Introducing ‘moon child‘ guest blogger: Nessa Shera!
My name is Nessa Shera, I am a law student and blogger from Kenya. As an immense lover of coffee, I plan on becoming a barista someday. I enjoy writing article pieces that generally mirror my own interests. When I’m not writing, I enjoy reading, listening to music, and eating out.
You can follow Nessa on her blog, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
“A Kenyan Perspective on the Paris Terror Attack” by Nessa Shera
It had, for the most part, been an uneventful day that Sunday. The only thing I looked forward to was a café latte I had bought earlier that was sitting on the table across from me. I relished in the aroma of the coffee as I picked it up to take another sip. It worked great with the rain outside. With the coffee in one hand and my phone in the other, I thought I might as well make use of the Wi-Fi and kill time.
I headed to my Facebook to, well to do what everyone does when they’re on Facebook. Several posts that day either involved people changing their profile pictures – which included placing the French Flag filter – or just particular thoughts concerning the Paris terror attack. Mind you, these were mostly Kenyan Facebook friends, which went to show how much of a global catastrophe the events that occurred in Paris had become.
As I continued to scroll down, a particular post got my attention. It read: “This French Flag debacle is not because they ‘didn’t show us the same sympathy’ or whatever. Firstly, what people are doing is selective sympathy. When 4 children were killed in a bomb attack by the Israeli military while they played on the beach, no lips were moved…” I clicked like because I agreed with the message. I sympathise for the 128 plus people who died during the attacks in Paris. But what of the hundreds who were victims throughout other parts of the world?
As a Kenyan, my country has also faced its share of terror attacks, one of them being the Westgate Mall Incident. A mall – that was literally 15 minutes away from my home – was invaded by the Al Shabab on the 21st September 2013, killing up to 67 people and wounding 175.
I remember security helicopters flying over my house every hour or so, and later discovering that my neighbor died in the attack. This was followed by the Garrisa University Assault on April 2, 2015, which left 148 students dead, and injuring more than 79 others. That is more than 200 people dead, and never once was there a Kenyan Flag filter on a Facebook profile picture, a hastag #PrayForKenya, or extensive global news coverage on the matter.
I do not only mourn for Kenya, but all the other countries that have suffered and did not receive due concern from the rest of the world.
At this point, my café latte was coming to its end and I desperately attempted to prolong the last few sips before accepting that it was over. As I finished, I thought: terrorism is a global epidemic that has caused the deaths of thousands, while leaving many more grieving and adversely affected. So, let’s not just pray for France, but pray for the world.
A few words from the primary blogger – I am delighted to be featuring this guest blog on ‘moon child’. When the Paris attacks first happened, I, like many others, switched my profile picture on Facebook to one with a filter of the French flag. But soon, after I learned about the other attacks happening around the world that were getting little to no media attention, I decided to remove the filter. This wasn’t because I lost sympathy for those in Paris but because I want to show solidarity with the entire world, not just one country, to stand up against terrorism.
Nessa’s excellent piece captures her views on the subject while mixing in a lovely creative nonfiction style with the image of her in a cafe drinking coffee.
If you’d like to guest blog for ‘moon child’, visit the guest blogging page for more information.
Featured image courtesy of Bart via Flickr. Edited by Sophie McNaughton.
What do you think about the global terrorism crisis? Let us know in the comment section below.
sophie. 
