One basic thing Kidero should address urgently

People unlike rats and other tiny scavengers should put up best in clean environment where they can move and carry on their daily chores and without the risk of exposure to diseases.

Sellers at the Muthurwa market in Nairobi’s down town are however operating in deplorable situations that leave them at the mercy of God.

All entries to the market are apparently dump sites in acting capacity; buyers have to tip toe to access the market or risk walking with dirt and stench on their shoes.

Vegetable and fruit remains dominate the entrances, with mud and water that seems not to dry up worsening the situation.

Someone visiting that area of town for the first time would not get an impression of an existence of a market beyond the walls that are nearly falling off covered with tattered polythene papers hanging all over all working together to form an eyesore.

Sellers use the polythene bags as shelter from direct sunlight and rain; others cover the spaces meant for ventilation to create extra space to display their wares.

The market has no walk ways as merchandise has been placed all over, buyers risk paying damages should they accidentally step on a fruits spread on the ground from lack of enough stalls.

Health is a right of every person in the market be it a seller or a buyer; but when it rains, the market is rendered in a pathetic situation. For lack of shelter, goods are rained on and the cold exposes the people to various diseases especially those of respiratory nature.

One would wonder why the smell of urine fills up the air in the slightest of rain drops, leading to the question – are there enough toilets within this market and how well maintained are they?

Probably the revelation would explain why the overpopulated market has the ‘smell’ of a disease harboring environment.

At which point I say the Nairobi Governor Dr Evans Kidero has more than a plateful of issues to handle to fulfill his pledge of reviving Nairobi’s lost glory.

This market was constructed to improve the working environment of hawkers and keep them off the city centre. Several other markets may be in such a situation, however the case for Muthurwa is quite different as it does not to fulfill its intended purpose.

Trial

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Of timers

We are seated in a meeting being conducted in sessions that are scheduled to take place in intervals. Just before the meeting, attendants have got the time to catch up and familiarise with each other, a step that aids in ridding hostility off 'strangers' and which happens to be a common experience when people meet for the first time or when they get to interact in forums other than the work place or class room.

The sessions are fairly set apart and the breaks frequency considerable, however, human beings get bored quite often if the activity they are engaging in is not their creation or when it involves continuously sitting or even when it requires lengthy listening. It is interesting how easily people loose concentration and start scribbling on papers and available surfaces-making diagrams difficult to comprehend or that are hardly communicating, passing notes, whispering in others' ears (a sure sign of boredom) consequently causing interruption of thought for those who could be keenly following the person on stage or maybe forcing themselves to catch a point or two. The annoying lot will either stare blankly or practically place the heads on the table and go wild in their imagination; never mind the cause...though it could be a result of hunger, anger, disinterest-dare try bring them back to the present, it may turn out to be an ice breaker.

Every group of people has characters who each play a vital role in ensuring balance in the activities being conducted. There are the serious people, the joke crackers also known as ice breakers, there are the force-good-character or I want-to-appear-the-best-of-all people, the timers, the list can be endless depending on the type of people you meet. The serious people stick to the business of the day, joke crackers will throw in a joke or cause the rest to laugh by behaving cheeky amidst a serious issue happening therefore restoring a relaxed atmosphere-these are the type who will yawn loudly amidst silence in the room, I want-to-appear-the-best-of-all people do exactly that.

And now the timers.

Realise with the group listed a session can go for hours on end, consuming into other sessions' time and entirely disrupting the flow of events. What timers will do is ensure programmes run as planned, not that they have been appointed to do so but because it is in them and don't be good and want to tell them off. Actually we need them. When time for listening is out and it is question time, they will shout or whisper 'question time', when time for a whole event is out, they will be keen to pass word 'time up'. Notably, they start the alerts 5,4,3 minutes to time. When it's time to break for Lunch, they will scribble on paper cuttings 'lunch' or '12:54pm' and pass the cut outs round. As the cuttings go round, the speaker will accidentally note them and get the message. Some timers are bold enough to shout out-hunger, break, tired, and the like.

Truth is they play a necessary role. Those staring blankly and wondering when the session will end will be the first ones to sigh in relief once the timers manage to drive a point home. The scribblers get a chance to  give their pen a break, the serious ones will simply be complying. Well, the world has a way of accommodating every character trait.

Decide

Whatever you want to do with your life, steer it

What activity do you want to use most your time engaging in?

What do you want to do with that time that you are not too occupied-also known as free time?

What do you want to do with your friends, what significance do you want them to have in your life?

How do you want to react when someone crosses your line?

Would you prefer to use too much energy getting angry when you can save it for a better course by correcting a person who wrongs you?

Do you want to be a provider or a dependant?

Do you want to be a problem source or a problem solver? 
Would want to be the leader or the led?
Do you want to make decisions or to implement decisions made?

Decide.

Moment with the Creator

Going through the activities that characterize the life of human beings and also which are different for each individual, it is allowable for one to pause and think; just how did it all start?

A news reporter will wake up each day, having an event in mind to cover or ready to get to office and find an assignment waiting for them; a teacher, with a new topic to cover that day or may be determined to make a concept that didn’t find its way into the students’ brain sink; a mason, with the client’s assignment in mind or probably determined to nail a new contract that day; a serious student, ready to grasp a new concept for the day and probably for the future.

The various events that we all wake up to are bred nowhere else, but in our brains. In our minds. The brain is a powerful asset.

What if one wakes up one day and decides enough is enough with these life hassles, then sits and waits for the day to end then another and another! Do not imagine this because it is the most boring experience, any culprit would concur.

Life can be overwhelming, the ventures that people go into are at times enough to make them forget some aspects of their life; that people are social beings; that people are forgetful and this amounts to negligence; that people are religious if not superstitious; that people are not like wild animals- wild animals are of different kinds, some are marine while others are terrestrial, unlike human beings that are terrestrial, they only turn marine on improvised survival means. The responsibilities that people wake up to are too many that at times they- as dedicated and overburdened mothers would say- ‘forget themselves’.

Forgetting oneself here includes forgetting the ‘God element’ that is a characteristic of every man, I mean human being. Forgetting oneself also includes being unaware of what impact one has to those around them and vice versa.

People and especially Africans are notoriously religious-it has been said. There is a great element of truth here. Now, this takes me back to the County edition that NTV Kenya has been showing for quite a while. The different counties in Kenya are demarcated mostly on the bases of culture or rather peoples’ background. A common feature of many societies that were shown was the distinctive ancient believes that people living in the various localities held/hold.

There was this edition in Namatunga, Turkana County where they showed stones piled up in one place, all of different sizes and shapes, arranged not in any specific manner. The dwellers there believe they are remnants of people who failed to obey; as a result they turned into stones. The ground there was regarded as holy-place of worship. From the difference in height and width of the stones, I could imagine they were people of different sizes; some slim, others plumb, some short, others tall. The small stones, well, maybe they were the toddlers who were accompanying their parents but when the punishment -read capital punishment, like Troy Davis’- struck, they too fell culprits.

What happened those days as is written, in the Bible about Sodom and Gomorrah! When Lot’s wife turned back to look at the city, she turned into a pillar of salt.

The two stories depict the aftermath of what people believe in or rather, that people will attribute certain happenings to a supreme being, which is okey and it keeps people moving, it makes people stick to upright modes of behaviour, it makes people keep up good deeds, it helps protect the ‘weaklings’ from the adversities of the ‘powerful’.

Now, moment with the creator; it is a worth concern to take a break from the usual do’s and acknowledge the creator/ God/ the Supremacy at any given time. Many times one will only remember or better phrased, be prompted to mention the name God or Jesus when in trouble and occasionally unnecessarily!

It is easy to spend a whole day chatting with friends and catching up but rarely does one give even a single minute to acknowledge God, just to be thankful, let alone ask for guidance. But worship is here to stay; from the efforts different religions are giving to establish modern prayer facilities. A visit to the ‘Resurrection Garden’ in Karen perfectly demonstrates this. The modern touch given to this place of worship is just encouraging, it puts you in a Godly mood; you just don’t talk anyhow unless you are talking to your God, you just don’t eat anyhow, unless you are partaking the body and blood of Christ, you just don’t loiter, the message of God inscribed on well cut walls amidst perfectly manicured vegetation will call you to stand, read and reflect.

I would call it preservation of heritage. Though the Bible content doesn’t change, it is quite a good effort to deliver the same message but through different avenues. A moment with the creator. Take time and pray; take time alone, or with others, to be with your creator. Our ancestors did it. It is a way of life that has stood the test of time, others come and go but this one is here to stay.