Rural versus Urban – John Monyjok Maluth

“Rural versus Urban” is an article designed to explore the pros and cons of residing in each setting, offering insights on enhancing your personal life. It aims to impart knowledge about the contemporary world and guide you towards achieving inner peace, regardless of circumstances. With that introduction, let’s delve deeper.

What Is A Rural Area?

A rural area is essentially a village nestled almost within the bush, devoid of modern structures. In South Sudan, such a village lacks roads to connect it to any nearby towns, which may not even exist. These villages typically feature numerous grass-thatched houses, often constructed in a circular pattern, with varying degrees of modern ventilation.

The only pathways linking these rural villages are those carved out by the feet of locals as they traverse from one village to another. When rivers lie between these settlements, inhabitants rely on handcrafted wooden canoes for crossing. Rural areas are abundant with various elements, from mosquitoes and wild animals to other hazardous insects and food sources.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Living in a Rural Area

Considering the straightforward definitions of rural areas, living in such areas comes with its pros and cons, particularly for people accustomed to urban life. An advantage is the abundance of healthy food, free from processed sugars, with only natural sugars present. The night sky often dazzles with numerous stars, clear and bright.

However, rural living also brings challenges, such as the presence of harmful insects, including mosquitoes that can transmit serious and sometimes fatal diseases like Malaria and Dengue fever. Additionally, marketing produce can be difficult due to the lack of roads or because villagers may already possess similar goods.

While you might be surrounded by childhood friends and family, which is beneficial, there’s also the possibility of encountering adversaries who might take justice into their own hands. This could mean that legal recourse is not as readily available as it is in urban settings, where one might find a lawyer to navigate through legal issues.

What Is an Urban Area?

An urban area stands in contrast to a rural area. It is characterized not by villages but by towns or developed settlements, where people reside in concrete or modern houses, unlike the grass-thatched dwellings typical of villages. In contrast to the overcrowded conditions often found in rural areas, urban areas are well-connected by roads to other towns and villages.

Urban areas feature various modes of transportation for public and private use, including cars, motorbikes, bicycles, buses, boats, and even airplanes, available in both small and large towns. Additionally, urban areas are melting pots of diversity, home to people from different tribes, cultures, worldviews, experiences, and countries.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Living in an Urban Area

As illustrated, living in an urban area comes with its set of pros and cons. A notable con is the scarcity of food for everyone. On the pro side, there’s the accessibility of transportation. With well-maintained roads, one has the freedom to travel to any region of the country at any hour, be it night or day. In East Africa, for instance, one could embark on a journey to Kenya or Uganda at 2:30 a.m.

While there might be an abundance of food, it often comes with a high price tag. Urban dwellers typically live independently or support only their immediate family and close relatives. Unlike in rural areas, nothing is free in the city. Every valuable item in an urban setting comes at a cost.

Just as crimes occur in rural areas, urban areas also experience serious crimes. The convergence of people from all walks of life in towns leads to the breaking of various rules.

Urban areas, with their diverse perceptions of right and wrong, become hotbeds for various crimes and criminal activities. The presence of people from different nationalities in one urban area contributes to the ever-increasing crime rates.

Despite government efforts to provide security in urban areas, crimes continue to be a daily occurrence. Some people steal out of desperation and hunger, while others do so for leisure.

In urban areas, the difficulty of survival may compel some women and girls, in the absence of parents or husbands, to engage in prostitution as a means of earning money to sustain themselves, even if it is against their personal wishes. This can lead to addiction and make future rehabilitation challenging.

Furthermore, the desperation caused by hunger and unemployment may drive men and young boys to form criminal groups that engage in robbery to make ends meet. Even members of the armed forces, trusted to uphold the law, might resort to criminal activities, not out of desire, but out of necessity to survive in an urban environment.

My Final Words

Understanding what it’s like to live in any place requires time and firsthand experience. Having lived in both areas myself, I offer my advice, hoping you will listen attentively and with an open mind.

If you’ve followed my narrative this far, you’re likely open to hearing my concluding thoughts. My counsel is this: seek balance in all things. Life is fleeting and inherently uncertain, filled with both pain and unpredictability. Yet, we must persevere as long as we draw breath. This realization can fortify us against the harshest trials of life.

Every individual carries their own burdens in life. You are not alone in this. While you may feel that your struggles are particularly severe, this may not be the case. It’s true that you understand your own issues better than anyone else, but remember, others may lead lives beyond your imagination, yet they persist and continue to live. And so can you!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would appreciate your honest feedback. Your insights will assist me in crafting even better posts and articles like this one, as sharing knowledge and experiences is a significant part of my full-time job. Please leave your candid thoughts in the comments section below.