Let me keep it simple

Sunday 31 January 2016

AM FEELING LIKE QUITTING?


Money follows those who have money. If you doubt it, then do yourself justice and have lots of it acquired gradually on the basis of prudence. Chances are if you are a broke bugger, like I, courtesy of being a forced full-time student yet in reality classes are part-time.


Am writing this piece on my phone having seen a kith being furnished with ‘chums.’ On the other hand, I am jealously looking at her wishing I was the person on the receiving end so that the jealousy would have been reversed.


Anyway.


As a student, you need to kill some unnecessary wants, sacrifice for a better tomorrow they say; like going out to have a drink (ale), visiting pals for pep talk which can lead to the former, purchasing new clothes from shops or hanging out with a bevy of exquisitely hot damsels or any other activity that takes more of your time and money. Student life is frustrating, especially when your mates are in relatively high profile jobs that earn them sufficient bucks. What's worse, half of your current classmates are either employed or employers and since you were initially a proletariat before switching to full-time status, you keep up appearances that somehow you are employed because no one gives a buck about your status. Replace the ‘b’ in buck with ‘f’.


Sometimes when I get a call from a former campus mate doing well (like I did while writing this and it lasted more than 15 minutes), I usually become indifferent yet feign it over the phone. Why didn't I concentrate on building a career then probably immerse myself in scholarship after getting enough bucks to sustain payment of fees and paying my bills? Ideally, I abhor this reality of reliance, it's frustrating and makes me feel inadequate having lost self-worth. Financial disorder it is. The jobs I apply for have no reply, not even the annoying automated responses. My mail is just full of junk. Maybe I am doing things wrongly. Hitherto, I have not got any interview. Leave alone the chance of even attending one to sharpen my communication skills or confidence or just determine whether am still marketable in the job market. These are the times I feel I should not have gone to university or scored good grades in high-school that resulted in the former. Probably, I should have fully immersed myself in a profession of conviction early enough and worked on ameliorating every bit of what am engaged in.


I can only imagine the far I would have been. By now, I could be able to comfortably pay my bills without much ado. But look at me now, I am this reclusive desolate chap whose overtures have been curtailed owing to so much wavering that has clogged my mind preventing flexibility in my thought process.


When I look back, I can honestly say that it has been a series of ups and downs. The desired job market in Kenya is not easy to crack. Getting any other job is not a problem, but the one I should be in looks like a mirage. Maybe I have not aggressively explored all the available avenues with the agility of a monkey. Maybe I have become reluctant. Or chances are, I am lazy. Yes, I saw somewhere on social media that peeps of my generation are very lazy, we want to be placed food in the mouth like birds do feed their nestling. Have I let the notion sink into my ambition? No, that I wrote this piece invalidates the generalization on my part.


However I can say that I have not utilized well all the leads I had. Recently, I filled a form by my former employer and luckily got paid two dollars for having taken my time to give feedback on the program which was a collaboration of World Bank and the Kenya government but executed by the private sector (KEPSA-KYEP). There are guys who were phoned and never got the mullahs (sorry men if you were broke like I).  In fact, while answering the questions, my mind was hibernal. When you had placed so much hope on a program then it felt short of helping fulfill your desires, you kind of feel wasted and cheated. But the essence of it was to prepare those who are nimble, as for yours truly like earlier on intimated, I need to be pushed to get the job. Once I get it, I usually become workaholic, such that it becomes difficult to look for something else. That's my folly, I never have the intuition of an augury. When I do, like all folks, I ignore it altogether.  Now that I know about risk, I sure am knowledgeable enough to profit from my erstwhile idiocy.


Again, I have only one regret. The fact that I needed to have completed my internship is not in denial. And since my quest for autonomy in search of better pastures was too alluring amidst, I eventually lost an important certification. Now I have nothing to prove for the few months I was attached to my place of work apart from blog posts. Which means that in life, one needs to be very patient. Patience is an incompatible virtue while time is of the essence. Those who make hasty decisions never get to benefit from the probity of achieving innate results. As a matter of fact, just being patient for a while makes the biggest difference.


When I went back to my former employer to seek for my certificate of completion, and owing to the fact that I never completed my end of the bargain (I was required to complete four months before being issued with the certificate), I am now not entitled to any certification. Life is a lesson though, you learn every step of the way. Prudent it is to take stock so that such mistakes never resurge. I am forced to swallow bitter pills because of indecision looking back at my despicable folly. Need I say more?


Life is what you make it though perhaps analogous to a book. When one chapter ceases, you open a new one. Crying over spilt milk is not worth it. So what next, juggling books is a must. There is a succor in immersing the brain in a trajectory of continuous profound matriculation. Especially if you have Ivy league hopes like yours truly. The reprieve is that at the end of the day, you may smile all the way to the bank with an armour or arsenal that no soul will ever rob you.


Psst. Am taking an online course in University of Queensland, offered free of charge in edX on 'Unlocking your employability'. Hope it will demarcate me from the many job seekers who are earnestly searching for a job like yours truly. Take cognizance that there is a caveat imposed when taking the course that, "We hate to break it to you - but no one can guarantee you a job. Especially in today’s competitive labour market. WE certainly can’t."


Hasta la vista, Baby.


[Picture Source: Clipartbest.com]
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Tuesday 26 January 2016

STEADMAK GARDENS KAREN


Ever imagined being bought a bottle of beer while having a great time in the waters, say a small lake, or being served food while cozying on top of a floating restaurant by a flunky who rows a canoe holding a course with paddles?


If you consistently write, you will sometimes find it tricky to have killer opening lines in your write-up to hook on your readers. Every scribe knows full well that he or she has to ensure the message is driven home using the first few words.


That was a detour. As such allow me to decode. Can I annul to the fact that I have adopted middle-class mediocrity with the idea of frequenting joints in order to while away time when an opportunity arises when it is an all-expenses paid lunch in a hotel.


Less than two years ago, I was at Steadmak gardens, Karen. I was initially scheduled to attend a wedding at the venue in April which was graced by our home county senator (not the Nairobi one). On the contrary, I never attended because my campus project was acting like this elephant in the room that I needed to address. So as a matter of fact, I never made it to Steadmak.


Three months later, I was able to be freed off campus baggage and I had all the time in the world to indulge in that which would kill the spare time that I had on my sleeves. Hanging out.


Alas! Hitherto, I had not meticulously thought of taking my ability in terms of penmanship to the next level. Maybe I would have reviewed this restaurant then. I was still having hallucinogenic dreams of joining a body corporate to kick start a career in any field of repute with a pay package rivaling my old-man’s as long as it could make me independent. Now my creativity seamlessly sews together different aspects of my subconscious. As such, I am indifferent as to matters pertaining to joining in and being a proletariat. Maybe I will be one. Sooner. God willing.


The first time I was in Steadmak it was quite a fun filled experience. There were few guests and the ambiance was quite serenaded. It was like taking a breather away from the city. Back then, it was still undergoing construction which was in advanced stages. However, nothing has changed in the two years I have intermittently gone there. We did check the hotel rooms, went to the swimming pool, and requested to see the birds, but upon being told they are paid for, we changed our minds.


Since it had just started, using the floating restaurants was free of charge. Allow me to say that Tujuane show on KTN was a major influence as to the reason why I had wanted to go visit the restaurant.


Steadmak gardens offers great ambiance and a luxury gateway from the hustle that is the city if I were to write a decent review. It is secluded in a kind of remote setting away from the chocking fumes of the traffic that goes by almost without break. I love the fact that it also caters for children who may feel disenchanted just eating and listening to music on a floating restaurant. There is a smaller version of an Amusement Park with trains, horses, see saws, bouncing castles among other sources of entertainment to fascinate those who may become obstinate as you imbibe liquor or frolic carelessly with your better quarter.


Currently the price of a single floating restaurant ranges from 2 k to 5 k depending on the depth of your pockets or width of your wallet exclusive of food. Which is relatively fair. The floating restaurant are more than inviting, there is a certain cool breeze inside that unnerves a clogged mind so that you feel pampered in a relaxed sensation. The one in which Nairobi Diaries was filmed in is cozy and the aura is filled with soothing music. The leather seats inside adds to its vivacity and desired comfort if you have a mama you want to please. My younger sister told me such places wow an average lady even if it means just getting inside and drinking a glass of water. So long as your loose vibes are complemented by the probity of being overgenerous with mullahs.


Anyway, I did not find the food that sumptuous. And many reviews of the place can corroborate this. The problem is that you need to book in advance as you may end up waiting for long as they have no ready food like the fast food joints I frequent on Tom Mboya Street. Plus the price of meals are highly exaggerated here. Most times I have gone to Steadmak, now thrice, I have had a wonderful experience, but not with food. There is a Christmas I went there and the best thing about it was that I ended up being a lackey, collecting food for my family and since I was free to serve as the waiters or chefs were tired for having worked continuously, I found it was a terrific experience. I took adequate or the write word to use is copious amounts. If I had taken the rationed quantity, maybe we would have gone back to the digs having that feeling of, "Tulionja tu". Plus we ate late, when the all the tender parts had reached omega levels and those being brought having been half cooked. Since we had to wait for long before we got our food, the hunger pangs on my belly decided that I could help out with service. 


This year, we were doing a birthday inside one of the floating restaurants. In the money stifled month of January.  I was told Sundays are family themed days hence like most joints it is advisable to go there on a weekday if you want to feel the full impact of the place. Apparently, I got a parking spot at an unlikely place. A place you never will get space to park when business is booming. So, January is not a bed of roses.


The most spectacular moment was when a certain musician came to our restaurant and played the trumpet for the birthday girl, my niece. The sounds were vivid, magnificent and brilliant. The symphony especially the mellow and smooth sound of the clichéd “Happy Birthday to you” was breathtaking. Played forte, notes in this register are sonorous and rounded. There is something about music that gives life even if you feel like you have spent a so much.


Later, looking at the pictures of the guy who was playing the trumpet, I could not see his visage, he had dexterously concealed them using his cap like Frasha in the early days of P-Unit. Then the guy started calling me ‘Ababu’ because am bespectacled and had shaved in a way similar to the politician. He had a the characteristic costarian accent and told us he knew it was the month of vacuity and whatever little we had, he would appreciate.


Naona nyi ni wasomi kweli, nikiwaona naona muna degree na masters. Mimi mamangu hakuwa nacho ikabidi niache shule mapema’ he told us.


If he knew only knew yes I am a jobless graduate and penniless one for that matter. I presumed he made close to 5 K on that sunny day in January having confessed that business was still catching up owing to the many tables he went to.


His music was just great, why lie, you can die for more (sic).


I must confess I love places with less noise, guess I gave aged. Anyplace that has din irritates me like s°°t. So, for a bugger like me, it is just fair that I go to social places when the numbers are less. That way I can get preferential treatment as opposed to when people are in multitudes and the servers never even bother with your order or find you like any other person. But giving them that tip cheers them up and in any case, I usually strive to give them one. Especially fine looking damsels who primordially look at you and have to serve you thinking you can be the Mr. Right they are after.


Verdict: If you are planning to go to a new place, then, Steadmak Gardens would be a wonderful place to sample, however, if you are someone who loves eating and as a result you have developed a fine taste for food and therefore a connoisseur in matters chow, you will be highly disappointed by the cuisine. But if an ale imbiber, its the best place especially on a hot Saturday afternoon with a group of buddies if you hire a floating restaurant.


Hasta La Vista, Baby.

[Photo Source: Steadmak Gardens website]
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Thursday 14 January 2016

QUARTER LIFE CRISIS


Have you ever been asked about your net worth or value and musing over the question, you conduct a complete audit of yourself and realize you are in a financial bind. Then you feel like you are this morbid failure whose financial status is better off rendered insolvent or liquidated or in layman terms you are in an economic turmoil since you are operating on a deficit in relation to your financial spectrum that you envisaged would be earning interests as you make more for sustenance having invested in index funds in a tax haven country, say Belize, British Virgin Islands or Mauritius.


At my age, I feel like I have gone through a series of up and downs but having not achieved a well-defined financial path could just be the reason why this post has surfaced.


Allow me to say that I am a freelancer. This is a courteous word knowing full well that I am not attached to any company that can offer me a leeway to start a financial journey through offering my services because I have no income to rely on at the end of the month or day because of impulsive decisions that have caused this financial quagmire. As I write this, I am hopeful that this sojourn will be pro tempore. Failure of which I will lose respect in the eyes of society and even my current beau (feminine version). However, I am not worried, life is about going through those situations that help you in identifying a Mojo stance that will be unwavering in the long term. The folly of short-term ebullience that is characterized by petty triumph is that it is soon hobbled into redundancy if cogent contemplation is overlooked.


Indeed, I have learnt that easy come, easy go. That which comes without much sweat is like a lottery win. You have not adequately prepared for it, so you end up making decisions that are reckless and immaterial because the new found fortune knocked on the door that was at a limbo inside. Take for instance yours truly, I made one of the most fatal mistakes in life when I left my teaching job that even though was not well rewarding, but had the prospects of taking me to the next level. Am I regretting? Yes and No. Yes because probably, as at now, I would have been in paid employment and not having to be that guy who borrows money having exhausted all the savings I had made in my former job. And No because my former job exposed me to new skills and aura that is present in most workplaces where the employer feels entitled to treating you the way he likes because you are his employees. But I gained material knowledge of social media marketing, graphic design and copyrighting that may one day rake in some cash. Since such tools cannot aid in quashing my financial obscurity in the meantime, I have taken time off to concentrate on my studies. Luckily, I am buoyant that things will start sprucing up after plummeting for a while, sooner. Because the good thing about life is its unpredictability.


As a freelancer, there are many facets of life that usually give one the impetus over those who are tied to employment. You have plenty of free time that you can use to genuinely aid in making money or loafing around lolling in the milieu of your hodgepodge or in rare occasions use it to gain knowledge on how to be beneficial to the self or society through watching online tutorials or reading books or attending webinars or seminars that contribute to the same.



Ideally, I discovered this MOOC (massive open online course) instituted by scholarship giants Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) called edX. It has the ‘F’ word most people like and that is, it is Free of charge like oxygen. Yes, everything on edX is free apart from the fact that getting issued with a certificate requires a little payment at the end of the day. Indeed, learning has been liberalized. You get the best education from the best university at no cost and you can even land a scholarship to one of the Ivy League Institutions as the Mongolian wunderkind Battushig Myanganbayar. I saw him in a conference organized by World Bank where the institution was launching its maiden Open Learning Courses and realized how a global village the world has become. When you take up those courses, you need to program yourself to finish and have intrinsic motivation and discipline to complete. The setback is that MOOCs today are primarily serving the education haves, not disadvantaged learners. Why? You need internet which is far out of reach of many people especially those that could gain from MOOCs.


As such I can only imagine how MOOCs can be of help to the many hustlers who have a thirst for education but cannot find an avenue for gaining free education at the comfort of a click. If investors could realize that the future of a nation is incentivized through technology, they would ensure that more centres such as @ilabAfrica and @iHub are given more emphasis at the grassroots level so that more people can be able to gain an education in lieu of resorting to drug abuse and vices that destroy the moral fabric of the society. Sometimes when I look at the many hustlers who while away their time waiting for things to happen instead of making them happen, I usually empathize. Anyway, every other person knows what’s best for him or her. I am a firm believer that individual actions are sometimes within one's control. Except in incidences that are outside one's scope and as such they may be termed as macro influences. When I usually hear the stories of such individuals who I sometimes engage, I usually take an agnostic viewpoint.


Anyway back to my quarter life crisis, there are times when I usually feel like I made the worst decision to quit paid employment waiting for aggrandizement in the future in the event things go as planned, ceteris paribus. The folly of this is you never know when your bait will be ensnared and then these are there online jobs that are sometimes too good to be true. Of course there are those optimistically fabricated job ads that go viral on Whatsapp and any other group that has jobseekers will have such messages doing rounds on them. Sometimes the idle man in me dedicates time to go find out the authenticity of the job vacancies and the grim reality is that most of the jobs are cock-and-bull stories especially those that come clustered so you have an array of jobs to apply for. Methinks, most genuine jobs are those that are advertised on the mainstream media and a corroboration of the same is available on the company’s website or internal sources such as employees. Again, genuine employment agencies may help in efforts to verify the same. I doubt whether Brighter Monday is a better forum for searching for employment as they never have a contact and contract with the employer.


Looking for employment is tricky if you are not in one. You look desperate and can take anything most of the time. Just to make money. Then you come to realize that life is more than making money. And money is the root of all evil. If you live a life where you are not getting money from a reliable source like yours truly, then you cannot make plans bound by monetary decisions. The problem with money is that you usually spend it before you have it. Worse is if you are a low income earner. Being one means most of the time, you are left indebted and as such you cannot be able to invest in a substantial investment that can rake in more cash. You also have to work more hours or spend the same from and back home and this has a heavy toll on your mental and physical agility as you will find that most of the times you are exhausted to a point you cannot engage in an activity that will ameliorate your status. You subtly realize are subservient to your employer. He has the capital, which you need. Furthermore, if you have no pushers, you end up being frustrated by the bureaucratic systems you take up the easiest route. Which is the case mostly for a majority of the populace. Forget about those who went to study medicine finished and realized they loved acting. Those are extreme cases. They probably are sons and daughters whose fathers had an opening account for them at birth while you and I were born hohe hahe (with nothing). They make you think that you can pursue law and end up being a musician because you love music.


The reality is that, unless you become very cogent in your decision making and adopt a committed line of specialization, then you probably will remain that guy who wanted everything and got none. Why? There is a lot of dedication and sacrifices in each field. If you want to make a better musician, use education in any field as a backup so that you are not financially ruined. But the best education is that got through life experience. Not those that are certified at the end of the process. Those are just papers. Unless they secure you an avenue of having a big break or a small one, nobody ever knows you have them. They are like your groin nobody knows how it looks like until he sees it.


Life is about taking risks, the more risky it is the probability is that it can either result in a fatal loss to ultimately ruin you or a gain that will elevate your social status in the future. However the risk must be germane to what you aspire for in life. If it entails bending yourself into pretzel shapes to be able to get to the other side of the terrain, then do it. As long as it’s fun, and you have no other option, take up the challenge. Life is too short to live griping over that which you should have but you don’t in your current dispensation.


There are those times I usually contemplate of having a job seeker’s profile on LinkedIn. The amount I have to should spend is way above that which I can give a recruitment agency to write me an impressive resume and probably aid me in gaining an interview just to reassure myself that I am still competent and marketable in the job market. The amount though minimal is still not worthy of investing in such ventures. Furthermore, it delineates me from the process of finding a worthy employer as in the case of a recruitment agency. Like you promise to work for one month with a firm and someone else gets the proceeds all because they helped you get a job. But they say, ‘Hii ni Kenya, kila mtu lazima akule.


One thing I realized is that there are so many employment opportunities available to people who user them as a conduit to make money or recruit cronies if the requirement of the duties and responsibilities are not very technical or specialized or not well defined. Like my old man told me of the infiltration of relatives of the seniors to positions they may qualify for or may not have qualified for thereby you hear of no vacancies in such organizations. The end result is that buggers like us take remnants in mediocre companies and if we work just fine, we can give such firms our best shot and this can form the foundation for success in the event we detach ourselves from the feeling of inferiority complex that you cannot work for a certain firm. Eventually such small firms perform best if you dedicate yourself and stick to the ideals if the owner never gives up. Chances are, you will reap big in future. This world is based on, ‘you never know’. Even a mustard seed is usually very tiny but its end result is unfathomable.



I also want to get there sometime in future. When I was young, I thought that life is about academics, passing exams and blah blah blah. Now my belvedere has been broadened. When I hear high-school graduates pondering on mainstream professions such as law, medicine and engineering in order to gain acceptance or reverence in the image of society, I usually feel like they are only after titles and the eventual benefits that come with such professions. Yet we have people who sell charcoal, lollypops (Like I saw one of my former pals in high school selling them on Thika road in the morning jam and imagined how others would have commiserated at his deplorable status. He passed in primary to join high school. You had to have scored 400 marks and above out of the possible 500. Then inwardly I concluded that the best hustle is that which you do with a passion. Who knows, if he becomes shrewd enough, he will be able to start a kiosk and we will eventually read about him on Business Daily’s Top 40 Under 40.)


Sometimes I wish I could also get the courage to go take up a job as a grease monkey in one of the many garages on Grogan and gain skills in the mechanical or electrical components of a car (I love cars). Or probably go to town, request whether I can push those carts for some pay at the end of the day just to get an experience with kanjo. Obviously there also those who sell smokies and eggs which is an easier job in comparison to the other two. These are the kinds of jobs that if you highly disciplined financially, you can be able to reap big because you are not tied to working for specific hours. You work based on the income you expect plus there no taxes since you have irregular income which is not steady.


Again, these are the kinds of jobs people associate with those they think are uneducated because they are done on the streets. However, nobody ever knows how polished those doing them are. Worse is people will start talking when you take them up and term you as a failure. Yes that is how our society is. While I am busy thinking of the fact that I am making myself a future without an elaborate income, some other person is taking advantage of the investment opportunity and smiling all the way to the bank of that which most people do not want to engage in.


However, our society is wired in such a way that no one will respect you when you are jobless and struggling to make ends meet. Guys will never tell you but the reality is that a jobless person is a pain in the ass. If you want to gain respect and acceptance in any society, make money and in colossal amounts. Our only idiocy is that we tend to regard highly those who fraudulently make the money and then remit pittances to us. All because we do not have an income to sustain ourselves or have to rely on them for monetary well-being.

  
As for yours truly, when I get a respite. It will be a beginning of another journey. One which should be on continuous progress till that time I will achieve self-actualization. In the meantime as I struggle with self-acceptance waiting for a rolla-coaster, allow me to sing Angela Chibalonza’s ‘Nataka nitoke chini.’


Hasta La Vista Baby.


[Picture Source: My Own]


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Thursday 7 January 2016

HALF A DAY AT KNH


The common assumption is that "Nintendo" (任天堂) means "leave luck to heaven" or even "to leave one's fortune in the hands of fate" in Japanese. However, I am not interested in the otherwise insinuation as it does not aptly give substantive meat to the intent of this post as otherwise stated, this assumption just serves right.


There was this day I was interested in finding out the origin of EA Sports. The makers of games my younger brother adores so much that he would rather play games than take his studies seriously as a forth former. He does not have his own PC, but as a matter of priority, he has installed FIFA and a bunch of other EA Sports games on any PC he has settled on. As such, he rarely studies, which am sure is a talent (studying) on its own because he has been polar to perusal from time immemorial. And do you know something, I have never bothered to coerce him to do it because it’s not his thing.


As someone who is now independent, I have no impetus as to what he does with his life. Talking to him is like ‘kupigia mbuzi guitar’. But like yours truly, I hated reading while at home (school work). However, when it came to novels and newspapers. Trust you me, I would read like a carousel becoming a recluse henceforth. Rarely do I catch up with pals because I find it as an intrusion (Whatsapp serves that purpose). Because I love my space. Sitting sometimes long hours behind the computer building on my wealth of knowledge when I am motivated though either reading blog posts or sharing on LinkedIn on important business news and to be specific, increasing my financial gen now that I know my area of expertise falls under finance and as a student who wants to share, I am obliged to do so on the professional network site.


Anyway.


Life is not a game to experiment with human beings. In games, I only love playing Chess because of the words. The makers of the one I am currently playing are EA Sports. And apparently Trip Hawkins, the founder of Electronic Arts, Inc. once worked at Apple Computer. I have a fad for anything associated with Apple. As a potential analyst, the supernormal profits are it made are beyond the scope of my financial ken in explaining. Still, the adrenaline in yours truly has not tapered off for loving the hardware and software company. In finance, it can be said to be having both high and low operating leverage. High on its software and low on its highly marketable gadgets.


When you are accustomed to seeing things run smoothly without rigmaroles, you need to exercise patience when they take an about turn. There are times when you hear stories that sound fictitious and there are times when you experience the stories. On this occasion, I was on the receiving end. Luckily, I was not alone. Together with my uncles Fred, Isaac, Jack and Lameck, my sister Mercy and Cousins Ken and George and aunt Jacinta, not forgetting my grandpa, one Stanislaus we took my uncle Barrack to Kenyatta Hospital for admission.


Hitherto, we had thought it would probably last only a few hours before the process would result in admission. Like one person had suggested during a meeting on the ease of getting admission to Kenyatta which was speculated as lengthy but corroborative evidence from the person rebuffed off the speculated claims. Uncle Barry was physically weak and emaciated, medical reports I was not prior to but having heard from reliable sources indicated he was in need of specialized attention which could only be procured in a Referral Hospital with specialist doctors who could handle his condition which was deteriorating as he could not munch. And the most convenient and affordable Hospital in this case which was apt in terms of facilities was none other than Kenyatta National Hospital. Having been in a private hospital initially, and the fact that the bills were accruing while his condition was not improving, it was prudent to take him to a hospital where he could be given specialized treatment and the problem in his stomach which was in the wee stages addressed.


Settling on KNH was a family decision as the odds had been looked at and given that there were financial obligations that needed to be taken care of, a mini harambee was done and alas, everything was ready. It was decided that a Red Cross ambulance would be used to facilitate quicker admission into the facility and because using an ambulance is the most convenient way of transferring a patient to a hospital. There paramedics are medically equipped to handle most of the emergencies and situations cannot get out of hand.


One major plus with the Red Cross ambulance as opposed to the other ambulances is that the facilities inside it make it look like a mini hospital. The ambulance carries fully advanced life support equipment, emergency drugs, and ambulance crews are highly experienced qualified staff other than it taking one to hospital without delay. If you look inside other ambulances, you would be apathetic as to why spend so much when the much you get is only the transport bit. They look ill equipped which is a feature in most of the ambulances from below par hospitals which can also be hired as hearses and in some instances used to transport charcoal.


I must admit I have got a past negative experience at this hospital. The last time I was in KNH, I collapsed due to the stagnant smell of disinfectants and though I was never admitted, I became wary of the environment which even though somber, is quite nauseous. Since I was not in the hospital upon arrival of the ambulance, I only got faint details that the crew from Red Cross were very helpful but due to restrictions, there was only a certain extent they could help.


The emergency and accident wing in KNH was under construction. Funded by Old mutual which has acquired a majority stake in UAP and another substantial amount of equity in Faulu (Micro Finance Institution) as the banner on the continuing project indicated.  This is an indication of the corporate social responsibility the firm was engaging in. Perhaps that spurred the desire in yours truly to apply for consideration in the firm even though they have that reply that is usually void because it is just that, an application. The area under construction was cordoned off by some new iron sheets and that did eat up space reducing the area under which patients and those who brought them could stay.


I must confess KNH has the worst form of admission of patients. Forget about those PR gimmicks during periods of national disasters when the hospital is under both national and international media coverage and you rarely see patients languishing outside because they have to protect the image. The attitude of some stuff is frigid and this can result a  in fraught experience if you love order or places that are highly organized.


Upon arrival at the Emergency wing, you will be find patients on gurneys (medical bed with casters wheels) that are motionless. The casualty section is chilling. There you will see what in the real world is only seen in brief episodes of medical series. At that point, you need to thank you Maker for having sane health because the conditions under which some patients were, you have to have the nerves not to wretch and the willpower to surmount tormenting situations.


The worst thing is that KNH is insensitive to the plight of patients not yet admitted. They stay on stretchers for long outside especially if the person has to undergo a series of medical tests that are paid for but in reasonable amounts but still can be costly if not well prepared with finances to necessitate the required processes. What astounded me was that any movement that took place while in the hospital was the prerogative of those who brought the patient. While the same role is assigned to hospital staff in Private hospitals, in KNH, once you get there, the medical staff are not responsible for the casualty. No movement can take place if you don’t a person to attend to you. Then again you are sure not to be admitted in the facilities unless an Angel in human flesh takes up the role. So if your loved one is in a critical condition, and you are man solo, you will have one of those moments you will never forget at the hands of a callous medical staff.  


One of the major cons of handling a patient if not trained is that you never know where the patient is hurt. Instead of aiding in mitigation, you may escalate the fragile state if the person has broken limbs. The airway may also be compromised as a result of the patient not being in an accurate position if you don’t know the accurate position. When the airway is compromised, in most cases that signifies a portent outcome for the loved ones of the patient. I saw a certain young lass whose sister was charged with moving her hit a wall accidentally and the way the young lass squirmed was an indication that such handling should be left to those qualified individuals. But this is Kenya, you minimize costs through building high end airport terminals because folks using planes matter a lot to the nation.


If you take a patient to KNH, you must be ready for the hassle. The rigmaroles involve taking the patient for stool testing in a public toilet that is not up to standard in terms of cleanliness if such test is necessary. In fact, there should have been a separate facility for patients that is given precedence in terms of proper sanitation in regard to the health of a patient. If you are alone and the patient is bedridden, mark you, you will have one of the most daunting tasks since the toilet is in a place that the cots cannot access without compromising the position of the patient. Help is necessary if alone.


One of the major folly of the medical staff am tempted to call stuff is that they never guide on the next step to take if you never ask. Again moving from one step to the next is a process. Before you are told which other medical test the patient is required to undergo, it takes almost an hour or two to go for another. Inside the tent which is meant for both casualty and their loved ones, the sizzling hotness makes one want to go outside just to take a breather from the heat and traumatic images of casualties that are not ceasing. There are those from accidents and their clothes are blood stained you get used to seeing once you have stayed for more than five hours trying to find admission of your patient.


Of course, beam chairs you sit on cannot fail to have those guys who have gone through major frustrations you think of your current predicament as petty. There are people who spend two to three days before their patient gets admission to the hospital. There was one man I had a chat with whose daughter was on her second day there. He was trying to get her admitted. She was having a fever and was also anorexic because of the debilitating effects of the medical condition she was suffering from. She was supposed to undergo through an x-ray which is a one minute procedure because the process has been computerized. Along the hallways of KNH, you ideally feel the frustration of those who were bringing their loved ones. It was eminent in their faces and voice.


There was this kid who was being given initial treatment while inside a makeshift casualty wings made of iron sheets with doors covered with curtains. He was crying hysterically because of the pain he was undergoing. It was a primal sound, one we're programmed not to ignore. Then I heard one of the women seated on the chairs saying in jeng,


Udi go liet to itimone nyathino top dressing. Akya gimomiyo oywak kamano.” (Those makeshift structures are sizzling hot and the child is undergoing top dressing- instead of wet to dry dressing-. I don’t know why he is crying hysterically?)


The idiocy of the lady and her listeners was quite eminent. Or is it the lack of proper diction? Ideally top dressing should be done to maize or crops in the field. But in Swahiliu they say, ‘Asiyekujua hakuthamini’ (He/she who doesn't know you, doesn't value you). Just though that applies for her context.


Uncle Barry arrived at KNH some minutes before 1100 hrs. We went for lunch at 1600hrs because it was necessary and in turns as we took to taking care of him as well as satiating our grumbling paunches to be able to withstand this chaotic admission process. After gobbling some light lunch of soda and muffins, we went to feel the breeze in an open arena where multitudes of people were waiting. They were waiting to see their admitted loved ones and queues had formed at the entrance of the hospital. We sat next to the parking lot and there was this vehicle with music resounding with this music of, ‘Nani kama wewe bwana.’ Such kinds of songs remind you that we are living on borrowed life, so you sit and ponder in as much as they sound dirgic (sic).


Respect for silence is what is called for in such situations. Sometimes people stop talking to deal with their emotional response to what is or has been sung. At such times you use that silence to reflect yourself. Those are the times when you end up reconnecting with you spiritual side because you have seen what tells you that indeed you need to appreciate your healthy life. It’s like while sitting in looking at patients, you go to hell and come back. You need to eschew things like call girls, drunken driving and living a reckless life. Because whoever said we only have one life maybe lied. We have another of being on the brinks of kicking the bucket. Such times you count your blessings and they are realistic. Ailing is scary.


Before Uncle Barry was assigned his room, we had to take him for to the pharmacy for prescription of the drugs he was to be given. There again we had to wait as he was to be injected with the medicine since he could not swallow anything. As those in charge of his movement, we sat idly on the seam chairs. There were guys who told us they had arrived in the morning to bring their patient to the hospital. He was also not in a stable condition. I saw him wretch and looked aside. After receiving his jab, he left because that is all they had being waiting for the entire day. We also saw the son of a certain lady who had initially told us that he was having a stroke and paralyzed. But he was not in a coma or paralized, he could not walk but I could see the boy smiling with his brother though he had both legs plastered.


But the most fascinating were a bunch of guys who brought a certain boda boda rider who had fallen and injured himself together with the passenger. That night, so many of them were admitted as one boda boda rider confessed that because of the greed for more money they had taken to riding under the influence. The father of this boda boda driver was quite hilarious though.


Huyu anaskia baridi sana. Naona kama anatetemeka” he said in his heavy Kiuk accent. “Wacha nimtole him maji juu hii ndio sababu anatetemeka” and with that, he curtailed the flow of the drip from reach his son. Poor boy.  


The nurses who were supposed to attend to Barry before admission were quite unmoved and sluggish. We could see them engage in trivial banter as they locked themselves inside the room they we to attend to patients. Those moments you wish you could video them but since video taking or taking snaps are not allowed inside the hospital you rescind on the decision. This is because a matron inside had seen you taking selfies when the going had gotten so laborious you eased off by taking photos and warned against the same.


Eventually, Uncle Barry was admitted at around 2300hrs. That was half a day. It was on eve of 2016. While most people were either in churches praying for having seen another year or in entertainment spots binging or dancing to the latest songs to usher in another year, others were fighting for their lives, with their loved ones in tow, burdened. Like my sister experienced a situation where an elderly lady succumbed while waiting to be attended to and to the by hospital crew, it was like a normalcy to them. She was covered and the body taken to the morgue. She never saw 2016.


After admission of Uncle Barry, we went outside and crammed Isaac’s Fielder as the process of dropping guys started. On arrival in town, feeling hungry and weary, we went to a fast food and took the common chicken and chips. That night, New Year found us in a mathree as we heard people screaming and saw fireworks while on the way to the house.


Hasta La Vista, Baby.


[Picture Source: Google Images]
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