It’s abnormal to see the suffering of others as being very normal

Kelvin Ochieng, the homeless University of Nairobi graduate who obtained a first class in actuarial science. [Courtesy]

Former South African President Nelson Mandela, while working as a lawyer in downtown Johannesburg, would pass dozens of black beggars on his daily walk to the office. He never dished out the loose change he likely had in his pockets to them. One day, he encountered an oddity—a white female beggar—and instinctively found himself going into his pockets to give out whatever he had to her. Writing in his acclaimed autobiography Long Walk To Freedom, Mandela says he later realised the oppressive apartheid system had made him to view blacks’ suffering as normal and whites’ suffering as abnormal.

It is worthy to note that, Mandela, who was moved by the sight of a white beggar and unmoved by the sight of black beggars, was already deeply involved in the fight against apartheid. Indeed his legal practice worked pro bono for numerous black clients who needed legal aid after falling afoul of apartheid policies.