Finding Me Amidst All Chaos!!!

 

I saw her,

Sitting at a distance gazing at me,

She was a reflection of what I could become, 

She asked me what my fears were,

Why I was holding back,

Why it was taking longer,

Who do you want to be?

 

The beginning of the year always has lots of people making new years resolutions. People set out goals, objectives and even reset how they do things, the question is, do we ever stop and take a deep breath, ask ourselves what would happen to us if things did not turn out the way we wanted them to…then what next? Would we disappointed to the point of giving up on our dreams, would we rise like a phoenix and take lessons learned throughout the year and channel our energy to making things better, or would we look at it and be content on how things turn out and make other New Years Resolutions?

I have somehow been looking forward to writing this post. I wanted to share with you all what 2018  meant for me, what I have learned along the way and the person I have become.

My year did not start out on such a high note, back in November 2017, I was diagnosed with an Ovarian cyst, this was just but the beginning of my worries. With around three more doctors appointments, I was always panicked and at some point thought that I would lose it. Fortunately for me, I kept the faith and though sometimes skeptical, I began my year praying for my miracle. 11 months down the line, I received my miracle in September 2018 during what became my last appointment with my gynacologist. My cyst was completely gone!!!! I could not thank God enough, I am still grateful for this.

Passion and Moving on

My greatest strength has been following through with what I am passionate about. I am a go-getter, this has helped me push myself to the limit. For the last two years, I had a job I was so passionate about, I was happy by the fact that I was changing lives. Sadly, I was not experiencing any personal growth and to me, this was totally frustrating, it took me months to decide on whether I wanted to continue, the one thing I am certain for now and would probably advice myself months back would be…”Life is too short, and if there is no growth or fulfillment in your place of work, you got to pack up and move on”

But I guess that is easier said and done, and often there are so many things that we need to factor in. Word of advice, work on an exit strategy if you want to quit your job!!!!

The best thing happened to me when I decided to quit my job, I am currently self-employed, determine my schedule, more fulfilled and pursuing all my other passions at the same time? What else can a girl ask for? The hardest things for some of us is moving on, and for me, it took time and a lot of support from my family and friends, but I am glad I finally moved on.

Traveling and Making New Friends

Before I forget, I totally had no plan to travel to two amazing places that I traveled to, talk about meeting young people making a huge difference in their own capacity, making friends, learning about new cultures and doing business. From Rhino Refugee Settlement in Uganda to Accra in Ghana. (See, I told you plans can change). I am just amazed at how much young people are doing to change their communities and feel challenged to making bigger strides in 2019.

The most important thing is the fact amidst all the chaos I experienced in the last year, I conquered my fears and learned to move past that. But this would have never happened without all the support I had from my friends and family. Important: Keep your family and close friends closer.

I have found my passions, learned new things, persevered through pain and learned to differentiate what matters at the moment and what does not.   In this new year, find yourself, your purpose and regardless of your current “chaos” define yourself and move past this.

Who do you want to be 

I want to be that girl,

The one who lives life without fears,

The one does not fear to push for what she believes in,

The one who believes that it is here,

It can be done,

The one who no longer holds back,

The one who lives outside a box,

For she found herself,

In the dreams of a little girl,

A little girl with big dreams.

 

From me to you…May this year bring you the best that you have been dreaming about, make your resolutions, follow them through one at a time, and if things don’t turn out the way you wanted, remember there is also the fact that the Year can still SURPRISE YOU!!

Photo credits:Jaiksana

Love and Hugs

Kim

#MentalHealth

 

I am not sure what rings a bell for you when you hear the term mental health but what I know for sure is that we are not having enough conversation about this very contentious topic.

So, what is mental health? Let us try to demystify the “elephant in the room”. According to World Health Organization ” Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. The positive dimension of mental health is stressed in WHO’s definition of health as contained in its constitution: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Wikipedia defines it as” A level of psychological well-being or an absence of mental illness. It is the “psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment”.^[1] From the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an individual’s ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.”

Cause of mental health illnesses

• Genetic factors. This could be passed on from a close family member
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Environment. This could be a negative environment such as an abusive childhood
• Trauma and stress. This can be caused by different factors such as financial constraints
• Personality factors such as having low self-esteem.

#10 Facts on Mental Health by WHO

#1 About 20% of children and teenagers  around the world have mental disorders or problems

#2 Mental disorders and substance use are the number one cause of disabilities in the world. 23% of deaths are as a result of this.

#3 Over 800,00 people commit suicide each year and this is as a result of mental disorders

#4 War and other disasters affect mental health in large. The rate doubles at this time.

#5 Mental disorders increase an individuals risk for other diseases such as Diabetes

#6 Stigma and discrimination are core factors that hinder individuals from getting healthcare

#7 Human rights violations of affected persons are often reported in many countries

#8 The distribution of skilled human capital for mental health is not well distributed on a global scale.

#9. There are 5 key barriers to increasing mental health services:

The absence of Mental health in Public health agenda

Organization of services

Lack of integration in primary care

Inadequate skilled human capital

Lack of Public mental health leadership

#10 Inadequate resources to increase services related to mental health.

C:hyperallergic

I hope we now have a clue what mental health is about. I recently attended #UpgradePoetry which is a poetry event held in Nakuru once a month. The theme of the event was #Mental health and the guest speaker was #Rixpoet. If you have not heard of him, he is a mental health advocate and a poet. He shared his story with the audience along with Jasmine another speaker.

My takeaway from this very informative session was that we needed to have conversations about mental health often and above all, be a pillar to those who are going through these issues.

Are we listening to those close to us enough to know that they are going through tough times? Or do we brush them off and see these issues as a “kawaida thing”?

Let us keep the conversation going in the comment section.

 

Until next time

#Mental Health

Kim

To LOVE and to……behold, maybe?

Lately, I have realized a trend of young people going far beyond their ability to hold their dream weddings. For some, they want to have a wedding worth Ksh 500k when all they can afford as a couple is 30-50k.

Most of these couples are just in the early stages of their careers, and for some, they either earn so little, are between jobs or are even jobless by the time they decide to host a luxurious wedding.

Most of these dream weddings include an expensive cake, a wedding gown that can only be worn for a day, expensive rings that may need adjusting in the future, expensive venues and over-the-top photography and videography services to mention a few.

With these high budgets, a lot of the couples are forced to add people to the infamous “Whatsapp” groups for fundraising towards the wedding expenses.

And most of these times, there are no consultations on whether one is okay to be added to such a group. So, a lot of times your privacy is infringed because this group is not always constituting of people you know but sometimes total strangers who now have your number. If these strangers decide to take things to the next level, no one would care. I mean, it is scary.

Apart from that, say for example the couple has 50K and a budget of 500k, the group(s) is supposed to find ways to come up with the deficit.

Photo by Alexander Mils on Pexels.com

Most of these times, you cannot ask questions but are expected to give. And a lot of times, people begin by pledging what they can give. Being in such a group requires a lot of commitment as the fundraising efforts can sometimes take up to a year before the wedding happens.
And as a good friend, there is the guilt you feel when you want to leave or people would make you feel.

So how are we supposed to navigate such circumstances? Oftentimes, there is weekly fundraising where sometimes everyone in the group is requested to give maybe Ksh100, so little…..right? That’s always the assumption (there is no way one might not afford to give 100 bob in a week) Again, sometimes out of frustration and just trying to keep up with everyone, people in the group will go to great lengths to make sure they contribute so that it doesn’t reflect badly on them. Did I mention that there is always a hype (man/woman) during such? Well, the hype person always gives more than the weekly target to keep people on their toes. And the cycle continues

But the question is, is this worth the hustle for just a one-day event? The toil and hustle one has to go through plus make others go through?

Is it the pressure from society to hold grand weddings? Or is it pressure that we put on ourselves? Is there a possibility that we also try to outdo our peers while at it?

Are there alternative ways we could normalize getting into a marriage or does it have to be grand, grander, grandest?

Photo by Ksenia Chernaya on Pexels.com

Is it worth the mental torture? Why enjoy for a day and start life from scratch after? Do we really need these “one-day” memories? I know of a couple who ended up in debt after their grand wedding.

As young people, do we need a reality check or should we continue living this fallacy?

What alternatives do we have at our disposal? And can we normalize living within our means?

Let me know what you think.

Hugs,

Elenah

Dear Millennial, Take a Chance and Invest in Yourself

 

Self-investment is the greatest chance you can take on yourself!

I recently put up a post on my social media about investing in yourself and this got me thinking, “Why not write a full article after all?”

Quick question…

Are you investing in yourself? Have you ever invested in yourself? Why do you feel it is important to invest in yourself?

What is self-investment?

The simplest answer to this question is the energy and time that you spend on building yourself. It could be, learning a new skill, enrolling in a course, reading books, traveling for new experiences, joining a club, investing in a business, investing in a healthy lifestyle among many others

Self-investment happens to be the only guaranteed investment you can have in life. When you grow the habit of investing in yourself, you not only experience growth on a personal level but also can influence those close to you in your little way.

If you for example you learned a new skill such as social media management today( an on-demand skill currently) you are likely to sell this skill like a hot cake in the job market. Companies are looking for people to run their social media, what used to be a, by the way, has become essential for all businesses; and people are being hired full time to work as social media managers.

I gave an example of my post on what I did. I learned article writing while still at the university, what started as just a hobby turned out to be an income-generating activity for me. I have had to learn to perfect the art of writing better articles. I do not think myself an expert but I have improved and become better over the years. I currently write for Empower Africa and I couldn’t be any prouder that I took a chance on myself.

I also learned hands-on skills out of curiosity. The journey was tough with a lot of self-learning, learning on the internet, and trying new stuff. What started as just a hobby has morphed into a small business!!!

So, why invest in yourself?

• Personal growth

Investing yourself allows you to experience growth on a personal level. As I earlier mentioned, this is the only guaranteed investment you can make in life.

You are guaranteed of reaping the benefits at some point and nothing can beat the satisfaction that this brings.

• Re -enforces your potential

Investing in your self helps to re-enforce your potential not only to yourself but also to the world. It shows people that you believe in yourself and are willing to go the extra mile. It also helps you unlock potential that you might not have thought you had.

 

 

 

 

Are you making any investments in yourself? If not, this is the time to get started. Try those cooking classes you have been procrastinating about, learn that new language you have always dreamed about, travel to your dream destination(maybe after Covid-19). Whatever it takes, just get started today!

As young people, we have all the advantages that we need as far as investing in ourselves is concerned. We have resources such as time and energy to take that chance on ourselves. Time to keep trying different things and the energy to keep moving. Let us not stand in our own way. 

 

Thanks for reading!

I took a chance on myself and started a YouTube Channel. Check it out here. Subscribe and Share

Love

Elenah

The Cost of Adulting!!

When I was a little girl,

I wished that I could quickly sprout,

My sister and I had big dreams,

And while we watched the sunset and wished the day away,

We envied the thought of been young women,

Young independent women living our fairytales,

 

And when adulting came knocking,

We loved the adrenaline rush that this brought,

Being young, wild and free,

Until when we realized that those nights out would not pay their own bills,

Those long drives into the sunset would not fuel the car,

That the student loans would never pay themselves or even be forgiven,

That getting a decent job or even a job was a job in itself,

And when the government asks you to pay taxes,

What about double taxation?

 

And to cap it all,

We were let go into the world,

To explore and fend for ourselves,

Coupled with poor choices, all work, and little pay,

 

And then we could no longer pay for those mani-pedis at the salon,

The sound of the nail cutter became a sing-song,

We started washing our hair wigs, ironing them and recycling them,

Our late nights out became more of an indoor thing,

Watching pirated movies and dancing the night away to old tunes,

And every morning we woke up to the same routine,

Wishing for better days,

If only someone had given us a warning sign,

Or the wake-up call,

Because adulting is a hustle,

And now, as we watch the sunsets,

All we wish for is for our troubles to jump into the next ship,

And in our heads, we sing “Sail away, sail away”

To this cost of adulting!

 

 

The Law of Compensation!!!

Growing up, I heard about this a lot, and especially those times when I was a bit lazy and not putting my best foot forward. Those times when I thought my “enough” was good enough. To tell you the truth, I was not even sure if this was even a real law written anywhere. But I somehow knew that it worked. So, for this particular article, I decided to look this up and this is what Google came up with ” Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote an essay targeted on compensation where he highlighted that every person is compensated with regards to the contribution they have made. This law is seen as a restatement of the Law of Sowing and Reaping, which states that people are compensated according to the efforts they input, their contribution regardless of how little or much they do.

Oh Wow! It is a real thing! Forgive my ignorance! But it’s real! And it doesn’t get further than the truth in real life! My mum is the one person who since I was a kid has used this law on me countless times,” you reap what you sow” she would constantly remind me. And this law seems to be the only law so far that has made sense each day.

Of  this Law and Jobs

The only sad thing is that jobs nowadays do not seem to agree with this law. In the real sense, it seemed to work so well when we were in school. “Work hard, read a lot, practice that Math every day, master this and that” our teachers would tell us. “I at least had the chance to master poetry”. 

As for most current day jobs, it’s more of toiling, putting in the extra hours with no paid overtime plus the salary does not even seem to be proportional!! I know someone somewhere agrees with this sentiment.

 

But why? Why are employers not compensating their employees as they should? Why are we being overworked at the workplace? Is it that the available labor is so big that employers have found a gap through which they can manipulate their employees? Or is it that we are not negotiating for better pay? Or could it be a matter of economics of scale? We need to have this discussion, right? Maybe they would say compensation is compensation, but we all know that it does not work this way!!!

Of this Law and Relationships

My take: This is so 50/50. You could be working so hard to impress someone but in the real sense, you are pushing them away. In other instances, this could just be working in your favor.

Assess what a specific relationship means for you, and if there is even need to put in the work if by doing so you get to be loved more, or your hard work is just for nothing.

Of this Law and dreams

We all have dreams and things we aspire to achieve. In the most normal conditions, the Law of Compensation applies directly. Our ability to keep pushing and not giving up on this dreams is most likely to see us achieve them regardless of how long this takes. I would advise that you, however, develop timeliness with regards to this. You don’t want to be that person who has big dreams that takes forever to realize them, keeping yourself in check is important.

Of this Law and Everyday Reality

Generally speaking, this law seems to work in real life situations, in most, the effort we put in always shows in the results we get.

Question is, what are you doing on a daily basis? Does your input directly correlate to your output? Do you need to make any meaningful adjustments to this? Typical example…did you plant maize and have been expecting to harvest beans? Are you waiting for someone to walk a mile for you in your own dreams? Or do you get up each day to pursue them tirelessly?

In one way or the other, I believe that this law applies to us somehow. And if directly your input equals your output! Then keep grinding and doing what counts for you.

Thanks for reading! Let me know how this law affects you and if it even makes sense!

Until next time!

Love and Hugs

Kim

Monster Within: My Battle with Ovarian Cyst!!

I have contemplated writing this post for as long as I can remember. I shared the same with a friend and they told me when the year was beginning that the day I ever get comfortable with sharing, I can do so, but no pressure. Here is my story.

The date is 12th/11/2017. I am in Eldoret in preparation for my graduation and I am here to clear with my school, graduation for me was a long-awaited ceremony that saw postponement for a year. You can catch up with what transpired here.

I start experiencing a sharp pain on my lower abdomen on the left side and I have a conversation with myself” If I will be feeling the same way tomorrow, I will have to go to the hospital. Agreed?” And in my head, I seal this agreement with a mental note (plus the pain may get to that point that cannot be ignored) This is exactly what happened the following day.

I remember this day so vividly, I decided to go to the hospital after the pain persisted. I do not love hospitals and I dread going to hospitals, most of the times, I usually wait until the pain becomes unbearable (bad, bad idea my friends) I have learned that we should never ignore pain and seeking medical attention is important instead of self-diagnosis.

Its 11am, I am at Moi Referral Hospital, waiting for my turn to see the doctor, as usual, they check for my medical history, check for pressure and send me to see the doctor. (If you have ever been to this hospital, I am sure you can agree with me the long wait on the corridors does not help at all You end up seeing patients who are more sickly than you are, and the smell that rents the air can be unbearable.)

After a very long wait to see the doctor, he goes about asking routine questions that as a patient I have to answer. He then sends me to the Ultrasound department. As usual, I have to wait a little bit longer on the queue. When my turn comes, I am ushered to a bed where I am requested to lift my blouse up and some gel is smeared on my lower abdomen, a small device is rolled over my stomach. (I notice the doctor is very young, in my head I am so proud of this young woman who seems to have achieved a lot, which is my assumption by the mere fact that she is a doctor)

A few minutes into the checkup and she goes like “I am seeing your kidneys and I should not be seeing them at the moment!”  What should I answer to this,? I just smile and allow her to carry on, after all, I am no doctor! And just like that, an older lady in a lab coat walks in and she explains the situation to her, she offers to help complete the scan. A few minutes later, I get my results and I am sent back to the doctor who will interpret the results for me.

Cheers to another queue!!! When I get to see the doctor, he goes silent for like a minute as he looks over the scan, he goes ahead to ask if I have ever been scanned for a cyst! What in the world is a cyst? I wonder, so I ask him and he goes ahead to explain vaguely, his method of delivering this news to me is the worst I have ever come across, no empathy at all!!! For those who have met such kind of doctors, I am sure they can relate to my story, and more so in public hospitals, things are so bad.

“Unajua your cyst is really bad, Referral hakuna gynacologist ako available for the next three weeks and if I book you, utamuona after three weeks and hii cyst, itakuwa imegrow sana” (Your cyst is really bad and there is no available gynecologist who can attend to you until after three weeks and by this time your cyst would have grown bigger) It is in how he said it, you would have thought I would have died the next minute, and having little knowledge of my condition did not help at all!!!!  He asked me to come the following day to the private wing where I was assured of seeing a gynacologist. I left his office feeling so terrible and my handkerchief soaking in tears.

Ovarian Cysts

illustration:Endocrineweb

These are fluid-filled sac or pockets in an ovary or on its surface. They can happen at least once for every woman in their lifetime. They can present no harm to an individual unless in special circumstance and especially if they grow bigger than 5CM. Another known fact is that they can disappear on their own!

This must be the end of me!!  5CM worth of a cyst on my right ovary??? What was I supposed to do?

Catch up with my next blog for more on the series #MonsterWithin to learn more about #OvarianCyst and how a different opinion proved mine was bigger than 5CM!!!!

Until next time,

Thank you for Reading

Hugs

Kim

 

 

Youth Leadership. The Future Is Now!!

I have been following the recent events unfolding in our next door neighbors backyard Uganda. It is such a sad story and my heart grieves with Ugandans and the family of Bobi Wine. But the one thing I admire about this young leader is the resilience and the brave face he has had to put. It just shows me how much we can achieve when we believe in something and how far we can go. I have been watching #TheHungerGames and I could not help it but draw a comparison to what is happening to Bobi Wine. They say you can break the body but not the spirit. I stand with #BobiWine #FreeBobiWine.

I believe in youth leadership, that we are equally capable and bring fresh ideas to the table. What I cannot fathom is the thought of insecurities that our “so-called old leaders ” they cannot stand to see our point of view or even give us a seat at the table. Why they would not allow us the opportunity to be heard and lead without #censorship and why they would go to such extents to show their displeasure. Our governments for long have pretended to be pro youth but most of the times they are not able to stand for them. The theme on #InternationalYouthDay this year was #SafeSpacesForYouth. But is this really what we are currently experiencing? Is this what #BobiWine has? I guess we all know the question to that.

Photo originally from

In Kenya in particular, youth unemployment is at a skyrocket high, we are made to believe in the fallacy that getting a university/college education will get us a “prosperous life” a certificate that would lead us to get a good job. No one ever gives us the reality check of what to expect out here. The government is no longer creating opportunities for young people, we would rather import expatriates to work for us and get Chinese products and while at it killing our local industries. And did I mention that when those in positions keep switching from one to another? Today you are a cabinet minister, a scandal hits or your term comes to an end and the next thing we hear, the person has been given an ambassadorial role. All at the peril of the of job seekers. Our leaders do not even take a minute to think about the future of this generation, all because their interests come first before that of young people and the masses.

I am glad that young people are taking the mantle of leadership and showing us the right way it should be done, that they speak out their minds regardless of whether they will be jailed, tortured or even die in the process. I am happy that Bobi is setting the pace for those who do not believe that young people cannot do it. I am proud of the fact that he is using his voice to stand up for the people of Uganda against dictatorship.

I can only hope that we all learn from him and take up the lead in our own small way. After all, the future is now!!!

Whatever instrument at your disposal, use it to speak out your truth. Be heard! They cannot get rid of every visionary person under the sun, power to the people!!

My prayers are with Bobi. Until the day he is free and what he stands for sees the light of day, young people are not free, the people of Uganda are not free. Youth Leadership. The future is Now, but where do you STAND?

 

Matatu Bad Culture #Sambaza nation

 

Courtesy:kenyans.co.ke

 

Man: Comfortability mtu anunue gari (if you want to be comfortable, buy your own car)

Woman: Niko nayo, unataka kuona picha(I have one, do you want to see the photos?) As she scrolls her gallery for the pictures.

Man: Hata sijui na hio mdomo yako kama utapata bwana. (I aint sure that tongue of yours can get you a husband.)

Let us just say, at this point of a conversation, I had had enough. Flashback to where it all started. My two friends and I had gone to town (Nakuru) last month one of those chilly evenings to run an errand. It is 8pm and we are at the matatu stage waiting to board one if we get lucky since it is raining. After a few minutes of waiting one arrives and we quickly get in though a few people got the best seats before we could. Should I mention I am walking with people who have American height as they call it, yeah, I am the only one who is vertically challenged here. The back seat is occupied by two passengers so obviously the three of us cannot sit there, and the seats after that, they are too squeezed my tall friends don’t have any space to put their feet. One decides to sit at the back and another goes for the seat behind the driver. A few minutes later, another passenger tries to sit on the “loners” seat and she cannot find adequate space either, so she sits next to me. An elderly man and his wife want to board the matatu but only two seats are available, the rejected seat and the conductors’ seat. It must be late for them to wait for another matatu, so they decide to hop in and the conductor has to squeeze with the passengers seated behind the driver. In short, we leave town with an excess of one.

I guess “Michuki” rules do not apply anymore or do they? Destination, Lanet, just opposite the barracks.

The driver decides to take a few more routes due to traffic caused by the ongoing road construction and after what is a bumpy road and loads of chit-chat, we arrive at a junction known as Kiondo. Here, there are people waiting for any available means of transport to get home and its drizzling.

Tout: (commanding) Songeni watu wakae (make space for others). To be honest, there literally was no space at the back, and from where I sat, the lady and the gentleman close to her had locked knees, so no space for a #sambaza if you know what I mean, my people from Eldoret can totally relate to this. I schooled in Eldoret and that was the order of the day. Right from the main stage, the matatus there would carry an excess of four people. 14 turns to 18 within a second.

 

Courtesy:nairobinews

Back to where we started, the lady seated next to me refused to move an inch and that is where the harassment started. The tout wanted to get her out of the matatu and refund her fare, but that was not her destination. So verbal assault reigned, the most interesting thing about this, the people seated at the back decided to come to her rescue and spoke up. I always see those “Zusha ” stickers on matatus and I am sure most of us ever really pay attention to them. In such a scenario, most passengers actually leave it to the tout and the affected person to square it out with each other.

So four of us ended up asking for our fare refund,in solidarity with the lady. Simple math,the tout decided he could not incur such a loss but he still managed to get two extra persons in the matatu, a lady and her son. To tell you the truth, she was pissed that people were not making room for her son and retorted that no one would alight with the car seats, what? Kenyans!!!

 

Courtesy:nibambe.co.ke

A hundred metres from the junction, the driver made another stop to pick another person, at this point there is a heated argument in the matatu,it is no longer between the tout and the lady, the lady now has her supporters, and so does the tout.  It took less than two minutes for the passenger who had boarded the matatu here to jump into the conversation, he is the one who mentioned the issue on comfortability. Did I mention that when we left town I overheard my seatmate tell someone on phone that she had given out her car to someone else and boarded a matatu to her destination? None the less, someone was now abusing her for wanting to be comfortable, and don’t forget she had already paid her fare.

The passenger seated comfortably next to the driver was the one shouting that this lady cannot even find a husband.

It was a game of thrones kinda scenario I tell you, but I am glad that we got to speak up.

Scenario Two

A week ago I went to town, the same thing and at the same junction, the tout wanted people at the back to make room, the lady who was to sit here was well endowed and so were the people already seated. The new passenger with the support of the tout was now harassing the people at the back and someone asked her if she wanted to sit on their laps (plainly put) So, another fiasco until I alighted.

 

I have had the worst experiences myself in a matatu, from being verbally harassed to someone not giving my change back. I used to think that touts were the worst kind in some situations, but after this two incidents, I realize that as Kenyans, we can be our own worst enemies. Ain’t overloading one of the reasons why we have so many accidents on our roads?

Are we encouraging a bad culture in our matatu industry? Have we become a #sambazanation. #songenitupendane

Let me know what your experience has been while using matatus in the comments section.

#BrianWanyama of  Matwana Culture campaign, your story on what you are doing to help this is for another day

Until next time my people, #ZUSHA

Kim

 

 

 

 

 

 

#SaveTheBoyChild

Yes exactly!  Before I delve into my story, let us talk a little bit about WhatsApp. Millennial’s in the house, raise your hands if you cannot do without it. I am already lost in this counting game. We all agree that this app has made our communication easier,fun and even affordable. It has become our quick fix to sharing opportunities, hyping events, sharing videos,memes and jokes ,you name it. I just love its diverse functionality!

Talk of WhatsApp status, it is so tempting to just keep up with people and the photos and statuses they share. I have lost count of the people who view my status, not a bad idea especially when they reply with messages such as cute,lovely etc.

Back to my story, a friend of mine from way back when we were kids is a photographer, so I recently came across his status on WhatsApp and something caught my eye. The  photos told a tale, and with his permission, I will be sharing that here. This actually reminded me of a conversation I was having with some other friends of mine. Story for another day.

A lot has been said and done about the girl child, I am actually so pro it, empowerment, equal opportunity and all. The debate about equity between the two genders is something that has its good and bad side in equal measure and we might not exhaust that here.

I will allow the photos to speak for themselves. They say pictures can be worth more than a thousand words, right? (Let us call our character Johny)

Are we together up to here my frens? (hold your horses though)

Ready for work, dressed to kill I must say! I am guessing he is a designer in some design firm. He got good taste.

Hey Johnny, is this your first stop over to your office? Are you saying hello to longtime friends?

 

I am confused, why are you removing your fancy clothes and shoes? Please make me understand.

 

Oh wow! I did not see this coming! But I guess we all gotta grind!

Nilikua nimebeba ma KDF hapa,nikugawie maji tuzisukume?

 

Long long day, I gotta wash up and unwind.

 

Look guys, I had a date with my bae. I got to impress her. Did I mention she tagged her friend along? (I am keeping calm as I pour the wine. I would not want to get a bad review (from her friend) and the way they be slaying!! (Sauti Sol-P-Units song Gentleman must be playing in his head)

And after all is said and done. It is what it is man! Do I have money for my next meal?

(and the cycle continues)

Photo Credits: T-Spark Photography!!!

Thank you T-Spark Photography for allowing me to sharing this amazing and moving photos on my blog!!!!

My two cents from all this, ladies,understand your guy do not hold him at a level where he cannot get to. Do not allow material things to be the standard measure for whether you date someone.

Let us keep the conversation going in the comments section.

From me to you, until next time #SaveTheBoyChild

 

Kim