My life and my desire to speak! (from 2012 archive)

In the year that Ronald Reagan took oath of office as the 40th President of the United States, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer walked down the aisle and married at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Ghana's civilian president Hilla Limann got ousted in a bloody coup by former military ruler Jerry Rawlings, and the same year that Elizabeth Carr, the first U.S. test-tube baby, was born to Judith and Roger Carr, a loud cry confirmed the birth of a baby boy – who was named Titus Mutwiri

Fate had it that due to my parent’s jobs i had to live with my Dad on the slopes of Nyambene hills 37 kilometers away from my Mother. This was so out of the blue and seemed “pure alice in wonderland”. At Muciimukuru primary School Mrs. Kangai my Nursery school teacher divided the classroom floor according to the number of pupils and the soil was our book, and the finger was our pen. My Dad taught me everything a young man my age needed to know including cooking. I remember with nostalgia the first ugali I cooked while in fourth grade that tasted like hardened porridge

My childhood plays involved hunting gazelles in the Nyambene forest with my boyfriends under the camouflage of fetching firewood thanks to the ferocious dog that belonged to my friend Koronya Marete. I also enjoyed rearing rabbits and especially the white furred New Zealand white.

In my 6^th grade I got a chance to represent my primary school during the music festivals with the famous poem of Elizabeth woodsworth “If all the good people were clever and all the clever people were good the world would be nicer than ever we thought that it possibly could”.

In Meru High school I developed the hobby for public speaking. My pursuit for leadership found me scoop many responsibilities like the dormitory captain, the Christian Union treasurer, Science club spokesman, broadcasting club chairman, I was also a good baseball player. My education journey saw me pursue a Diploma in Medical laboratory Sciences, and landed me a job as a technical person in a research project at Kenya Methodist University, Meru Campus. While at KeMU i pursued a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and later enrolled with the Institute of tropical medicine of Jomo Kenyatta University for Masters in Medical Microbiology while pursuing a 2^nd Diploma course in Project management at the Kenya Institute of Management. I am currently working as a teaching assistant in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at Kenya Methodist University – Nairobi Campus. My recent visit to Ulm University – Germany the birth place of Albert Einstein transformed my view of science to the better.  Between Mondays to Friday you will find me either instructing undergraduate students at KeMU or AMREF, or characterizing some DNA in the microbiology laboratory KEMRI HQ in pursuit of identifying some genes of infectious parasites. On Saturdays I join my teammates to play baseball at Karen, and on Sunday I will be dancing my way to the throne at Nairobi Pentecostal Church in Karen.

During my stay in meru, love blossomed between me and a young girl that I met first on the Thursday, 8^th day of June 2006 at 5:15 pm. I convinced her we could live a manageable life together, and true to my conviction, after four years of sweets and babes, we said yes I do on 21^st August 2010.

God blessed us with our first born daughter, Natalia Mwendwa, who has just turned one.

My desire for public speaking got compounded while watching an interview on NTV and some voracious thirst, clutched my gullet. I purpose to go under the elephant, provided, I come out a better speaker but if the elephant tramples on me and I die, I will know I died trying.

When I visited one website for public speakers I found a testimony of a young man whose desire was to know how to speak, and he says “I want to speak and presidents listen, I want to speak  and men cry, I want to speak and wars cease” and I asked what else do I need. I am here because I want to know how to speak, now that I know how to talk!

When life gives you lemons- The story of a brother, the story of a friend!

When life gives lemons, make lemonade!

When a child is born, joy, ululations, smiles and chuckles of laughter fill the air. There is always hope that the child will grow in an exponential trajectory. The same was for Peter Kanyonyo Oloise, even though he was born in moderate paucity. I will share with you the story of a dear friend, the story of a brother. Peter Kanyonyo Oloise. A story of pain but a story of triumph

Kanyonyo was born in the midst of hope. This hope however dissipated when Kanyonyo was struck by Juvenile Osteoporosis at the tender age of 6 months. Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones and very unlikely to occur in children according to W.H.O. His bones became brittle and it took him seven years to start walking. But even then his weak bones made his walking a disheartening, laborious and painful experience. The weak willed would have given up but not Kanyonyo. He pursued his studies with vigour, cruising through the challenges and completed his secondary education. He not only passed his exams but also his power of pathos and steely determination won him every mans admiration.

Kanyonyo lived with my family from the age of 25. Living close to him, I experienced first-hand the special traits of this man. As Kanyonyo advanced in years, his weight increased and his weak bones could not carry him. At 30 kgs he turned to crutches for support as he could no longer walk freely. Quite often I had to assist him move. We normally used a bicycle for his movement but I remember a night when I had to hoist him on shoulders and carry him home after our bicycle got stuck in a muddy puddle after a heavy downpour. “You waddle like a duck, he would say hanging on my back”, as I struggled to get him through the muddy path home. His sense of humour never waned.

After high school, Kanyonyo decided to pursue Christian studies- one of his favorite areas of pedagogy. He completed a diploma course and was later admitted in a Pentecostal Bible College for a bachelor of arts degree in Theology. He graduated with first class honors, or what the Latin call "Magna cum laude" - with great honors, breaking a six year record in that college. This was all in stride. Kanyonyo married his longtime friend and sweetheart Sarah in a flamboyant wedding in year 2002. Some of the guests found it a complete spectacle when a beautiful woman said yes to a physically challenged man. But Kanyonyo would tell me “Titus,  I am marrying the most beautiful woman east of Sahara and north of Limpompo”. Kanyonyo started teaching at a local Bible college and to make his movement easier the community aided in buying him a car.

One early Morning while driving to see a couple friend (Peter and Eunice) in a town called Kibirichia, the car lost its axle while avoiding an oncoming track, veering off the road it somersaulted before crash-landing with a deadly thud. It was a horrific sight as shrieks and blood melded on the scene of the accident living on its trail, a wrecked vehicle and mortal agonies. Kanyonyo was hospitalized at Chogoria Mission hospital, undergoing a number of surgeries under an orthopedic surgeon. This horrible accident took him from crutches to using a wheelchair. And for a sometime he got wheeled to events, which he never missed as a local preacher and an admired celebrant. Kanyonyo would later get up from the wheelchair and pursue life as normal.

Two years down the line Kanyonyo and Sarah were blessed with a bouncing baby girl; Caron Soteria.  An intelligent girl and as sharp as a razor, then came Yobel Kanyonyo as handsome as a prince. Caron and Yobel became an amazing duo, a source of inspiration for every dawning day in Kanyonyo’s family – They also love their father like they did their heart beats. Kanyonyo and Sarah may have seen all brutality in life, but as a deer panting for a brook of water in the Kalahari desert, their undying resolve has kept them moving. They are a source of inspiration in my own backyard. They have broken the rubicon to remain strong under difficult circumstances of life.

Life has got its twists and turns but unflinching look at the discord of Kanyonyo’s life gives you a startling triumph of this physically impaired son of a woman. Let me give the three lessons I have learnt through Kanyonyo’s life and time

1.       Life may not be fair all times – therefore purpose to transcend every challenge – Kanyonyo could have looked back and died in self-pity but he chose to love himself   and turn his world around

2.       You snooze you lose – procrastination due to present challenges is a worthless endeavor. Opportunities can disappear in the blink of an eye. Despite the challenges do it now anyway. Just as Robin Sharma said in his book, “the best time to plant a tree was 40 years ago and the second best is now” You cannot afford to waste one more second. This was Kanyonyo’s principle

3.       Your present circumstances should not define your future. Kanyonyo suffered Osteoporosis,  walked in crutches, got into an accident, got into a wheelchair but now Peter Kanyonyo is a Father, a husband, a lecturer, a preacher, a mentor and believe you me, he is the last man standing in the village of my ancestors.

And I dare ask today, if Kanyonyo has made it – why not you- When life gives you a lemon – make lemonade!

Send the youth to National Youth Service and save the Nation

Let us save our young people. Let us save our nation. Let us make National Youth Service mandatory to all our young people. In May 2014, 48 years old Kamene lost her husband, brother and brother in law. Her two sons have been fighting for their dear lives and eyesight at Mutomo Catholic Mission Hospital. All victims of the toxic liquor which left more than 94 people. 94 people!!!  Barely a week earlier more than 10 people perished and dozens maimed in the suspected terror attacks in Mombasa and Nairobi. I would need another day to complete the litany of tragedies that have continued to bedevil our society.

Ladies and gentlemen the rains started beating us when thousands of young people stepped out into a life without meaningful engagement or employment. Idle, frustrated and hopeless. Their poverty and wretched destiny converted them to agents of death; Death to others through acts of crime and terrorism; Death to themselves through self-destruction. Drugs, illicit brews, crude weapons, guns, grenades and bombs – these time-bombs! We need change quickly!-  Let us make national youth service compulsory for all youth attaining 18 years of age. We may just salvage our nation! 

Established in 1964, the National Youth Service (or NYS) aimed at giving young people technical life skills training in carpentry, auto-mechanics, metal work, wood work, road construction etc. But also infused in them self-discipline, self-reliance, and most importantly patriotism through non-military national service national reconstruction and disaster response. For a period of time Kenyan high school graduates had to complete a three-month training session at NYS before joining University. This programme was scrapped in the late 1980s leaving the NYS for the few technical training students. We should re-introduce NYS training to give all the Kenyan youth a chance to be self reliant and patriotic

Take the case of the high levels of insecurity. Africa has been punched by an evolution of militia; such as Alshabab, Boko Haram, M23, Lord’s Resistance Army to name but a few. Taking advantage of youth’s desperation, militia leaders and terrorists arm the youth to unleash brutality.  Engaging the youth before they turn prey to these groups will prevent brainwashing and radicalization. It will give them a mental shift. And what better way than the NYS – The drills, the technical training, physical fitness training, the inculcation of high moral and patriotic standards will produce men and women willing to give faithful duty to their nation. A NYS graduate will not kill his fellow countryman at the whims of another.

Compulsory recruitment to NYS will also supplement our current education system, which is mainly academic. I am perturbed by the moral decadence of some of the young people in our Universities. In the NYS young men don’t walk with trousers sagging like soiled diapers, they don’t speak in coded dialect and concocted enunciation, nor will you find them idle chewing khat and drinking liquor. This is why we must send all secondary graduates to NYS for one year pre-university training. Later they can proceed to Universities or remain for further training.

National Youth Service will foster national unity, give our youth technical training and work experience. It will improve their self-reliance and instill discipline! When we send our youth to NYS we will achieve three things:
1. The NYS will protect our youth, our future, against negative influences such as radicalization. This will enhance our national security 
2.   It will give us a new disciplined generation that will be more patriotic and cohesive.  
3. Our youth will acquire skills to help them engage in meaningful employment 
I hope that in future our sons and daughters will not die from illicit brews. I hope that no youth will agree to shed blood or terrorize fellow countrymen. Because NYS will have given our country’s youth the fresh start they so urgently need.

The Plight of the African Elephant

Uncle! We have seen a dead Elephant! Exclaimed my 10 year old niece, after visiting the Tsavo National Park, tears dripping down her chin. She looked downcast and dejected. I later learnt that the elephant had been killed by poachers to serve the brutal ivory trade. At once I remembered the elephants of Tsavo, this big mammal, flapping its ears to send a breeze to the dry savannah. With a pair of tusks and a long trunk, browsing on the shrubs of the Nyika Plateau. But now it was no more, it lay down as carcass waiting to biodegrade and fertilize the soils of Tsavo. Today I will share with you 3 things about the plight of the African Elephant; the status of elephants in Africa, the Ivory trade menace and the way forward to curb poaching

1.        The state of Elephants in Africa

African elephants are being slaughtered at an unprecedented rate as demand for ivory continues unabated. According to World Wildlife fund, 35,000 African elephants were killed in 2012, representing the worst mass slaughter of elephants since the international ivory trade was banned in 1989.  African elephants have declined by 76 percent since in ten years; 86 elephants including 33 pregnant females were killed within a week in Chad. This story replicates in Congo, Tanzania, South Africa and Gabon. The Kenyans story is no different; we lost 384 elephants to poachers in 2013

2.        The Ivory trade menace

Ivory is in soaring demand in the Far East for ornaments. The UN secretary general says that illegal ivory trade may be an important source of funding for armed groups such as the Lord's Resistance Army and the Alshabab militant groups which terrorize East Africa. According to the global security body report, Poachers are using sophisticated weapons, high-technology to execute their mission.  They employ helicopters, night vision goggles, and satellite phones, gleaning information on the Internet and tracking elephant movements from satellite images. Very little of the wealth generated by illegal poaching trickles down to the people who actually do it. Local pigmy hunters of central Africa are paid as little as a carton of cigarettes for a pair of elephant tusks, which later fetch over $1,500 per kilo in Asia. And I ask; did these elephants have to die, so that we get nice ornaments

3.        The best way forward

Wildlife conservation society is calling for a suspension on the sale of all forms of ivory, which if implemented, would potentially cripple the illegal trade. Over 25 global wildlife organizations have committed to prevent further elephant poaching by directly targeting the chief drivers of this vice. This commitment dedicates funding to a triple pronged approach: “stop the killing,” “stop the trafficking,” and “stop the demand.”

It’s my hope that we’ll support our governments to retain this gigantic mammal in the national parks; I call upon African Presidents to make elephant tusks valueless, to help curb poaching, I call on parliaments to stiffen the laws against poaching and the judicial systems to ensure that poachers painfully pay for every blood of wildlife they shed.  With this I hope that one day my niece will get a chance to see a life elephant in the Tsavo national park. This is the state of African Elephants, the ivory trade menace and the best way to keeping the biggest mammal alive.