Since the beginning of June I have been holed by choice in the sleepy village of Gul Kamwamba on the shores of a small stream, we call Nyameme; Gul is to be exact a forgotten community on the administrative boundary of South and East Gem Locations in Siaya County. In these trenches, to watch TV one has to scale the hills and travel 3km to places with electricity connection, as homes with solar and M-KOPA TV sets utilize their tiny TVs on the pleasure and temperament of Safaricom, the provider who clip the service one minute upon default in repayment of their hire purchase terms to villagers.
My mother’s M-KOPA was however destroyed by lightning that struck her home and with it wilted three large blue gum trees that were ready for timber. So for three weeks that I did not watched news or visited social and corporate media, I must say life was different. Imagine life without the never ceasing hype of ridiculous narratives, the purity that attends to such life, is out of this world.
Waking up to dewy grass, chirping and singing of birds, barking dogs, fading sounds of crickets and frogs supposedly winding down to start their hibernation from peeking sunrays and marauding predators is refreshing. Odhiambo the man who takes care of our livestock starts crisscrossing the compound tethering goats and cows to mows and boos interrupted only by racing chickens, excited to be free from night long captivity in my estimation. With this “whole new world out there” I now understand what the late Kijana Wamalwa, a cartoon enthusiast, meant when he uttered those words to describe to a curious journalist the source of his craze about what really happens in the cartoon world. The late Vice President loved watching Tom and Jerry, a pair that is ever less upset, less angry, less hopeless and less stressed and from this inspiration he drew his (political) energy I imagine.
Arguably if we stop watching our mainstream news and feeding on corporate social media our nerves are likely to benefit the most. But let me also confess that the moments I describe in the village as unsullied is what psychologists in the 60s feared would be humanity’s biggest threat – boredom. These fears it would appear sent humanity on a frenzy to solve the “boredom pandemic” and today’s “interesting times” – short work hours, financial security thanks to personal loans and gambling opportunities, wheeled transport public and private, regular elections – is perhaps turning out to be too interesting.
In the cities where many have run to chase the elusive ‘American’ dream, traffic has become impossible with people spending hours on end commuting between homes and workplaces standing; Workloads are impossible so workspaces are open 24 hours with people putting in extra hours to up their meager salaries and wages. Prices of crucial commodities and accommodation keep leaping higher as wages remain constant. Voting and payment of taxes has done nothing to improve the dysfunctional city and its traffic congestion, crumbling infrastructure, homelessness and a failed public education.
In the end a very deranged, angry, hopeless and vulnerable urban citizen has emerged. As a Kenyan who was born in Nairobi, schooled in Ramula for seven years and then proceeded to complete High School and College in Nairobi I appreciate the serenity that engulfed me for three weeks in Gul. I fret at the thought of going back to the city, I cant imagine the thought of having to stand the confused and lazy millennials roaming every street without any purpose listening to terrible music, most with College over schooling but very badly educated. Community, civic engagement and convention I can report are essential ingredients of a great society.
Every young writer including odhiambo ojiro would love to interact with this legion of writing.
Good read. Nostalgic