it that his father would live out the rest of his life like that? What if his body became immune to the medicine as time went on? Wouldn’t he be condemned to death?
Yet even the medicine he was receiving right now was very expensive especially for someone who couldn’t contribute to the village at all. While the village was united, there would always be people who couldn’t help but grumble when their money went to help the less fortunate. Even as children, Mwana and Jana had already heard these grumblings. They knew their family was one of the ones viewed as leeches by some in the village.