(01/10/2013, this is
the day that religious organizations held inter-religious prayers at Comesa
grounds to pray for Kenya and the Victims of WestGate Mall attack. The theme
was #WeAreOne….let me not say much on the same. All I can say is that we are
equal in the eyes of the Lord.)
Back to my story……
The
end of KCSE exams saw me re treat to my village, Kiaritha and try to adapt to
the ‘new’ way of life that which uniform was no longer a part of . Things had
suddenly changed and I must admit that it was not easy staying home and doing
nothing much. This would change later after I visited a former class mate,
Muriuki Josphat who had immediately started farming after exams and had several
acres of cabbages. I really admired this and on my way home, I hatched a plot! I
decided to plant tomatoes as a way of keeping myself busy as I await the KCSE results to be released.
That
same night after arriving home, I talked to my mum and shared with her my idea and she was in support of
the same. When morning came, I woke up and after breakfast left to our farm,
prepared a portion of it and later during the day went to purchase tomato seedlings from one
of my neighbors who was a specialist in almost all types of seedlings. By
evening, I had already transferred the seedlings to the well prepared land and
to me that was a well done job.
The
following days saw me wake up very early in the morning, irrigate the seedlings and then do the same in the evening after sunset. This was amazing
for me as I had something to keep me busy. I never used to go very far from the
shamba even if there was nothing much to do there during the day. Watching the
seedlings grow was all I could do now that I never had my former group of
students around me. This constantly reminded me of a saying by one of our
Literature teacher who kept on reminding us that at school, we were busy living
as a group but after KCSE, we will go home as individuals and I must appreciate
that his statement was now making sense.
Days
passed on but one early morning, I woke up to a rude shock. Most of the tomato
seedlings appeared to wither which was an indication that decease had attacked
them. I remember very well that I cried after realizing that I had put in so
much effort only for this to happen. I went home and told mum of the sad state
of my small shamba. Luckily, she was as supportive as usual and since I did not
have any money to buy the right herbicides to spray them, she managed to
convince dad to buy me some and by lunch hour, I was busy spraying so as to
salvage what was not badly affected.
This
was good news since this support never ceased to come when needed hence saw the tomatoes
grow without much troubles. By the third month which was in the new year 2004,
the tomatoes were ready for sale. Am always glad that I fetched a handsome amount from
this investment. This was one of the times that the saying that says ‘hard work
pays’ could bring so much sense. The roots must have been bitter but the fruits
were sweet. I could afford to buy myself a pair of shoes, a shirt and other
personal effects without asking for any assistance from my parents.
I
would later re invest some of this money back to the shamba. This saw me plant
sukuma wiki, spinach, Dania and what we call pili pili hoho. This being a dry
season, I would do much of this farming using water drawn from a well that my
Uncle named Simon had dug next to our shamba since tap water that i used for
irrigation used to ran dry at times. It was not an easy task but motivated by
what I had earned from the tomatoes venture, I could not see any uphill task as
I did this.
This
was in February and by then, KCSE exam results fever was catching up. It would
not take long before the results were out. On this material day, I had gone to
fetch for Napier grass from grandma’s residence using an animal cart. This was
Kilometers away and had to pass by Kerugoya town and then do some few
Kilometers so as to get to the shamba. On my way back, I arrived in town and
one lady stopped me and broke the news that the results were out and word was
going round that I had passed beyond the expectations of many.
I
made a quick decision to get to the market where I bought a T shirt that I was
to wear on top of a trouser that was not that bad, left the worn out one shirt and the
cart in the hands of a friend in the market and headed to school so as to
confirm whether what this lady had told me was true or she was mocking me now that
they were expecting me to fail after all the drama that they had seen in my
life in Secondary school. I hurriedly walked to school and soon, I was there. To
the secretary’s office and with my heart beating faster than usual, I 'coughed'
out my Index Number and the result slip was handed to me. I had scored a B-
(Minus) which was a great improvement from the D+ (Plus) I had scored in the
Mocks.
I soon left the school compound and headed to town where i had left my animal cart and other personal effects like my worn out shirt. I
could not hide my joy. My dream to make my mum proud and silence her critics
was now live. They expected me to fail and I thank God for this as it was an
answer to a prayer I said when I decided to salvage the situation. I had prayed
for anything like a B (be it a B Plus, B minus or a B Stand I didn’t care) and
not an A or a C or a D! I could not wait to confirm this to my mum who had
heard the news but could not get into a celebratory mood without knowing
whether the news was based on facts or
it was to mock her.
I
went to town, picked my Cart and went home. I handed the result slip to Mum and
from the look in her eyes, I had made her proud. She was in total Jubilation
and I guess for the first time in the Four Years I was in high school, she had
a reason to smile and celebrate a ‘job well done’. The news spread fast, not
because I had an excellent performance but because those who expected to see me
fail despite the Kilometers I was doing daily to and from school were expecting
something else but got a rude shock. Truly speaking, the last minute can save a student…….!
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