Lessons from the Drama

Drama after drama we have been treated to, here in Kenya, yet it’s barely 2 months in to 2015. From these happenings, I can accurately predict that Kenyans will be a tired lot by mid this year; what saddens me is that there seems to be no hint of better things to come, at least if the incidents of these two months are anything to go by.

…from the sudden demise of baba’s son whose mystery is yet to be unraveled, to the ‘Mr. Private Developer Singh’ whose land grabbing behavior led to innocent school children being sprayed with loads of teargas, to a dishonorable member of parliament who decided to treat us to a series of Reality TV drama as he spit unmentionable insults to some men in uniform, and to the loss of politicians in a single week…some through road accidents while others were executed by some very well-trained snipers (at least this is what I think because, otherwise, how do you expect me to explain that some four men were each shot dead with a single bullet?) Believe me when I say this is a real difficult year for us not unless the Angels come down to the earth … 

Having witnessed all these incidences, I have picked a few lessons which I would like to share with you…

First, it’s only you and I fight who and call each other names simply because we speak different languages. Before Fidel passed on, may his soul R.I.P, the country’s boss had a fully packed diary. His diary was probably packed with schedules of events; therefore, visiting baba was most likely least in his agenda. When the son of Jakom passed on, you were probably not amused that the country’s chief had shelved his commitments for two days and gone to be with his perceived ‘enemy’… at least according to you and me. We have eyes but we do not see, we have ears but we do not hear! The loud message passed through this incident was that there really are no enemies in politics… may be ‘frenemies’. 

Let not any one fool you; they wine and dine together once they are away from the public eye and outside the political arena, their children school together and inter-marry because they do not limit themselves to their tribes. Actually, it is only you and me who belong to certain tribes and carry around the tags of our tribes with us in our hearts, heads, and on our foreheads; otherwise, the political chiefs of our country only associate themselves with the various tribes as a means to influence the vote, a selfish act which makes them sole beneficiaries. I tell you this for sure, if we do not dismantle our tribal cocoons and peacefully co-exist, we shall perish as fools…

They grabbed the school playground and innocent children faced the wrath of hungry policemen, who have become so accustomed to throwing canisters of teargas to city hawkers, that they did not even stop for a second to think that their victim, this time around, was not the hawkers but primary school children. My brothers on social media were fast as lightening to condemn this act and pretend to be holier than though. Several of my friends changed their social media names to “Private developer Singh” while others posted all types of funny pictures to ridicule the land grabbers. 

Then I thought to myself… how sad that we have become only a reactive nation rather than a proactive one to address these burning issues. As long as we are not proactive and fear confronting such issues, criticism hush tags will continue being the order of the day and this will not stop the vicious cycle of corruption incidents. I am glad that although you grabbed the land, we fought to have it back, and now they are about to conclude fencing it. 

I salute the men in uniform at the weigh-bridge for standing firm on their principles, although, sadly, they became part of a Reality TV drama that we were treated to by one of our honorable members. My bad, this was quite a show… I vividly recall the last time we were treated to such drama was during an infamous incident at village market; the big fish in this case was relieved of her duties and the naïve guard was rewarded by the courts for having gone through such a humiliation. 

The beauty of Chapter 6 of our Constitution is reminiscent during such nasty incidents of big fish vs. small fish. The maturity with our courts is evident as they seem to clearly understand that no one is above the law, really, and that justice must be allowed to follow her course. If only we could have a few more officers and guards like these… a few more proactive journalists would also be required to do the exposes without fear or favor. 

For the love of my country, I can’t fail to notice that there’s a lot of bloodshed yet no one is being made to account for it. How would you explain the many cases of cattle rustling, which often leave scores dead, yet they seem to get worse as days go by? Every day, I cringe at the thought that the beauty of my country may be fading…Alhamdulillah! The coastal region is gradually regaining its glory…. 

Amkeni Ndugu  Zangu, Natujenge Taifa Letu…

An Article by Sarah Makena,

Co-founder Ukabila Zi Society

Blessed Big Hearts: Living the Purpose

Saturday, February…the date is 7^th, year 2015. I had traveled outside Nairobi to go check on the progress of my dignity project; little did I know that it would become an inspirational weekend on my part. Having many friends is good especially having friends whom you share similar perspectives about life. On this Saturday, I was supposed to travel back to Nairobi, from this far away village where I am doing my dignity project; my dream has always been to empower young people, from the most odd of places; odd not because the places do not exist in the map of the world, but because the regions are marked with poverty, illiteracy, among other threats to development. I hold this deep passion in me to ensure that the young people from such remote areas, humble backgrounds, gain quality education. 

Some will argue that this burning passion in me, to ensure accessibility of quality education, is motivated by the circumstances I have been through; yes, they may be right…but only partly; I strongly believe that every human being is born with intrinsic dignity; The ideal he/ she deserves respect regardless of where they are born, raised, their social standing in the society not to mention their religious belief. I strongly believe that by promoting access to quality education, I will be promoting human dignity among these people, whom life seems to have mastered the art of playing poker on them. What else can we do for them if not empower them through education?

It was a group of friends, who had come together in unity of purpose, to improve the condition of children orphanages in two counties of Kenya, by offering sustainable solutions to the challenge of food, school fees, clothes, shoes…name them. I must say there exists a genius in this part of the world; genius in creating sustainable solutions to social problems facing children in orphanages. The person who designed the initiative and decided that donating various plant seedlings ranging from fruit seedlings to wood-tree seedlings, and calculated that it would only take a mere 5 years for these orphanages to start enjoying the fruits of their labor; paying school fees, comfortably buying food and clothing for themselves, besides, gaining experience enough to make them sustainable citizens who can initiate projects on themselves, was a genius. 

It was long journey to Josphine Wambui orphanage; long because it was actually long, and long because there was a lot of dust. Every part of Kenya is very dry right now and this probably explains why we reached at Josphine Wambui covered in layers of dust; I was thanking heavens for convincing me to wear navy blue and black from head to toe. My experience at Josphine Wambui did not reach a climax until I listened to her talk. She talked after her husband. She started by complaining that her husband had refused to speak on her behalf, that he had refused to introduce her to the visitors, yet they were in this together. Then she said that people actually thought she was crazy. Her siblings, who were seated in our midst, had travelled from the capital city to come and confirm if really this couple was not crazy... I wondered why? I had to speak to her… telling you the next 10 minutes were marked by impatience and curiosity would be an understatement.

A couple of years ago, Dorothy was seated at the fireplace in her bungalow in Nairobi after having a sumptuous meal for dinner. It was a cold evening. During such cold evenings, Dorothy, her husband and 4 year old son would join her at the fireplace where they would ‘pass’ the evening hours as they beat the chilling cold. However, on this particular evening, Dorothy received a revelation; for the first time she realized that they had only one child, yet she had always wanted to have other children especially through adoption but she had not yet started the procedure. The reality that Dorothy and her husband had only one child struck her so much that she wondered what really it is that they were looking for in this world, in terms of wealth, since they already had enough wealth to be inherited by their only son Emmanuel.

Dorothy and her husband had worked for 14 years each and had made a sizable amount of investments in real estate, stocks, and savings; enough to guarantee them a comfortable lifetime and be inherited by their son. Dorothy shared this insight with her husband, who completely agreed with her reasoning. Dorothy recounted her story about how she was bed-ridden for 2 months yet neither her wealth nor any amount of money could make her rise up from the bed; yes, she stayed sick and stuck in bed for that long…

On this chilly night, Dorothy and her husband agreed that they had, after all, been chasing vanity of vanity. It had been fourteen years of waking up early, beating traffic jams, and toiling to make money…now they had it, they even had their own rental apartments as is the dream of many employees, but all this was vanity. Imagine working your entire life and making a lot of money, only to leave it as inheritance to your one child? The more I listened to Dorothy’s perspective about wealth as vanity, the more it dawned on me that we should find a greater motivation other than wealth; a greater motivation that is our purpose, which we can say, one day, made us live. A purpose greater than money that we would be ready to die for, to live a legacy that we helped mankind, that we helped affirm dignity in an individual who had been tormented by the ghosts of life and deprived off dignity. Mother Theresa of Calcutta knew this too well…

Dorothy and her husband tendered their letters of resignation in January, 2015. They were determined to live a purposeful life by being parents to orphans; they packed a few of their belongings and in the company of their son Emmanuel left for Josphine Wambui’s Orphanage; somewhere in the dusty rural Kenya, to offer their parental love and guidance to the 25 children at the home. Their son Emmanuel would become the 26^th. Believe me; they left everything else they had worked hard to buy in Nairobi city. To add salt to the injury, they sold their sleek car in exchange for an old one that could fit the humble lifestyle of a rural area in Kenya.

As I write this article, Dorothy, her husband, and son Emmanuel are living at Josephine Wambui’s Orphanage. Their purpose is simple; to transform the lives of the orphaned children through their parental love and guidance and to manage the children’s home. This couple is committed; one month down the line, the children are already enjoying eating tomatoes, vegetables, corn, and milk produced in the orphanage’s farm courtesy of Dorothy’s husband. Dorothy has also been hard at work helping the children in their studies, building self-esteem in them, and teaching them the basics of hygiene. Wow…what can I say? My friends and I look forward to spending a whole week at the children’s home; playing with the children, sharing our perspectives about life and dignity, besides catching up with Dorothy…

An Article by Gladys Muthara,

 Champion for Quality Education,

Volunteer Blog Editor, Ukabila Zi Society,