“Everything I do is vanity if it does not outlive me”… : Lessons in managing ego in our attempt to make a difference
By Dr Mwenda Mbaka. Nov, 2025.
Every generation receives a sacred inheritance - something deeper than wealth, status, or land. It is the inheritance of existence itself, passed from the hands of our ancestors into ours with the expectation that we will enrich it and pass it forward. Over the years, I have come to embrace a guiding philosophy: if the benefits of my efforts do not outlive me, then my efforts were in vain. Legacy is not measured in applause or awards; it is measured in the quiet, enduring impact that outlives our fragile bodies. It is the influence we leave woven into the future long after our own footsteps fade.
This belief is the foundation of my work as a veterinarian. Veterinary medicine transcends being a technical exercise in diagnosing disease or administering treatments. It is a responsibility with vast moral, ecological, and generational dimensions. When I treat an animal, protect livestock health, or prevent disease, I am doing more than solving a problem for today. I am strengthening the foundation on which families, communities, food systems, and ecosystems will depend tomorrow. The decisions I make; about welfare, ethics, disease control, environmental protection, and public health, carry consequences that extend into the future, shaping the resilience of both human and non-human life. My work is therefore a contribution to a future I may never witness, but which I must still care for.
In the same way, my commitments to animal welfare and human-animal coexistence are acts of long-term stewardship. Africa’s wildlife, livestock systems, and ecosystems are under immense pressure from climate change, industrial agriculture, shifting cultural values, and expanding human populations. Promoting humane treatment of animals is not an isolated moral gesture; it forms part of a broader effort to build a compassionate society and a sustainable continent. If we teach our communities and our children to value the lives and wellbeing of animals, we cultivate a mindset that is gentler, more responsible, and more attuned to the interconnectedness of life. This, to me, is the absolute knowledge, because it arouses in one the awareness that the physical, emotional, or intellectual destruction of another soul [be it human, animal, or other] is a heinous act that curtails a sacred heirloom! By advocating for coexistence between humans and wildlife, I am planting seeds for a future in which ecological harmony, food security, and cultural continuity can coexist. These seeds will grow long after I am gone, and their fruits will nourish people I will never meet.
This philosophy is also central to my approach to conservation. Conservation is often discussed in terms of biodiversity metrics or economic returns, but to me it is fundamentally an act of ancestral duty. Our ancestors entrusted us with a world that sustained them, and to degrade it is to break the sacred chain connecting past, present, and future. I see myself as a temporary steward; never an owner, of the landscapes, species, and ecosystems that define our continent. Whether working on aquatic welfare, donkeys, migratory corridor protection, or environmental health, I understand that my role is to restore, protect, and pass on. Conservation is my way of repaying a debt to those who came before me and gifting something meaningful to those who will come after.
The same philosophy shapes my identity as a parent. Parenthood, at its deepest level, is the act of transmitting the magic of existence from one generation to the next. My responsibility to my children is not to give them a perfect world, because no such world exists. It is to give them clarity, resilience, love, and the moral grounding to navigate an unpredictable world while remaining anchored in their heritage. I appreciate that love is a commitment to take responsibility over anther being, whether the act is bitter or sweet – for true love is bittersweet. I know that I must give them roots and wings - an understanding of where they come from and the courage to define where they will go. In guiding them, supporting them, and sometimes being firm with them, I am preparing them for a world that is far more complex than the one I inherited. Parenthood becomes my greatest act of legacy-building.
What I find profound about this philosophy is its universality. In a world divided by race, tribe, religion, gender, generation, and political identity, the idea that our efforts must outlive us cuts through all human distinctions. It reminds us that we are all custodians of something bigger than ourselves. The duty to build, protect, nurture, and pass forward is a responsibility that belongs to every human being, regardless of circumstances. It is blind to race because lineage is universal, blind to gender because legacy-building is not the work of one sex, blind to age because even the young can plant seeds, and blind to creed because every spiritual tradition teaches stewardship, compassion, and continuity. It is a philosophy that elevates our humanity.
Ultimately, my guiding belief is simple: if the benefits of my work die with me, then my life’s efforts were wasted. This conviction guides me as a veterinarian, as a conservationist, as an animal welfare advocate, as a father, and as a human being trying to make sense of my brief time on Earth. I hope that my work contributes to a gentler tomorrow, strengthens the chain between ancestors and descendants, and leaves the world - not just my family, not just my community, not just my profession, but the entire interconnected web of life, a little better than I found it.
Because that is the only legacy worth striving for.