My mother took us to stay with my maternal grandmother, and I thought nothing of it at the time. When I was a bit older, I learned that the visit had a specific purpose. In the Gīkūyū tradition, when a domestic issue arises, and the couple cannot resolve it, the wife goes to her parents’ […]
My First and Last Visit to See My Maternal Grandmother Read More »
Alcoholism has ravaged three generations in my family. My parents made and sold beer, maiyīki, to earn extra income. It seemed like their focus was on the short term benefits of earning extra income, not on the long term effects on the family, neighborhood, community, and society. I recall one type of beer gatogo incident
Grace: Issues in My Family Read More »
For the Christmas holiday, I got ready for the journey from Nakuru to Kerūgoya. I had to travel to Overland Transport Company (O. T. C.) Nakuru via Nairobi to Kerūgoya, and from there to Kiawakara by a Peugeot car (matatū) to my sister’s house. Her farm spanned Kīawakara village, where we lived during the state of
My New Year’s Gift – My Wife Read More »
With a baby was on the way, things were going well until the eighth month. My wife began experiencing backaches, and her legs swollen. I asked an older lady in the neighborhood about leg swelling, and she told me that it was typical for the portions of a pregnant mother to swell. When we went
My Father’s Wise Counsel Read More »
After I completed my primary education, I got circumcised to mark the beginning of my young adulthood. I was to attend secondary school but when my father retired, school beyond standard eight was not going to happen. My next move was to find ways to support myself. I had a thingira (a one-bedroom house) at
Geoffrey: The Young Adult Life – PART I Read More »
Notable Moments and People (Life Post-Concentration Camp) The village, 1954: People had to relocate from the farms and go to live in villages set up by the colonial government. The villages provided security and helped the government curtail the relationship between the freedom fighters living in the forest and the rest in the community in
Concentration Camps for Mothers and Children – PART II Read More »
The Transition from Shamba to Concentration Camp: My family was relocated from Mzungu’s shamba to a concentration camp in Nakuru, then to a Gilgil camp, and finally to Ngenia, Limuru, in Kiambu district. A reserved region was set aside for the Gīkūyū tribe by the colonial government. The colonial government relocated all Gīkūyū people outside
Concentration Camps for Mothers and Children – PART I Read More »
My mother was among those who had joined the Mau Mau group of fighters fighting for the freedom of Kenya. She was placed in detention together with her baby girl, Joyce, during that period of time. When she was released, Joyce was already walking and had lost one temporary tooth and a lower permanent tooth
When the state of emergency was declared in 1954, native Kenyans were ordered by the colonial government to leave their farms. Many went to live in the Village (Gīchagi) for security purposes. As the Mau Mau war of independence raged on, fear spread everywhere in the country. My father, who was a freedom fighter, was
Flashback: The Mau Mau War of Independence in Kenya. Read More »
My Childhood in the Shamba (Farm). We lived in a shamba (a white settler’s farm) in Rift Valley, Kenya, during the colonial era. My father worked as a cook for the white settlers, and my mother as a gardener in the white mistress’ flower garden. On the days my father was home or off duty, he
Life in the Shamba Read More »