Concern Blogs

Anne Warimu in the heart of Korogocho Slums, Nairobi. Photo: Bessie Nikhozi, Kenya , Concern Worldwide

How would you define the word “resilience”? In my role as Advocacy Officer for Concern Kenya, in which I am exposed daily to the life and death struggles of people living in absolute poverty, I realize that for me and the people for whom I am trying to give a voice, this word has a significance that it might not have for others.

An engineer would probably define resilience as “the quality of buoyancy or elasticity.” A psychologist might describe it as “the capacity to cope with stress and catastrophe.” I began considering the different ways people understand this word after seeing it defined on a video game website as “an attribute that reduces a character’s chances of receiving a ‘critical strike’ or ‘spells of critical strikes’.”

In the game, the “characters” must face life-and-death duels with dragons and trolls trying to reach a treasure trove, and the threat of “critical strikes” lies around every corner. To survive, the “heroes” in this game must acquire “resilience” by finding and consuming elixirs and other enchantments secretly hidden along their path. These give them power to recover from “critical strikes.” Read the rest of this entry »