CHANGING FORTUNES

 CHANGING FORTUNES

Years frog leaped so fast like they had been invited to a feast. Joshua's life had not changed much three years on. Daniel had performed well in KCSE and had just begun his studies at University of Nairobi school of law. He was so focused and kept the parents hopes high that they could some day come out of the shack, out of their impoverished lives.On a particular day as he was serving his customers came Ogada, one of Joshua's regular customers. "Mimi niletee Ugali na Omena" he ordered. "Hapa sio dunga beach Kisumu bwana Ogada. Hapa ni city ya keki na soda" replied Joshua with a wide smile that signalled the camaraderie which the two had built over the years. Ogada had been ordering ugali for a long time now but today, ogada's voice kept coming to Joshua's mind even after he had closed shop. 'Why not make ugali for Ogada?' , 'How many other people would be interested in hot dishes?' 'Should I give it a try?' Questions kept coming to his mind. Joshua couldn't sleep that night and eventually, he promised himself to give it a try one day. When he shared the experience and the idea with his wife, she was very positive about it. She promised to make food at home and transport to Joshua's place a few minutes before lunch hour if that idea would materialise. It looked like they had a plan. But first, Joshua took the next few weeks getting his main customer's opinions on whether they would love hot dishes instead of the usual sodas and cakes. Many were for the idea and Joshua felt like time was ripe to give it a try. So, the day was set and the number of interested customers were noted. Around 20 people were. To make it simple, only one menu was on offer, Ugali, kales and some beef. With help from her daughter Hellen, Mrs Joshua arrived on time and found some customers already waiting. They were all served, all of them that had ordered. They enjoyed their lunch better than before to an extent that some placed daily standing orders. That day, Joshua's family made twice as much money as they would make on any good business day. It looked like the business was set to take a new direction. The order increased and so did the variety of offers on the menu. Weekends became even busier for the family. They would sit together to clean up cereals that would be cooked in the coming week. Mike, Hellen and the little ones, all got involved. Daniel would most weekends come by from campus to help because work became more and more as days crawled by. The family earnings also begun to go up and so, quite drastically. Around 4 months into the business, Joshua rented two more single rooms within their Line Saba area, just a stone throw distance away from their home. One room was where they did the cooking while the other was their store for dry foodstuffs. For the reason that there were no food joints near his work place, Joshua's new venture boomed and family fortunes begun to change. ' Ogada was a messenger from God' Joshua concluded in his mind but also told him so many times after.

@Stephen Mungai

AND SO, JOSHUA WORKS

 AND SO, JOSHUA WORKS 

Doors can be heard opening from different places in the area. Joshua King'ori looks at his watch again. It's 4.30 am in the morning, the usual time he leaves the house for work. Dutifully, the wife was already up earlier and prepared breakfast for him, black tea with sweet potatoes. He walks out the street and the wife locks the door behind him. Mondays are relatively harder than the other days. Considering that he doesn't work on Sundays, meant that Saturday earnings needed to take care of Sunday and Monday. Sometimes, the couple made Sundays special for the children. Talk of eggs, bread and milk tea. The kids always looked forward for Sundays. Mondays were thus hard and troubled. No milk. No sugar sometimes and most times, No bus fare to the place of work. The wooden door of their house faced a walk path and so they could hear footsteps outside the whole day which only reduced into the deep hours of the night. They occupied 2 of the six one roomed plot. One room was for the bigger Kids. Their first born Mike was already 22 years and already going to industrial area to get casual jobs. Tabitha, the second born was 19, already completed form 4 looking out at what to do but many times helping the parents run their businesses. Daniel, the third born was 17 in form 2 at Kianyaga high school in Kirinyaga county. He was rarely home. Most of the times when schools closed, he went to visit the grandparents who were a walking distance away. Hellen, their fourth born was then in class eight waiting to sit her KCPE examination at the end of the year. David was the 5th born. Then in class 5. The last born, Ruth was only 3 years. Their home was in Kibera line saba and this Monday, Joshua had to walk to his place of work. He had a small stand near Nyayo stadium where he used to sell mostly sodas, cigarettes, cakes and snacks. His place was very popular for lunch hour bites and smokers on short smoking breaks. The business was doing as well as to afford to pay rent for the 2 rooms and to pay school fees for all the kids. The wife also gave him a hand from her grocery shop near their home. The family was close knit and would spend long hours into the night talking especially on weekends. They would also talk about their challenges, assist each other with ideas or just laugh off their otherwise economic challenged life. So, Joshua walks towards the railway line along which he must walk to Mbagathi way then downwards towards Nyayo stadium. There are already many men walking the same direction. Along the way he hears screams and arguments of probably a couple fighting. This was very common in the area. Joshua would more than once find a woman in the streets with bags and small kids this early morning, probably sent out of their house by the husband and father. After an hour's walk. Joshua opens business, the early cigarette customers begin tripping in. His prayer was always that he would have a better day than yesterday. And so, Joshua works. 

@Stephen Mungai

SARAH KAVOI'S NEW STATUS: A blessing or a trap?

 SARAH KAVOI'S NEW STATUS: A blessing or a trap?

Sarah Kavoi performed well enough in her KCSE exams to get an admission place in KU. Her bachelors degree in Education would definitely get her a teaching job, hopefully by TSC so she could be of help to her parents and siblings, considering she came from a very remote area in Kitui county. By luck, she was getting the set maximum amount of HELB loan and additional bursary every semester. She managed the money so well that she had enough to send some to support her parents and siblings. As she begun her 3rd year, she fell in love with David King'ori, who was beginning his 4th year IT degree. David came from a rich family and Sarah thought he had excess of what he needed. Though he had a rented one bedroom apartment in Kahawa Sukari all for himself, he was rarely there. Either he slept over at her parents place in Kitisuru or elsewhere while on one of the many trips he made for different reasons. David was her first love. He treated her well. They had many conversations in person or over the phone sometimes running into late hours of the night. She met many of David's friends in endless parties he held or was invited to. She also met his parents and siblings on a few visits to their home. David gave Sarah a life she had only seen on social media. Talk of weekend getaways to Naivasha, Nanyuki or Arusha. Talk of late night parties or night club experiences in the best clubs in Nairobi. Talk of flights to mombasa for week-long holidays......Honestly, she was having a time of her life. David also made it normal to give her money or send her via MPesa for all sorts of reasons. "That is for making your hair", "Buy yourself a nice dress", "I thought you would need some cash for manicure and pedicure" David would say. And money kept coming. Many of her friends of old dropped away not being able to keep with her new lifestyle but Joyce stayed on. She would take Joyce along to many places she went. Joyce was happy for her but kept telling her to be cautious especially not to get pregnant and also attend lectures, many of which she now was missing. Joyce also guided her to the birth control method she was now using. Everything was good even after a year into the relationship with David. David had already graduated and running one of the Dad's clearing and forwarding business. Sarah was now in fourth year and all going smooth as earlier before something unexpected happened. Birth control backfired and she got pregnant. She got so stressed not knowing what to do. She didn’t know whether to tell him or not. He had already said he was not yet ready for a family. Nonetheless, she told David that she had a surprise for him and organized a hot date at Sportsview hotel in Kasarani. They had had their favourite meals and were sipping their wine when she broke the news to him. He couldn't believe it. He sprang up jubilant, gave her a warm hug and kissed her glowing lips. His reaction confused her a little considering he was always against settling down as yet. Was David's reaction genuine? Would they marry some day? Would they bring up the child together? Would she manage the remaining part of her studies? Should she share the news with her parents and her friend Joyce? Questions kept coming. Would the pregnancy be a blessing or trap that would end the blissful relationship with David? What should she actually do going foward?

@Stephen Mungai

TECH KID LIMITS

 TECH KID LIMITS

In Kenya, Television set in houses where Kids grew up in the 80's and early 90's was a privilege of very few kids. From an early age, kids hardly spent time indoors but were ever out with neibouring kids playing throughout the day when not in school. This were times when people lived together as communities before the fear of neighbours became a reality forcing parents to prefer locking their kids indoors. Alot has changed over the years that changed the way neighbours and their kids interact. Parents are more cautious to an extent of sanctioning the friends their kids have, and these must just be a handful. Of course that is important for development of good mannerism. Kids are also kept indoors watching TV programmes and playing with their phones, comps or ipads. It helps develop the kid's tech knowhow and sometimes, parents end up consulting their kids when they hit tech hitches, which is a positive development. On the flipside and if not well regulated by parents, the kids may flop in academic performance or fat up for lack of outdoor activities that sometimes may cause health problems. The exposure may be bad especially for kids under long hours care by househelps, who sometimes have too much to do to care about what kids in the house are doing. 

Our society may not be as organised as other societies in the world like Europe where extra curriculum activities begin at very early age with parents being forced by the systems to accompany their kids and assist their development in non academic activities. That is why kids join football academies as early as 5 years and begin to earn from professional football as eary as with 15 years. However, the good observation is that many such academies have come up in many areas around the country which should challenge parents to take advantage to develop their kids outdoor abilities. If not for professional sporting life, the kids remain physically and mentally active. In this way, we can assist affirm the school CBC curriculum to open up more opportunities for future our generations. 

The kids will eventually be happy with the choices their parents made for them in line with Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it."

@Stephen Mungai

A MOMENT WITH NATURE

 A MOMENT WITH NATURE

The city dwellers interact with nature comparatively rarely. Most city settlement areas have completely replaced trees and natural plantation with concrete and mortar. As a result, the air is usually stuffy and acrid. Up-market residences are a little different because of proper planning that ensures fair interaction between nature and concrete making the air a little more fresh. For this reason and if someone's pockets allow, people tend to move to the outskirts of the city where the degree of freshness increases as one heads towards up-country areas.

Some people who can afford have up-country farms where they go once in a while to enjoy interaction with plant and animal life. This can be a refreshing experience away from city life. However, anyone can have an interaction with nature and so add value to the simple moments of life. Just a thought. When was the last time you sat along the river to listen to the sound of waters down the stream? Or left the house for a walk early night to observe the arrangement of stars on the sky? What of picking flowers along the roads in your home area? What of going to sleep under a tree in Uhuru Park, City Park or a tree in rural areas? Or is that only for jobless Kenyans? I bet that a gaze at nature can give us a pose to enjoy simple moments of our lives. Planting in pots, tending kitchen gardens or keeping domestic animals are good experiences to those with the space to do so. Probably, doing these things more intentionally may add more value to our lives since our living days are not many and quickly fly away.

Sometimes, our days are filled with pressure that makes us not to enjoy easy moments of our days. With tomorrow not belonging to us, the greatest blessing God gives us is today and the now. The past is gone and the future exists only in our imaginations. Our duty is to do God’s will today; make a difference in the lives of the human race today and enjoy the many blessings God has granted to us today, greatest of which is breadth of life and nature around us. This is the reason David prays in Psalm 90:12, ‘’ Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.’’ In Psalm 103:2-5, David decides to pause and marvel at what God had done to him and he says, ‘’ Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’’

Let us not live in the past or be controlled by the future that only exists in our imagination. Let us enjoy every moment of the day because this is what the Lord has done to us.

@Stephen Mungai