UoN's Mercy Keino's death: This was avoidable.

My heart goes out to the family of Mercy Keino the MA student who was found dead along Waiyaki Way. When a University student dies, the whole country goes at a loss because the government spends a lot of money to produce a graduate. Parents and friends put in more money and social support as well, so it is a double loss.

The University of Nairobi is in the city of Nairobi and the city of Nairobi is in the sun.It is always hot in 'Main'  as it is popularly known. For a twenty five year old lady to get access to a party in the upmarket suburbs where a member of parliament is in attendance is in itself a statement. Unlike other public universities, these students have to contend with high costs of living in the city yet their demographic is the same as the other campuses in upcountry towns. This is why many students are vulnerable to many crooks who take advantage of them.

The student leaders have threatened to name the big shots who take a shot at their lady colleagues if the police do not arrest the people responsible for Mercy's death. This will not  answer the question but throw the whole issue into a spin. Having lived a full life in the same campus; the drinking sprees, student leadership and activism, and many more 'extra curriculum activities,' it is by God's grace that I did not end up like Mercy. The crux of the matter is to differentiate the important from the urgent and to delay gratification until you can enjoy it with full personal responsibility and control.

1 Corinthians 10:23: we are allowed to do everything but not everything is beneficial.

kenyatta otieno-  since 1978

Ouuch: Its painful but good

I hate suffering, of any kind weather my own or someone’s, deserved or undeserved. I fringe at the sight of human suffering especially the avoidable type, yet everyone has to drink from the cup of suffering. I have accepted that I cannot claim to understand what someone is going through because it is only they who know the bitterness of the contents of that cup. Sometimes, like it happened to Christ on Golgotha, I just watch and wait to see them when it is all over.

There are Geological principles I learned that are real in life, metamorphosim is one of them. Limestone is a sedimentary rock made up of calcium carbonate that can be shaped into blocks easily by hand held tools. On the other hand marble is a metamorphic rock made up of calcium carbonate but can only be cut and shaped by machines.

Metamorphose is a Latin word for change. Sedimentary and igneous rocks undergo change to become metamorphic rocks. The change occurs due to increase in pressure and temperature over time. It is these change that make marble to be harder than limestone. I have just come through a rough patch and I can say that in the discomfort one does not always understand that what does not kill you just ends up to make you stronger. When the pressures of life raise the temperatures in your heart, remember that it is well.

It happened to Moses, David and many others in the olden days, and yes there you are. You are going to make it!

© kenyatta otieno   since 1978

CURSE of Success:

As Kenyans made fun and mourned our marathoner Samuel Wanjiru Kamau, I kept thinking about many gifted people who have not made it in life or have died young. Talent is not enough, and not everyone who is highly gifted is bound to make it in life. Success in many cases becomes a hangman's noose, and the victim will go through the door to his doom.

Fredy Adu, resembled greatness on the football pitch at the age of ten. His resemblance to the great Pele just made it look like he will make it big before he turned twenty. Sportswear giant Nike and other brands scrambled for his signature before he got into his teens. The irony is that at the age of twenty two, today Fredy Adu does not have a club after stints in Portugal and other European leagues.

That is the big league, but on the ground level, it happens a lot, the people who looked destined for greatness never make it. They are all around us so we have to find a way to mitigate these great losses. To lift up those who fall and push forward those are strong enough.There has to be a support system around these great characters or else success will be like handing them a rope to hang themselves.

The preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes got this long time ago; Ecclesiastes 9:11 (The Message)

I took another walk around the neighborhood and realized that on this earth as it is—

   The race is not always to the swift,
   Nor the battle to the strong,
   Nor satisfaction to the wise,
   Nor riches to the smart,
   Nor grace to the learned.
   Sooner or later bad luck hits us all.

Kigeugeu: Why we can avoid faking it.

For a work of art to be successful in song, act or painting it must tickle the emotions of people. The song kigeugeu (untrustworthy) has been a hit in Kenya in the recent past. This means that we can identify with the theme of the song. Why would people be so unashamedly unreliable and untrustworthy? The demands and stakes of life are so high that we can not avoid to  sacrifice our integrity.

I went to a Campus which also had a medical school unit; we had a morgue right inside campus. My first time to enter the morgue, I came out with a new mindset. I saw a whole bunch of naked corpses of different ages and stages in life, lying on tables. I could classify every corpse by social status yet they were all lying lifeless. The beautiful and not so beautiful, the wealthy and poor shared a roof and a table. It did not matter if you had bravely borne a serious illness or you met death suddenly. Death had aggregated their lives yet to make up for their shortcomings, their friends and relatives were preparing to send them off in a way that befits a status they did not need.

We are all rats, running in a maze for a life we won’t come out of alive. I always have this drive to prove myself, to show the world that I can do it and that I can make it. There is always this drive to get out and fight for a piece of pie I don’t even know. This kind of life is stressful, boring, energy consuming and empty to the core. I want to be perfect, get the perfect job and a perfect spouse too. These desires are enough to make me cut corners and fake it.

We still do everything to keep up with the rest. The world is so competitive that even children no longer have time and space to grow; they have to be perfect from birth. The world is not patient if you cannot meet the cut, and no one will wait for you to get up and learn from your mistakes. If you are not worth the part, someone from China is ready to replace you in this global village.

Do you feel caught in the cross hairs of a sniper you can only sense his presence but you can’t see? It is a life that one needs to always calibrate just to remain focused. Jesus Christ who transformed Simon (swaying reed) into Peter (a rock) graciously enables us to always return to base and study the map of life. I don’t have to prove myself to anyone, he has justified me, I just need to sit at his feet and hear from him. Without this I will be a kigeugeu.

© Copyright 5th June 2011

Niko Gauge; Alcohol and Salvation

Is it right for a Christian to drink alcohol? I was taking a bus to Kawangware which is a surburb west of Nairobi City. The book I was reading on King David must have caught  the eye of a young man seated next to me, and he posed the aforementioned question. The question of alcohol was bugging the youth in his church. There is no text in the bible which clearly spells out that alcohol is sin, but the bible dicourages people from drinking alcohol.

The late political satirist Wahome Mutahi alias Whispers wrote about his drinking escapedes many times. He would document how he enterd a pub, ordered his first drink then go ahead and describe the entire setting. Then he would write how the bar maid is not physically endowed just falling short of calling her ugly. However on his fourth drink, the said lady starts to look beautiful, he flirts with her and buys her a drink. The rest I will hand over to your imagination.

In the book  'Art of War' we are told to be very careful not to venture into the enemy's teritory, because you will be exposing yourself to attacks. Our culture does not encourage responsible drinking, so going out for a drink has many other activities attached to it. I would rather be safe than sorry. With time, if you do not end up with a drinking problem you become tolerant; where you can spend so much money and time on alcohol with little effect on you but with a heavy damage to your internal organs.

To look cool in our times alcohol is one component you must factor in. It is about a choice to appear cool or play safe. If you havent started, keep off, if you are in, reduce intake with the sole purpose of quiting completely.