From The Hole

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The response to yesterday’s piece has been surprisingly overwhelming. I have received – and still receives – a barrage of emails from people who are not only 28 but right up to 51. (If I haven’t responded to your email it’s because I haven’t gotten round to reading it, but I will and respond. Bear with me).

These emails were mainly from people who talk of their dead or dying dreams. People who whose ambitions have been slowed down by arthritis, accidents, bad decisions, economic factors,  people who wish they had a chance to education, people who are financially free but whose financial freedom has killed their relationships, people who are stuck in Europe packing cereal in a factory but afraid to come back home because in their words they will look like failures amongst their family and friends and people who offered to pay for Tony’s counselling session to help him get back on track.

You write one blog post and the Pandora’s Box flings right open. At the end of it all, I realised, we are all Tonys*. We all carry burdens over our shoulders when we leave our houses. We are weighted by insecurities. We live in fear of confronting ourselves. Some of us overcome these, some of us sink. It’s stupefying. Thanks for writing in and sharing your stories.

At 10pm I received an email from a gentleman telling me his story. I liked it and asked him if I could run it and he said sawa. I asked him if I could run it with his real name or he prefered to be anonymous  and he said his name is fine. The content of his story is stirring; it illustrates that race I was talking about jana. Maybe it will help someone.

His name is Njenga Kahiro. You hear guys in bars bragging that they started “from the bottom” and ati now they are here when they started from South C? Njenga started from the bottom- literally. The bottom of a pit latrine, to be precise. I hope Tony reads this and learns something from his journey.

I haven’t changed the language or tone of his email. Oh, and he turns 40 today, Happy Birthday, Njenga.

***

By Njenga Kahiro

 

Right off the bat, register me on the left hand side of your I-hate-Oyunga-Pala-fans list. Just below Jane Wambui and Peris Kibandi. That dispensed with, let me say I enjoyed reading you long post about life. And it got me thinking a lot about it. You see I am turning 40 tomorrow (or today depending on when you receive the email) and what a ride it has been and I ain’t done some shit yet.  I couldn’t agree more with the stuff you mentioned, the silly and not so silly lists we make, the wait and miss, the aim and score moments and the dilemmas we all have living this life.

Like Tony*, our 28 year old (once he is out, he belongs to The Gang) I did make a list when I was freshly out of college. I was unbelievably optimistic and full of theories of how life works. And I knew I would be a philosopher King, a proper politician who actually cares for people. But before that I would join the army and serve my country. I was so patriotic; any mosquito biting me would immediately hum the national anthem. And then shit happened.  It quickly dawned on me that no one gave a fuck how patriotic you were in ’99. If you came from the wrong part of the country, you let others be paid for being patriotic.

It took me a few months to transition from sweating patriotism to sweating real salty liquid digging toilets and water wells in Subukia. And fifteen feet below ground, with torn jeans shorts, stained off-white mutumba tee inscribed “Sun Over a beach” you don’t think about philosopher kings any more. You worry about real things like if Man Gitahi will drop a bucket full of soil on you and what a sorry epitaph that would make: “He died looking for water.”  “He died creating a resting place for shit.”

There are only so many toilets you can dig in one village. The guy who advised that toilets should be deeper than 6 feet and the guy who designed the tractor tyre thread should be sent to ISIS. My mining and sanitation jobs forced me, when I was above the ground, to re-evaluate my earlier list. How is it possible that a guy with upper second was digging latrines? I was dealing shit jobs, in an obscure village that Prof. Akonga (see I had to drop that name, he is the only Luhya who can pronounce avuncular) could identify on a map.  But good things happen and sometimes good advice is shit. If you find a guy digging a pit latrine do not tell him – If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. For fucks sake, deeper means more cash. And as my people say mbeca ni mbeca (cash is cash), who are you to look a 500 hundred bob note with a bad eye?

Back to my dilemma.  You are passing through Nairobi two years after college, your hands so calloused from all the mining and sanitation jobs you have endured that people mistake you for mukurino because you are avoiding shaking hands and just when you are about to board Mololine back to Nakuru, a familiar voice shouts your name: “Kahiro, niaje?”You turn and confirm that indeed the devil is a liar. The Philosophy major who drank half the time and whose grades belonged to the Defence League is in sharp suit, all clean cut and smiling like behind you is the camera shooting “O happy Days.” Besides him is that chick. You know her. She told you to stick to your lane, yes, near the students centre without actually uttering a word.

They are evidently doing well. They tell you that they work for a major electrical supplies company and that’s why they are in Nyamakima. Their cars are parked in less congested streets. You share banter and write down their number. Shit you don’t even own a phone two years after graduation. For those born the other day, owning a phone back in the day required one to make a strategic plan, run a complicated algorithm and face Mt Kenya two times a day and run round a Mugumo tree anti-clockwise once with a change to clockwise after 286 degrees.

With your calloused hands you head back to Nakuru and you don’t speak to anyone all the way and not because you don’t want to but you are trying to see where things went wrong and of course the son of Satan behind the wheel is driving like crazy. Isn’t it amazing that matatus can actually drive at 100kph and still get to Nakuru? Pre-Michuki matatus had a speed limit too, the lower limit which was like 150kph.

You get to Nakuru and try sending letters to the editor. You want to vent how shit this country is treating its talented young people. You have a total sample of two. You and perhaps that other guy being mistreated at Subukia Day. You get one letter published and you are overjoyed reading it on a borrowed newspaper at Mkulima’s newsstand. You photocopy the letter to the editor at the local bookshop and let the girl behind the counter know you are the author. She smiles at you and gives an extra copy (like you need it) and before the week is over, you are a celebrity in a town of 436 people. And it feels good.

A small NGO is setting shop in the town and they require a local organizer, a person ready to get their hands dirty. You tell them you work underground and your hands are permanently dirty. They like your vibe but they want a Forestry guy not a fucking anthropologist. You raise your game and convince them that anthropology is the holistic study man, forestry is just one subtopic. They hire you as a volunteer, unpaid. You are happy, you have a day job digging latrines and a side hustle organizing villagers to rehabilitate an important water catchment. You are giving it your all and you are actually enjoying it, working for free. It soon shows and they send you for training. You encounter fish fingers, strategic plans, budgets, sneers from more polished colleagues but you are so happy you are in the happening work that nothing is going to piss on your parade (who came up with that?).

Soon you are offered your first real pay, three and half years after graduation. You go to Subukia Shrine and give thanks. A nice girl comes along and with your still calloused hands; she becomes your friend, then your wife. Another dilemma comes in. Did I marry too early, too late? Will I be a good father, a good husband? Will I bring up this family on this salary? You go back to Subukia Shrine and miracle happens. After waiting for many years, the cellphone service finally comes to your neighbourhood and overnight you become Fundi wa Simu.

Safaricom and Kencell (I forget what it is called now) are selling their phones locked to the network. From your mining and sanitation business savings you purchase a computer, you convince Maru on Kenyatta Avenue to teach you unlocking the bloody phones and he sees something in your eyes and he agrees but not before you cough up. You go back to Subukia and advertise from all corners. Soon there is a line outside; you bring in the wife to help with selling cards while you handle the more important business of giving freedom to phones and their owners. Life is good. Junior is on the way. Dilemma again. Will I spend my life unlocking phones which is illegal anyway! You continue to volunteer (without pay) at the forestry place. You are now 28. Exactly like our chap, Tony.

You make a list again. You burnt the first one, half the shit didn’t happen but you are glad stuff you didn’t write happened. While volunteering you go to Nanyuki and fall in love with the mountain. You live the safety and beauty of the small town and move to a town with a reputation, a bad reputation that musicians (kikuyu ones) make songs and money out of. You are a pioneer, unlocking phones and repairing them. You have acquired an electronics degree from Mtaa University. You can solder the smallest of the ICs and your hands are steadier than Ben Carson’s. Soon the British Army soldiers discover that unlocking their phones in Kenya is a way cheaper than back in the UK. They come in droves. You even get to meet your old collegemate Dickson Migiro. He speaks with London Posh. Life is good. You even start cursing a lot more, sometimes with a Scottish accent. Bad Influence Douglas MacMillan.

Your hands are less calloused but your eyesight is not as good, you are concentrating too much on soldering ICs and repairing PCB Boards. During downtime you are teaching computers and fiddling with internet. You discover new interests. Accidently you come across a hot new field – Geographical Information Systems and you are hooked but you don’t know shit yet and those gatekeepers of the GIS Holy Grail let you know that but you are determined to hack it.

You study so hard, on your own, on bootleg software until the aforementioned gatekeepers finally to let you put your foot on the door. Cambridge University comes calling. They are looking for a guy ready to get their hands dirty. Mine are permanently dirty. I am soon out of town with a pay-cut that makes Missus very mad. She cannot understand how you leave your own business with Johnnies still willing to come unlock phones to go chase after elephants. I also don’t know how but I love the freedom that riding a bike in the vast plains of Laikipia bring.

I think on those long rides and I make a list. I am 32.

  1.       Ian is 7 years, he should stop being the acting last born
  2.       Climb Mt. Kenya
  3.       Finish a Masters
  4.       Stop paying rent (what’s the obsession with this one)
  5.       Travel the world

Today I am 40.  Ian is no longer the acting last born, Vanessa took that spot. I climbed Kilimanjaro then Mt. Kenya, I did a masters and graduated top of the class and I finally got a passport. And I have played foota with Usain Bolt.

And I am making another list. I am going to Bhutan (Oyunga Pala must have mentioned it) and I will write more often about the shit that happens when you look after elephants and I will jump from a plane when the sky diving guys in Diani offer a discount. And I will request Safaricom to bring Taro Hakase for the Jazz Festival. I reformed after all, I no longer unlock your phones.

What have I learnt after 40 years? Life happens at the pace of life. Biggest lesson? Mungu yuko.

***

Njenga Kahiro is the Programs Director for Zeitz Foundation (www.zeitzfoundation.org). He’s based on Segera Ranch in Laikipia.

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261 Comments
  1. It was a great post and had equally great teachings, that’s why it touched many people of different ages, thank you Biko.

    1. True Jane. Biko should share more replies from that piece. There must be alot more where that came from. Tafadhali let people be inspired

  2. We make lists, we burn lists and make other lists. Point is to never give up. Just keep running at your pace…And indeed Mungu yuko. Bless

    1. I know!I am hitting 25 this year and during the holidays I was in shagz and there was a buzz of activities so I kept on telling the folks that I need to get back to Nairobi to have quiet moments to write my new year resolutions…then my forty one year old aunt said…”when I was your age..I also set goals and resolutions…nowadays we just live one day at a time”
      Got back to the city and somehow my mind has refused to collect itself together towards writing my usual 20something goals all I know is that I have to learn how to swim this year.The rest will just fall in place…so am turning 25 in June with an open heart….ready to dance along to the music that plays…

      1. wow! Am turning 29 in April and my 2 new year resolutions are to Start my Masters program and go to driving school. Good thing, i dont write my resoultions, i live them. They are in my heart

      1. true, it’s probably making that slow ascent, soon enough you’ll be screaming down, adrenalin rush and all, things happen at their own time

  3. What timely posts..Indeed life happens at 21 I was gonna be married to my high school sweet heart at 31 am still waiting for Mr. “Drag him to the Right”…..Life indeed happens at its own pace.

  4. great post. Next time i wont be so hard on myself when i dont get something done as i wanted. Maybe alittle sulking and move on.

  5. Njenga Kahiro, you must be a relative of mine.. That piece is smoking hot but where you hate on oyungas fans I’ll give you a kick for that (don’t worry am only 48kgs so, it won’t hurt much)..
    @bikozulu I believe am religiously hooked to you (feels like cheating on oyunga)…

    Happiest born day Kahiro!.

  6. loved this. Life happens at the pace of life.Beautifull expression.I plan on climbing mt. Kenya this year.had my holidays in Laikipia county and loved it.Gorgeous place.thanks for the read. And indeed mungu yuko

  7. Wow!!! This is the best articles I’ve ever read by a guest writer!! Wonderful piece, Njenga, and very valuable lessons to take home. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

  8. Thanks Biko and Njenga, it goes without saying that it doesn’t matter how you start but rather how you finish. Humble beginnings are sure to get you a long way down the road.

  9. hahahaha! cursing with Scottish accent is quite hilarious 😀 I am also obsessed with getting my own house before 40…10 years to go hehehe

  10. Njenga Kahiro’s story is uplifting, from below the grass hehe to glory, congratulations. I am also a Program Manager at eKitabu. Selling ebooks from Kenyan and African authors and publishers.

  11. A good read from Njenga Kahiro. From his style, I suppose he is a good student of Biko. Bottom line ‘ Mungu Yuko’ Dont give up coz He aint done with you yet.

  12. I have found a new ‘home’ from where to refresh my thoughts and get inspired. This impact is reliably phenomenal. Thanks Biko and Family. This means a lot to me.

  13. Yeah indeed. Life happens at the pace of life. I did Industrial chemistry but it just isn’t working right I hope my site will one day transform to something better. www.evansagolla.wordpress.com

  14. Yesterday and today’s posts have made me take a look at life in a different perspective. I want to share all of it with a friend who was almost giving up in life. he even took to mocking God on social media, just because he has no job and money. He isn’t living the life he had hoped for after college. My advice to him, God’s time is always the best. To Biko and Njenga, thank you for the amazing piece.

  15. I loved this story. I loved the writing. But I absolutely loved the story. This is such a good story! Have I said I loved this story?

  16. I go through life thinking my place and circumstance is mine alone until I live and get to feel connected to so many like me living a struggle. Thanks Biko for connecting so many walking a tough walk, reminding us to take a pause and enjoy our walk. May take a while before I accomplish whats on my list, but at my own pace and time, I know I sure will figure it out soon. And Njenga Kahiro, you are a perfect example of courage and hope even when it was easy to give up. Digging those pit latrines sure is no joke! I can only imagine. Am inspired. Am reading David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell. I recommend it for readers in the gang. Njenga’s story is a revelation that there’s advantages in disadvantages and disadvantages in advantages. Will I allow myself to wallow in self pity? No! If Njenga made it against all odds stacked against him, I sure can. Biko, you you you! Thank man, a million. Yesterday’s piece was a gem.

  17. Many men want to climb mountains in their list,but thy get to 50 n thy realise the only thing they have been climbing(and stopped by now) is their wives,,oooh Life

  18. Chocolate man there should be a part 2 of from the hole. Whaaaat, I am in disbelief.
    http://www.treatsonabudget.co.ke/

  19. Trusting God in such a situation is quite something. I have been through this, pursuing a course I wasn’t passionate about. I am just 22 and I feel like I have had a fair share of life. Somehow, I keep hoping for a better tomorrow.

  20. Njenga Kahiro, I read this and laughed it mirrors my life so far. Looks like a perfect after school life of an Anthropologist, right before you find what you can specialize on, be good at it and make a living from it. Like you said, Mungu yuko.
    Amazing piece!

    1. Funny I read and and felt like writing Biko my story too. Though only similarities are clearing Colly 99, turning 40 this year and planning to jump out of a plane. .. heck I sold ICs not welded them…

  21. I no longer have resolutions but targets.i am more inclined to achieve them since i reward myself after. it all came from this statement………Did I marry too early, too late? Will I be a good father, a good husband? Will I bring up this family on this salary?

  22. What an article! Life lessons well put in a humorous way. It makes one want to read it several times. Hat off Njenga and Biko.

  23. And I agree with you,Mungu yupo and life happens at the pace of life.I think this is where being patient comes in,and, it is indeed a virtue..Great piece Njenga!

  24. A good reflection that reminds me that it’ts not about where or how one start in life but rather how we finish. I’ve been thinking about the many great people that I have interacted with and noted that very few of them; came from the “right” families, went to the “right” schools and while there took the “right” courses but in all, God’s divine plans override all our strategies, advantages or disadvantages. Ours is to trust that He has good plans for us and take our position. Wherever our circumstances lead us, being found faithful even in our most humble settings. Indeed, Mungu yuko!

  25. Njenga Kahiro,

    Kenya Programme Director,

    Laikipia.

    Njenga Kahiro has worked on community-based conservation projects in north-central Kenya for the last 15 years, first as a reforestation coordinator for a community forest project and then as livelihoods officer for the UK Darwin Initiative funded Laikipia Elephant Project. Since 2009, he has worked for Zeitz Foundation running both conservation and community programmes until January 2013 when he assumed more responsibility as the ZF Laikipia Program manager. In June 2015, he was appointed the Director of the Zeitz Foundation responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of the Zeitz Foundation Kenya Programmes

    He holds an MSc. in Conservation and Tourism from the University of Kent, UK. He is a 2011 Society for Conservation GIS International Conservation Scholar and a 2013 Kinship Conservation Fellow. His Interests are in privately protected and funded natural areas and their contribution to the overall national conservation efforts. His work has been on the interface between community led approaches in biodiversity management and involvement of private capital in making it all work for both the communities and the investors.

    1. It’s amazing to hear from someone who works with GIS. K.U offers a free course to the school of environment students but only like seven of us ever show up for class.

  26. Trying to understand life is a futile exercise, let it just happen at its own pace. Many have been inspired. Thank you Biko.

  27. life is like flying a kite when you run it you sustain it up, when you stop it comes down, but if you live it for with the control of the wind you will achieve things beyond your imagination, effort or even education or connections can offer. & that’s the Holy Spirit.

  28. Biko have you considered being a pastor?

    This prayer is mainly for people who talk of their dead or dying dreams. People who whose ambitions have been slowed down by arthritis, accidents, bad decisions, economic factors( Can I hear Amen?), people who wish they had a chance to education, people who are financially free but whose financial freedom has killed their relationships, people who are stuck in Europe packing cereal in a factory but afraid to come back home because in their words they will look like failures amongst their family and friends(Heleluya). Tuma mpesa to receive your miracle healing today

  29. owning a phone back in the day required one to make a strategic plan, run a complicated algorithm and face Mt Kenya two times a day and run round a Mugumo tree anti-clockwise once with a change to clockwise after 286 degrees,,,,, This is family ,online family that our *dad* Biko heads. Mungu Yupo . Thanks for sharing

  30. Great stuff Kahiro…your resilience is admirable. and happy birthday… My take home is never give up, and God indeed is in control

  31. jeez man. what can I say. by the way I was a great fan of oyuga Pala. I once send him an article about house girls and maid job, which he never acknowledged, but I still remained a steadfast follower. But now jeez I really like you. like seriously. you are addictive, almost patronizing. you create an appetite for good quality literature cuisine that one can only enjoy in your blog. kudos Maguga.

  32. This is quite inspiring. We are many on this journey called life and each of us is struggling with some kind of unfulfilled dreams or wishes. I loved the way Njenga writes. Biko can we make him a guest writer already. He sounds like one of your students.

  33. Hallelujah! Amen & Amen is all I can say… Not yet 40, I beat up myself a lot for not doing all I had set out to do. Reading such stories makes me take a fresher look at things! And how not alone I am in my struggles. Many times people give up too soon, when they were just at the last corner to the finish line! Jesus!

  34. …. ..you don’t
    think about philosopher kings any more. You
    worry about real things like if Man Gitahi will
    drop a bucket full of soil on you and what a
    sorry epitaph that would make: “He died
    looking for water.” “He died creating a
    resting place for shit.”……. i laughed my lungs out.. great sense of humour .. when writing becomes a game changer..

  35. Very well done Njenga Kahiro. The greatest lesson is that life happens at its own pace. I also like the bit about Subukia Shrine…I’m engaging that great lady in my life too, watch this space. Cheers to the next ten years!!!!

  36. I was giving the post major side eye but after galloping through it I actually feel that this guy should be a guest writer. Very good post!

  37. Njenga Kahiro my former college mate. Indeed life happens. Well done. May God promote you higher and higher beyond your imagination.

  38. I’ve really enjoyed yesterday’s and today’s pieces. I’m 25 and sometimes I feel like my life is not as spectacular as it should be. Reading Njenga’s story reminds me that I have so much to be grateful for. The mistakes I’ve made along the way have not been as catastrophic as I think. Thanks you Biko, Tony and Njenga.

  39. I am going to Bhutan (Oyunga Pala must have mentioned it) you had to remind Biko you still treasure your first love…I used to read his man talk while in primary school and shit didnt make sense.

  40. This is just sooo awesome. I am overwhelmed, I thought the long post about life said it all, this has added much more. It is a continuation to awesome education, inspiration and enlightenment. “Life happens at the pace of life” has made me remember a comment someone once made that “God is extremely slow, but always on time.” Indeed Mungu Yuko. Thanks Biko and Thanks to you Njenga Kahiro. Keep writing!

  41. very inspiring piece, clearly you never let your previous ‘success’ hinder you from moving forward and so never failed but kept trying. God still sites on the heavenly throne

  42. I’m one of the lurkers, the faithful ghost readers of the blog who are too timid to comment. But my list this year, among other things, includes trying new things (eg commenting on this blog).
    Thank you Njenga for such an inspiring article. laughed so hard at “and just when you are about to board Mololine back to Nakuru, a familiar voice shouts your name: “Kahiro, niaje?”You turn and confirm that indeed the devil is a liar.
    But indeed, life does happen at the pace of life. You should write more

  43. Wow happy birthday kahiro. Your story is the exact truth, I’m tired of agreeing with you all, hehehehe ( you and biko’s previous post) oh my you are so right, life does happen at its own pace. ( I haven’t made lists in the last three years but some to dos in my head have been done and some not, ) wowwww . I’m hooked to Biko

  44. Each of us have a predestined path that we have to walk but it is for good irrespective of the hurt,pain and lack of understanding . Purpose just to to live just one day at a time. Nice read Njenga

  45. *sigh* just *sigh*
    This two days have given me so much inspiration I’m thinking mmaybe you could start like a week long series of the same 🙂

  46. Great piece Kahiro. So true we all have our struggles but we have to lean back to God. Mine was when 2 terminal diseases thought they could dim my light before I was 35. I picked myself from the latrine & 4 years later am trodding on.

  47. Wow! Biko your blog has just sunrised (is there a better word?) 2016 for most of us. I recently quit a well-paying job, travelled out of the comforts of Nairobi and East Africa in general, to mould out some witty business ideas. It hasn’t been rosy. But with articles like this, I can go to my place (don’t want to use the word home) in the evening with a smile on my face and eagerly wait for the next day if only to keep push forward

  48. ‘You raise your game and convince them that anthropology is the holistic study man, forestry is just one subtopic.’ It gets harder when they insist it’s the study of insects….why can’t people just get right what anthropology is?
    Great piece Kahiro.

  49. Happy birthday Njenga. I agree on this one Mungu yuko. Go back to writing darling. Biko this guy refused writing and the way he is talented. ( Mama ian and Venessa)

    1. Mama Ian and Vanessa? Njengas wife people!! You are the unsung heroine of this story. You married him when he was just an illegal phone repair guy with calloused hands. Ladies, stand by him while he hustles and cant afford Javas, you dont know what tomorrow brings, he is a work_in_progress

  50. Biko thanks for the treats! Two in a row…. kweli ni mwaka mpya! Meanwhile can you keep this one! Ata kama he will write about elephants and monkeys, we shall read because he is a good writer. Meanwhile kweli Mungu yupo! I literary came back from the dead, ICU Nrb Hsp and here I am!Happy Birthday Njenga. Biko keep ding only what you do…… blessings in the new year.

  51. Haha njenga goods inspiration. am with you on the skydiving thing at diani, I call them every 3 months to check whether kuna discount but I don’t think it will ever happen, got a deal with myself on my 30th bday if it won’t have happened I will give myself that as a bday gift

  52. Yesterday ‘s post was probably the most important post I have ever read on this blog…. thanks Biko.
    I also wonder if Njenga Kahiro was in Moi University ama we were not the only ones with a student centre? (It’ s hard to know what is going on in the outside world when you are buried deep in Kesses)

    1
  53. 1. Life is dynamic, every second, every minute, every hour someone does, says, thinks of something that changes the direction of your thinking, actions, education and Life generally,
    2. I am 22 final year and yes people do change. And from every individuals’ point of view, the other chap is always doing better than you. I can attest to that.
    3. Someone told me do your best, compete not against others but against yourself, that way you move faster, further each day.
    4. Thanks Biko. You are an eye opener, God gave me hope through you.
    5. Late comment right, not my fault safaricom still giving us the worst coverage here.

  54. Yes Biko lets give him his own slot …kama sato hivi.wat happened to Chero?Happy birthday Njenga your life has literally began….whoever said life begins at forty.inspiratinal post i agree life happens at lifes pace .great piece.

  55. Did you mention Taro Hakase? Bless you!! He is the guy..my only crush. Dude can play that violin like mad. Am leaving for Japan tomorrow, will hunt him down for us.
    You write very well. Happy belated birthday Njenga Kahiro!

  56. Every once in a while we need words of encouragement to ensure us that life will happen.
    That’s a nice piece and really encouraging.
    ‘Life happens at it’s own pace na Mungu yuko’

  57. Life happens when it happens(It’s not at your beck and call rather you wait for it to unravel its mysteries).And by the way happy birthday Njenga.

  58. Belated happy birthday Kahiro. 4th floor is a great place to be. Life just started. I will keep my lists, they keep you focused! very inspiring.

  59. WOW….i used to have a list..have no idea what happened to it. this is a great inspiration. thot shit would have happened by now..ave done it all..even gone abroad and back..still shit aint done yet and am still waiting for the MR…but life happens at lifes pace…..feeling much better and ver inspired.
    Happy birthday Njenga!!
    thanks Biko

  60. life happens at life’s pace….is there a chance it will not happen….am i supposed to just sit and wait for life to happen….what if it doesn’t happen?….just wondering

  61. Wow! Fantastic piece! Happy belated birthday Kahiro. Your story is an inspiration. Loved the part about getting your electronics degree from Mtaa University. The struggle is indeed real but so is God.

  62. First of all, happy belated Njenga. This post(s) couldn’t have come at a greater time in my life than at this moment. With 2 degrees in my belt, a passion for my field of study and a fiancé I still find myself embarrassed and sometimes self-defeatist because I’m still dashing around for interviews and haven’t yet started depending on myself. The road to being a happy self-made woman isn’t as easy as I thought and I crap on myself for not being where I thought I’d be. But that’s the thing about life, it happens at it’s pace- comparing yourself to others only makes you doubt your strengths and delays your progress.

  63. Mungu yuko! my biggest lesson 2015- God always looks out for His people. i can somewhat identify with him.all that hoping and meeting former schoolmates while i am trying to keep my head above the water. life really does happen.awesome!

  64. In deed life happens at life’s pace. I had it all planned out; get married at 28, have three kids, have my company up and running by 30 and never to get a kid out of wedlock. Fast forward to @31years going to 32- a single mother to a beautiful boy, still employed, financial freedom still elusive….but i have learnt to keep walking, to pick the lessons and to let God’s plan prevail. Ooh, and i didn’t know i sooo much needed a baby until baby Harrison Riek came calling.

  65. If you were locked in a library of the world’s miseries you would be led almost inexorably to choose your own because it’s the pain you’re familiar with.

  66. I relate to the anthropologist thingy…lol I dropped n left moi after prof Akonga failed to convince me how I would apply it after campus. Life happened after that and am loving it.

  67. Life happens at the pace of life. Biko, you should hear my story..and, oh, im still going up Mt.Kenya, and im definitely doing the sky dive thing. Thank you bro for the inspiration.

  68. Thanks Kahiro for telling part of my story *wipes off a lot of tears*….Life happening and sharpening those rough edges… kweli Mungu Yupo! @Biko Thanks a million for speaking healing words to my soul through your writing….Currently 28years! Blessings

  69. Very timely articles. Great and inspiring read. I thought my life is very slow, but now I can see some light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks.

  70. Indeed, life’s pace..

    One day at a time,
    present in each moment,
    living fully,
    fulfilled
    in the valley,
    or on mountaintop.

  71. Chocolate Man, this is truly the best guest post I have read on this blog! A great choice of words to express himself and drive the point home while keeping it entertaining at the same time!

  72. “anthropology is a holistic study of man,forestry is a subtopic” you were very right cause we do ecology as a unit. I am an anthropologist too finished my undergraduate lastyear and volunteering with a CBO in Kibera since May last year. I know and believe that i am headed somewhere. Thank you for shairing your story.

  73. Hehe! Ati man Njenga was soldering ICs with hands steady than Ben Carson’s…just awesome…also mtu aniambie why we call Cameron’s boys Johnnies

  74. Brilliant,
    I am turning 30 and have written lists since I was 16, most have not come to pass especially the marriage and baby ones, when all my f.b friends are booed up and expecting or running around with their tots. LOL… the things scare us baffle me.
    Best sentence i’ve read up there… “Life happens at the pace of life” So KEEP CALM and let life happen

  75. fans of oyunga pala can find him in oyungapala.com. probably half the gang googled this new guy(only biko stays new after six years) after OP bolted. so keep stuffing paper till those shoes fit mr forehead

  76. How was i late to read this?? i know Njenga personally… way back from
    Subukia… and am really proud of you Njenga; funny thing is the last time we met, late last year we were having tea in my house (see, i told you he’s my friend) we were talking about you Biko and this blog… and here we are. Cheers to 40! And for sure. Mungu yuko.

  77. Please Biko, let’s keep him!! No more self-help books for me, this website is it.Thank you Njenga, finally something good from my home Laikipia

  78. Great inspiration Brother. You aspire to inspire before you expire.Tell those who may doubt your story to talk to me and i will even add more to rubberstamp it.

  79. Bikozulu, please use your prowess with words to talk to this Mr . Njenga to become a guest writer…weekly, by weekly maybe even monthly will do.
    …and tell Joe Black to come back from wherever he is.

  80. New year resolutions are important. But more important is the list that has the plans on how you will achieve each item on the resolutions’ list.

  81. Great piece, loved it, make life resolutions, be persistent, create the opportunity door and knock on it so hard,that it just has to obey.

  82. Chocolate Man, now that you dint change anything about Kahiro’s language, this is so you, could you be sharing a forehead?
    thanks for the inspiration, yes you two. Even when i feel i need to pull an acute subaru syndrome i will definately remember we all running at an individual pace.

  83. Biko you should consider a COLLAAABO with Njenga….Witty is the operative word here for both of you…. a good read and I feel mighty inspired!!!! *I am trying hard not to curse in 2016 and beyond* I have learnt that 40 year olds curse a lot than any other age groups 🙂 but with a reason 🙂

  84. Such an inspirational story.Its funny how our goals change depending on circumstances
    Njenga welcome to the gang! please write more often.. off to write my goals.
    This will be a great year. The start is amazing!!

  85. “…You worry about real things like if Man Gitahi will drop a bucket full of soil on you and what a sorry epitaph that would make: “He died looking for water.” “He died creating a resting place for shit.”

    This has to be the funniest something I’ve read this year. Kahiro, you are up. Back to the story, like I tell my peeps, LIFE HAPPENS!

  86. I have known Njenga Kahiro since i was in secondary school. His was the only computer school in Subukia when i was growing up(my mum learnt to operate comps from him) and i remember hanging out there on Sundays, reading the news paper and engaging him in political talk (even in secondary school, i was deep like that). I have seen him grow and today, he is not only my friend but also my mentor. I especially admire the passion he has for helping to find solution to the problems in his Community. He inspire me every day.