Sikiliza

My home town Nakuru is still picking up its social and economic pieces after the Post election violence. The town was adversely affected last year when insecurity heightened and a curfew was imposed to reduce the number of casualties. I would like to take some time and talk about a few Nakuru women and their stories. Today I pick a very special lady for her strength and will to survive. Mama Ng’endo IDP from Londiani Mama Ng’endo is an IDP from Londiani near Kericho. She barely escaped death with her 5 children when aggressors burnt their home down without warning. Good Samaritans got them to Nakuru. Her husband had left that morning to look for work; she had no idea whether he made it out in time. She got to the IDP camp set up at the Nakuru Showground and registered her name just in case her husband came across it. But looking at the swelling crowds and rush for food she opted to leave the camp to seek help outside. She went from house to house begging for food or clothes. She knock...

So it’s a big day today. Depending. Capitalists are cashing in this Valentines by convincing you to show your affection to your beloved by buying something sweet, fragranced or cuddly…I always said if I wasn’t so lazy I would consider this business but alas I am a writer and would rather sit back and watch the drama unfold…..then write about it… Valentine Day finds women in various phases of their lives… Some little girls smile and giggle at the sight of love birds showing affection building their own castles in the air…. Bashful girlfriends waiting hoping and wondering what their chivalrous boyfriends would do… There are also those who believe that Valentine is meant to be celebrated everyday and is therefore a routine day… Or that it’s a waste of time and money….you know whatever makes you tick… What amazes me is that 10 years ago valentine day was little known in Kenya…..nothing much happened – but lately our FM stations, TV’s and shops are c...

I got a message today from an Editor that the US Embassy in Nairobi were looking for me regarding a story I did in their newspaper. The piece was about an extraordinary girl called Maureen who helped the bedridden in Kibera access food and supplies in the height of the post election violence. I was most curious and got in touch with them as soon as I could. It turns out they want to invite her for a women’s event in May and just needed her phone number. I found it a little perplexing they didn’t just check the public directory and find the organization she was working for and track her down in one sure step. Go figure… Anyway there were many such heroic stories. Many Kenyans needed to hear these positive accounts to raise hope that perhaps we still had some decency left in us even in the midst of that needless violence. So a group of writers and photographers decided to document these great accounts, delve into the lives of ordinary people with extraordinary hearts. http://generationk...

My mum used to force us to go to mass every Sunday…in time we developed our petulant skills and eventually had to get bribed to attend God’s house with promises of treats like swimming or permission to visit neighbors kids… While in church – my siblings attended catechism class… I was still too young to attend and a nuisance to the other kids….so my mum opted that I just be a nuisance to the adults in church (adults are nicer to brats…fact!) Now anyone who attended mass in Trinity church in Milimani knows that they needed a new public address system for yeeaaaaars…and the father was so so soooo dull…and to expect me a 7 year old to keep awake without some impish activities was a miracle hardly achievable and this almost always got me hard pinches from my mummy. So one day I was such a saint – quiet and obedient like a proper catholic girl. Sitting perked up at the neighboring pew. I hadn’t carried my dolls head ( I decapitated it since I only liked its hair – umm ...