To live up to now is something I thank God for each day. I recall my days as a young family man and how cumbersome it was to travel from one area to another during the 1960s-1980s in Kenya. Today, technological advancements, such as video conferencing, have connected the world, and have enabled me to be present for family events even though I am physically thousands of miles away. The transportation and communication systems in Kenya have evolved greatly during my time. There was one main road which led from Nakuru to Nanyuki. I would begin my journey at 6:00 am, by taking the bus to Nyeri. Then, connected to the Nanyuki bus, which arrived in Nanyuki by 4:00 pm. After the bus route, I walked for one hour from Nanyuki town back to my home in the village. During the rainy season, walking made the journey a little longer. Now, people can travel from Nakuru to Nanyuki and back, in the time it had taken me to travel one way.
When it came to telecommunications, phones were only available in the advanced government offices. Other communications were mostly conducted through the post office and the lead time for mail delivery was at least two weeks. Education and basic literacy skills were a recent achievement, afforded mainly to young children and few adults. Many families had no one capable of reading delivered mail. This forced the recipients who coul not read to walk a distance in search for someone to read the letter for him or her.
One day at work, around 3:00 pm, I received a message that was passed to me from my employer. Fortunately, I was working in the municipal council in Nakuru and my boss had an office telephone. Also luckily, my brother’s father-in-law worked for a railway company and was able to use his supervisor’s office phone to send a message about my wife’s accident. He informed me that she was treated and had been released to his home in Nanyuki. My wife had fallen and dislocated her knee, while carrying two containers filled with maize. She had traveled to Nanyuki to exchange the corn maize for ground maize flour in order to make ugali and porridge, and on her way back home she fell.
Good Samaritans took her to the hospital, helped deliver the maize flour to our house, and had reported the incident to my mother. My loving mother looked after our five children, while my wife was away. Very early the next morning, I travelled by bus to Nanyuki where my wife was hosted as she recovered. My brother’s father-in-law lended me his bicycle, so I could return to our home and pick up some fresh clothes for my wife. I rode through heavy rain on my journey back to our home in the village, and the bicycle could not make it through the muddy road conditions. So, I decided to hide the bicycle in the bushes and continued my walk home. I arrived home in the evening, too exhausted to eat. I took a cup of tea and slept. The following morning at 6:00 am, I trekked the same journey to Nanyuki with my kids, after having done so four times.
Today, I can travel from Nakuru to Nanyuki round trip in a day in all seasons. My takeaway is some great changes have occurred, and there is more yet to be done. The travelers of today, experience high travel fees and shortage of public transportation (ex.buses and matatu) due to the increase in population and high travel volume of people to jobs in offices, market , various places for uncountable reasons. There is always something to improve to make it possible for life to continue.
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Thanks for reading my writing.