The loneliness we are raising our children into

Kenya’s next big public health issue may be loneliness. I have no statistics to prove this, only the growing number of people who say, “There is no one I can turn to.” And those who have no real sense of belonging beyond the drinking mates at the bar — and I have nothing against drinkers — or the one or two club-hopping friends with whom they find themselves stumbling out of nightclubs at 3am.

If we were to stop for a moment and ask ourselves, “If something happened to me, who would I call?” I wonder how many of us- baby boomers, millennials, Gen Xers and Gen Zs, would have a ready answer. For those of us who grew up in the 70s, 80s, 90s, I have a feeling the list would be long. Parents. Siblings. Cousins. Cousin of my mother. In-law to my sister. The auntie who is not technically my auntie... and the list would keep growing until one person picks up the call.