My views from the Village perspective

Living in the village is quite interesting.. why do i say this? based on my upbringing which was basically in the village and my love for anything village and my friends in the villages coupled also with the fact that it is very natural staying in the village.

People of the village:

Usually this lot is very original in every meaning of the word. I remember when we were growing up, we had a tendency to go strolling in the evening most days either to the nearest market centre or just lazying around by the roadside. But the interesting part was the preparation that was always put in this endeavour. we would spend endless time trying to polish our cracked soles with some special stone from kamasia known locally as "kit kamasia". It was a black rugged stone usually of very rough edges that was curved to try and control our huge gullies of cracked skin and our wildly growing toe nails. Mark you this was not a preserve of men only but also of women especially when they were preparing to go to the market to buy or sell their wares, my Aunt Lorna Nyar Awino would spend so much time scrubbing her legs that most of the times she was always left behind by my mum and had to run some kilometres to catch up. After all the preparation of polishing the soles we would put on 'Akala' shoes made from car tyres and decend on the road to adventure, only those who were very luck could put on 'Lada' some rubber shoes from bata Shoe company and very famous for their strips of blue, white and red labels.

These 'maraoundis' the rounds we made to the roadside or market places were meant to expose us to life and also to show another species (gals) that guys existed in a certain village and hence were capable of mingling and mixing in the hope of creating a lasting union.

Chores

Males and females had different sets of chores as dictated by culture but some of us were very unlucky 'coz my mum never believed in male or female you were children and must work as scheduled. You would find me in many instances washing dishes and cutting sukuma wiki but what i loved most was gathering firewood in the bushes. I still think i had a natural talent for identifying dry hidden trees right in the middle of the bush and had to get help to heave the bundle onto my head for the trip home. After learning to ride a bicycle sometimes in 1986 I found myself new status as the bike man. I would undertake all sorts of errands most of which used to be done by my uncle Tong'a. I would be sent to go buy household goods at Bondo market, send stipend to my grandmother in Asembo about 60kms away, relay messages of death and invitation for ceremonies and take my mum on her errands as Chairperson of Ndwara Womens' Goup.

I remember one time during these trips to my grand mother, I was on the bike and had covered about 15kms when suddenly in my ignorance I tried crossing the road and since these were murram roads the middle part was raised due to constant use by motor vehicles and my bikes front tyres could not go up the embarkment. The next thing I remebered was I getting up, tidying myself, looking around and talking to myself and smiling at nothing in particular. I had been thrown off the bike and had bruises on my hands and legs and worse still was the bike with twisted wheel. I abandoned the journey and trekked back home a very dissapointed person. I still bear the scars on my hands, a constant reminder of what happened many years back.

Foods

Plenty and variety of foods abound in the villages and most of them are free. The best times in the village are during the harvesting seasons when fresh produce is removed from the gardens and households cook something fresh from the gardens. As growing up lads we were lucky to have our grandmothers around and several aunts and uncles, so during meal time we would make rounds and have our fill before concluding with your own mums delicacy. I particularly liked Nyoyo gi nyuka ( mixed maize and beans and porridge). There is however a very bitter vegetable called 'Achak' in my language, most people ferment it with milk for a week before they can take it but i had a love for this veg so much that we would cook it and i would demand it in it's bitterest state and go ahead to swallow it without blinking an eye lid.

Other favourites that i liked were obuolo(mushroom). These grew naturally on anthills and once you spotted them sprouting all you needed to do was put a mark of ownership, something similar to a copyright label called 'tach' and anybody else seeing this would not dare touch them. But Obuolo had to be shared out once harvested with neighbours. Omena, rabuon(sweetpotatoes) were also very good delicacies. You can see why we withered hostile weather and never had malaria or pneumonia.

Make sure to read more on the same topic in my next posting focusing on social issues and ceremonies as seen from the village perspective.

Environmental Awareness:It is everyones responsibility

Environmental consciousness or awareness has become a leading term in forums as this is one of the most fundamental components of human life. The environment represents way of life and all the beauty that comes with life is compounded in our environment.

There is all the ambience, freedom and peace in a clean, well manicured and managed sorrounding and as such there is need for humanity to take a second look at our environment and start appreciating and preserving this resource and heritage that is so precious yet very vulnerable to destruction.

Having said that how many of us do take steps to keep our neighbourehood well kept? Many a times we see people throwing rubbish without any care on earth where it will land as long as it leaves his/her hands. This behaviour is not only sickening but it also points at what our society has reached in levels of irresponsibility as far as environmental management and protection is concerned. What annoys more some of the times is that the Local Authorities would go to great pains to put bins where litter can be dropped but still some people will go and drop the litter outside the bin even when the bin is empty, now tell me what kind of madness is that?

Drivers of cars and other personal vehicles plus passengers in public vehicles many a times eat, drink water and then without blinking an eyelid and as if it is so cosy to be seen littering the roads go ahead and drop mineral water bottles and plastic bags of chips(french fries) in full glare of everyone else including fellow passengers and nobody raises an eyelid. What has come of society? do we continually want to be choked up in filth and dirt? Already the global warming is causing remarkable impact on the climatic conditions of the world and pollution levels from other sources such as industrial wastes and emissions into our water sources and the like are becoming unmanageable. Where then are we likely to turn to for survival?

The solution lies with us and not elsewhere. We need to start protecting our trees from hungry charcoal burners. We need to plant two trees for several years before you cut one tree for whatever reason. We need to protect our water catchment areas by increasing forest cover in our countryside. We need to educate the masses on the importance of clean, viable environment because without proper civic education coupled with practical examples the world will soon be one big sahara desert. History tells us that Sahara was once an agriculturally rich area and trade in fresh produce thrived long before the changes seen today were experienced. There could be some scientific explanation to this but we shouldn't wait until science explains things to us, Action must be taken and now is the time to do it.

The governements of the world should take action by enacting punative regulations that will deter culprits while enhancing the status of our quickly dwindling environment and restoring it back to stability state.

It's my humble appeal that action however must start with me, you and everyone will join us. Lets take action !Lets make environmental Awareness our responsibility!

Patriotism

What is all the crap about being patriotic to your homeland? we see it everyday when people go to sports, war, social events like conferences and workshops all try to focus on their homeland through expression of language, cultural identity etc. It is good to be patriotic as long as it is outside of your motherland.

Being able to identify with a certain group, race, nationality,ethnicity etc is always good as long as this is done outside the area where the group has majority of its populace.It is the reason why when people go outside of their countries for whatever reasons, they find it fashionable to be patriotic since they are in the minority.

I think patriotism should be exercised all the time whether we are in or out of our regional boundaries. We should always pledge loyalty to our country both from within and outside. People tend to take very simply their identities eg kind of dressing, way of speaking and even the type of foodstuff which abound in our vicinity. It is after you leave your normal catchment area and move to a completly new area that you suddenly realise that not all that you have and is used to will be available in your next station of call. Only then do you start to appreciate you own backyard, only then do you start to see that your currency is better, your country more peaceful and people more friendlier. Only then does your patriotism gets the better part of you.

Let us learn to value what we have, it could be worthless in the eyes of others but it is what is available lets appreciate it. Learn to be patriotic all the times.

Lifestyles

This is one topic that has always eluded many people bcoz we really are not sure about our lifestyles. Many a times we tend to ape alot what other people are doing and then we say it is what we also want to be and live like.

People lets define what is and will remain good for you as a person and not what you perceive as good because sombody somewhere is doing it that way.