Encounters, of a magical kind

So Obama was in town

briefly

and he went straight to rural Siaya to launch a centre that his sister Auma built

(photo credit Sauti Kuu facebook page)

for me, what was more amazing was the little children who got to meet him first hand, a man whose roots can undoubtedly be traced to the same rural village they call home and here he was, right in front of them, a testament that indeed anything is possible

i can only imagine their amazement

their curiosity

am sure, for many, they will never forget that day

and when the reporter interviewed some of them later, in their school compound

Senator Barack Obama Primary School, no less!

they narrated with childish innocence and wonder, at how he gave them tips on playing basketball etc

loved it!

there are many people, whom am sure, can narrate the details of such encounters in their lives, whether its a school mentorship function, etc....when a statement by one individual made a profound impact in their lives, lessons which they carry to this day!

may this be such a moment for these children

may they all soar higher than the skies

encounters

of a magical kind

are ....

magical!

The sound of hope & possibility

At one point, I grew up in an estate in Langata and it was right next to Malezi School....In the early morning of a new term, you could hear the lil ones crying since they missed home...and this was a new place for them. With time they settled in and now all you could here was nursery rhymes being recited over and over and over again.

The one incident that makes me laugh till today is when they used to sing......Oh Mwana Mberi, Oh Mwana Mberi..... a popular Luhya song in praise of first borns...but they sang it so slowly that my mum was like...eish...these kids are singing the song as if they are drunkards!!! LOL

Now I stay near a school and I love the sound of children singing in the background and children laughing and screaming with glee during breaks...I really admire teachers and how they can mold children from blank slates to what we know them to be!!!

Am reminded of this today...coincidentally at work, am also next to a school and these sounds fill the air all the time....the sounds of hope & infinite possibilities...

God bless our lil children!

Nephew numero uno!!

My small sister got a baby 12 years ago today

This was the first baby in our house after a long time....ehh....given that she is the last born...and therefore the 'baby' of the house :)

So we stared at the boy in fascination and indeed jumped everytime he so much as had a cough - one time a contingent rushed him  and his mum to hospital since he had thrown up and the amused doctor concluded the 'consultation' by saying...eh....next time, hold him up in this (angled) position when he is feeding ...sawa....eh...pass by the receptionist/cashier on your way out!!

Here we are, 12 years later - a fine kid to be around and loved by all his other cousins and friends. Eight more grandkids have popped for my parents, and to me, I always maintain that that this boy exposed us to what it means to be an aunty or uncle and of course later a parent!!

My dearest nephew, may Grace and Peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!! (2 Peter 2).

Wishing happy birthday to Nephew No 1, we love you loads!!

May you have many many many more!! <3 <3 <3 <3

Journal it all...

I like journals and diaries!

I have keeping them for a long long time, and when I got my kids, I decided to also keep a journal for them - so I got me a good quaity red notebook to jot down anything and almost everything. I write down the things they do, the funny remarks they make...I have been doing this since January 2009 when my daughter was one month old!...sometimes going through it makes for such interesting reading!

I put in major events like visit of Pope, of Obama etc and also the more simple entries like this one....when I got these simple brown plastic shoes for my son (just for playing around the house)

and the minute i gave him, he said, '...SITAKI AKAI  MART (meaning I dont like them, they are not smart!!)

Whats in a name?

Whats your name? Such an important link to our identity...I have for so long been fascinated by names and particularly love the Swahili ones

Amani  -Peace
Ahsante - Thank you
Ahadi - Promise
Adili - minerals?? or something precious
Amina /Amin - Amen
Bahati - Luck
Baraka - Blessing
Chausiku  - Night
Deni?? / Debt (with a light touch)
E
Fadhili
Faraji - console
G
Hawa - Eve
Imani - Faith
Jabari - brave
Juma - Friday
Kweli - Truth
Khamisi - Thursday
Lulu - is this swa? Pearl
Maisha - Live
Mapenzi - Loves??
Miujiza - miracle
Mzazi - Parent
Mali - Wealth
Mfalme - King
Malaika -  Angel
Malkia - Queen
Neema - Grace
Nuru - Light
Nia - Purpose
O
Pendo - Love
Pili - second
Raha - Happiness
Rafik - friend
Rehema - what is this in Swahili?
Rukia - not sure what this means...
Safari - journey
Sifa - Praise
Safia/Safi - Pure
Subira -Patience
Shuja - warrior?
Tausi - Peacock
Tatu - Third one
Tamasha - celebration
Uhuru - Liberty/ togetherness
V
Wema - goodness?
Yasmine - Jasmine flower
Yusuf - Joseph
Yona - John
Yudah - Judas?
Zawadi - gift
Zuri - beautiful

in English, some are nice sounding
A
Blessing
Courage
Desire  - sounds better in French
Divine - love this name
Ernest
Faith
Fortunate
Grace
Goodluck!
Happiness
Holy
Hope
Hossanna
Innocent
Immaculate
Joy
K
Liberty
M
N
O
Peace
Patience
Precious
Pious
Q
Rejoice
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z

Then there are those named from Old Testament!!
Absalom / Abraham
Bethsheba / Benjamin
Caleb
Daniel
Elkanah / Egypt?
F
Gideon / Genesis
Habakuk / Hannah
Isiaih / Israel
Jethro / Jericho?
K
L
Meshack/ Melchizedek / Mordecai
Naphtali / Naomi
Obadiah / Obed
Phinelias
Q
Rahab
Sirak / Shadrack
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Zebadiah / Ziporah

Or from various communities
Rain - Akoth, Wambua
Night - Atieno
Twins - Adongo and Apiyo / Nyangoma and Nyakato / Isingoma and Kato
Friday - Juma, Guyo, Guyato

Or famous people...and I know people named as follows
Isaac Newton
Henry Kissinger
Tom Mboya
Nelson Mandela
Madeline Albright
Kwame
Sankara
Sekoh



Fill in the gaps!

Need to give up something this Lent

Lent is here with us again

So I was trying to have a conversation with my children on the meaning of Lent and the actions we can take. So one issue is that we need to give up something we love to do or eat as a way of focusing on God alone this period

I ask my son....so what will you give up? he promptly says....CABBAGE!!....am like, you dont like cabbage that much anyways....yes, he says....so i give it up (aiii lesson lost!!)...I try again....how about chicken?....or phone.....he looks distraught!!

Will try again tomorrow.....for now, let me try and rephrase the essence of Lent... :)

Sunday mass

Holy Mass is normally a sombre affair...but its been a while since I had a sombre mass on a Sunday...

Today my youngest made some two other friends of the same age (around 3yrs) and they were running up and down the stairs along the aisles. Of course some people were looking back and wondering whose children are these....cant they be tamed? but i was busy enjoying the mass and not caring a bit about the noise being made by the kids...you see, i was once vindicated by a priest

He mentioned clearly that the church is made up of parents and their children. mass and jumuia should represent the family. And so in church, if the kids are in mass and a bit distracted, thats alright (this was my interpretention). and he went on to add that if you miss parts of the mass because you had to calm down the baby outside the doors of the church, then you are still welcome to partake in the Holy Communion, because you were doing Gods work, being a mother is a vocation!! how about that??

No more guilt trips for me!

Am so vindicated! so I sing along happily as my child tries to entertain himself...and of course try and control the kid  abit so he is not  a total distraction to the other members of the congregation!

Homework...truth be told....

My evening routine comprises of checking homework for the kids, ensuring the corrections are done and signing off the diary

I find this task daunting at times, especially with some subjects which seem to have changed over time, making me no longer confident in making any remarks on how they have done it. Take for instance Kiswahili...now there is ngeli ya Li-Ya....say what?? yep...that was my reaction too. And the words that go with it sound like mti...miti....(no its not that one)...but one that seemed to have no relation to this Li_Ya business!! I give up!!

So, my biased self only truly checks maths homework, because this am sure has not and cannot change!!

My little shadow

My kids generally have socks on even if hot....so long as they are in the house...

So when they walk around the house, you can't actually hear them....and soon you turn abruptly and a little person was right there and you almost topple them

This is the beauty of having tiny tots around you. The love is underconditional; so long as you are within the house they follow you everywhere you are...your little shadow... and i mean everywhere. It can be overwhelming sometimes but you must remind yourself that soon they will be too big to carry; and too opinionated to answer to your every call

I love this stage!!

So let me savour the moment!

Family tree

The other day I set out to see whether I could chart out a family tree for my kids

The connections were so many  the diagram made no sense at all..and of course, since for such dilemmas one promptly turns to Dr Google and sure enough there are so many templates available. I was looking for the free one to download but kept being taken to trial pages...so I have abandoned this mission for a while! but note to self....I really need to do this one of these days!!

Hurry, hurry, quick, quick...

So recently as I was heading home, I saw this lady dragging her not so happy kid along the streets and this instantly brought back memories!!

Flashback to mid eighties growing up in Nairobi and generally, going into town center was not a matter of routine unless of course it was  a school day and you had to go to school (I was in a primary school in the middle of town!)

Anyways, it was a real treat when Mum selected one of us to take her to town. But before heading out, she had to lay the ground rules....hakuna kulia....hakuna kusema umechoka.....hakuna kusema you are hungry......and the list was endless.....so you find yourself in town....literally running beside her (she walks very very fast) and of course with time.....the treat is no longer a treat.....but indeed you are tired, you are hungry, you want to cry.....but remembering the rules.....you hang on; fighting back tears!! LOL....of course Mum knows you are tired so soon you enter an eatery and can have some soda/snacks...those were the days!!...simple things in life.....


Fastforward to today....and I still find myself doing the same thing. We pile into the car and I ask the kids to say the rules themselves (participatory approaches....hehehehehe) and since they already know them....the recite them without effort (of course, specifically add that sitalilia chips and only one item allowed when we enter the supermarket!!!)

I have become my Mum!! Not bad....not bad at all