Kenyan born Senator for South Australia, Lucy Gichuhi during a speech at the University of Nairobi on Thursday, January 18, 2018. [Photo|University of Nairobi]The Kenyan born Senator for South Australia, Lucy Gichuhi, has called on Kenyans to learn to embrace one another, irrespective of colour, tribe, gender or place of origin.The Senator delivered a speech titled ‘How to disagree agreeably,’ at the University of Nairobi on Thursday, January 18, 2018.She reflected on the life lessons learned while she was growing up. She narrated how different experiences in her childhood molded her into the leader she is today; having interacted with different cultures as she pursued her education in high school and at the University of Nairobi.“I would not change a thing about my childhood,” she said. “It was the most enjoyable part of my life as my siblings and I were sheltered and protected from a poverty of scarcity mentality. I appeal to our public leaders to use the resources at their disposal to protect Kenyans from a poverty and scarcity mentality.”Gichuhi summed up her presentation with several lessons to share. That one, Kenyans should seek first to understand the other person’s position before expecting them to understand theirs.“I had to understand the new culture I came into when I moved to Australia before expecting my host culture to understand me,” she explained as communicated by UoN through its website.“This is a sign of respect for others and also creates a sign of honour and respect, which is the bedrock of any constructive development.”Another lesson is that every Kenyan, irrespective of tribe, colour, gender, economic class or race, is a steward of the national cake.“We all have a contribution to make to develop Kenya. We need a paradigm sift in order to see ourselves as stewards, agents and trustees of this nation and not as controllers, possessors or owners of the country,” she said.The Senator asked Kenyans to learn to solve conflicts and not aggravate them.“When in conflict, find the root cause of the problem,” she said. “Many times, we are hacking at the leaves instead of digging out the roots.”She advised Kenyans to preserve and take in the good and to learn to say ‘no’ and stand for what they believe in with a strong conviction.“Love, mingle and know your fellow Kenyans,” she said. “We must love in freedom and responsibility and not in guilt and manipulation.”At the event, the senator had an opportunity to interact with the University of Nairobi community.

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