Kenzie Kahuria

On the eleventh day, of the eleventh month in the eleventh year of the twenty first century, a baby boy was born. The birth of Kenzie Kahuria was most timely . In fact it is one of those best moments in life when a couple awaits their most treasured blessing. When the painful moments are quickly being sent to the recycle bin and joy is fast and rapidly taking over the scene. I have passed through many stages and moments in life but i must say that this is one of the most memorable moments of my life perhaps only next to the day i said 'i do'. You see i was seeing what will be the most valuable and important marks of my life. It reminds me of those science classes in primary school when we would outline the characteristics of living things. And those characteristics were arranged in such a way as to say, ' and last but not least, living things reproduce'. So now there is enough proof that Hellen and i are living.

A few days before this happened we have been going through what i called, 'the long wait'. So now the long wait is over and the results of waiting evident. And this boy seems to understand why he had to wait. He is so relaxed and does not want to live in the naivety of a one day old human being. Perhaps we thought he feared the Al Shabaab and the free fall of the Kenya shilling. But as for him, he looks quite okay and not a chink of fear is on his face, not an expression of tension is on his eyes, nor a mark of worry on his gaze. He does not seem to be in any hurry to complete tasks which means he is well on schedule; what is more, he lives in a way to say that though he took a little longer to come to this world, he is well on track. May be he wanted to be born on a day like this with so many alike digits. 11-11-11. He looks happy and content.

Of course it is too early to tell whether he takes after the Dad or the Mum, although i have no problem with whatever he takes from either of us. He has every right to be what he deserves to be, what he is made to be and of course when he is grown, what he wants to be.
And so with the powers vested in me as the Head of this family, i take this opportunity to welcome Kenzie Kahuria to be one of us and to be a source of our joy, to be a reason why we labour day and night and to be a trigger to our anticipated future. Kenzie you are our joy, you are God's precious gift. You are so handsome and you confirm to us that your Mum and Dad are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are so grateful to God that He saw it right that you come to this world through us and be part of us. We will endeavour to fulfill our part towards completing whatever it is that God intends us to do to make you the man He wants you to be. We love you with all our hearts.

This Inflation Thing

Beloved Kenyans have had to tire
And endure the streets of mire
No more comfort atop the tire
In the heart it feels like fire
For none can take the note of need dire

Tis now become a great bad pain
And the cry always was vain
It touches not the affection main
Even while the Heavens shower rain
The common man is just a grain

So as they go up and down the town
They feel just to fall down
And have all cause so to frown
For what they feel never is known
By those who rule the town

The trouble has turned most
As up and up goes the cost
And down and down all hope is lost
So when the air has turned frost
They only curse the power ghost

What is this thing inflation?
It’s become a serious infection
And the economy has lost motion
And do I even have to mention?

Anyone up there care to hear?
Any thither hold our plight dear?
As we count each day in the year
Will we also count rise in fear?
And is the solution near?

The Long Wait

It is said that women are quicker in decision making than men; and this is portrayed right from the word go, I mean from day one in this world. Actually before birth. When time is due to make a decision, a man will still be debating within himself and try to bring into perspective all logic and rationality. A story is told of a man who had his family go a day without food because when he was asked for money to buy food, he reacted very harshly, "What do you mean? But we did a major shopping just the other day." That was his first reaction and so everyone thought he would give money anyway. But he took all his time and finally left the house. He didn't mean to starve his family. It’s just that he took all his time trying to calculate whether that rate of consumption was reasonable, with the current economic trends and high inflation not forgetting the free fall of the Kenya shilling which the CBK governor had not managed to reverse. Finally he forgot about giving money and he is those kind of men who insist on being told something only once so no one would have reminded him. Perhaps if the same information was given to a woman, she would have provided food first and then followed on the consumption rates later.
well, whether the decisions made by either the men or the women are always right and wise is a subject we can explore in another forum. These days one has to be careful when making gender statements lest you find yourself being another Kiraitu Murungi who had to apologize to Kenyan women after using a weird analogy about women sexuality to refer to an action made by donors. I will not repeat the statement here.
Right now I want to talk about basic decision making and what effect it can have on a normal man like me who is writing this article in the house waiting for someone special to come. In other words I am in the house in the name of paternity leave but the person who made me take this leave has refused to come. The baby is still contemplating; perhaps wondering the Kalonzo Musyoka way, " Nitoke, ama ningoje? Naweza kutoka leo, aaa lakini inakaa kuna baridi sana. Pengine nitoke kesho" If the baby was in a position to read the external environment, perhaps I would be blaming the delay on the fact that the baby has heard us talk of Alshabbab and the free fall of the Kenya shilling and you know those are two good reasons enough to postpone a major decision.

Yesterday a colleague scared me when she told me to pray that the baby does not come out suckling the finger, " it has happened before and it can happen again", she said. " You know when the baby is fully grown, he might start living the external life in an internal environment and start doing those things allowed only out here, like helping himself/herself". And while she continued, I was deeply in thought and along the conversation I said. " but why would a baby want to continue staying in there yet there is hardly enough space right now?" and the reply was home, " If he is a boy, we understand; men take long to decide." That was enough and I left to continue waiting for the baby. I will be able to confirm whether that statement will see the light of day. Of course at this juncture I will not hastily conclude that the baby has delayed because he must be a boy. I am a statistician and I can tell you that such a claim must be supported accordingly. This is when we start talking of samples. How many babies were interviewed or observed, how many boys came out on the due date versus girls. So this discussion will be continued when such statistics are available.

For now I am praying God for patience. This is the time I want to hear words like the appointed time and not the expected time. I want someone to remind me that God works with opportune timing and not chronological timing. I need the assurance that this is just a technical delay, perhaps even a miscalculation and it has no consequences whatsoever. And the best talk of course would be the one about the fact that I’m just being too anxious and I am easily forgiven since it is my first experience. In future someone tell me to sober up. And of course the perfect scapegoat, that this is just a dream and when I wake up I will realize that the due date had not come. Shall we say some dreams are long but they are just dreams?

Well, I must say I am excited at the fact that I will be a Dad in a short while and that nature is now revenging and letting me be called what I have called Mr. Kahuria for almost thirty years. You know you are fully grown when such things happen and when things that seemed unfathomable are now your portion. This is a complete metamorphosis and I must say it’s worth the waiting. So for now just know that I am waiting and I will continue waiting. I can almost hear the baby saying it the Kibaki way, "hamtangoja saaana! Haaapaana! Ni kidogo tu!" Watch this space.