Motivation Parlour

Category: Travel and lifestyle

  • The Corona Pandemic and 8 Lessons to Learn

    The Corona Pandemic and 8 Lessons to Learn

    Hey guys, I have been away for some time. And you may have asked yourself at some point where I disappeared to. But that shouldn’t bother you much today. I will talk about the Corona pandemic today.

    Well, I got into freelance writing projects and other brick-and-mortar engagements. These have kept me off this blog for a while.

    Not that I got disinterested in writing, reading, and coding- a recent interest.

    Let me guess, you could be asking yourself what I’m reading now. Well, I have 3 books that I’m reading concurrently. But what has touched me most is one by Robert Uttaro.

    He narrates on rape survivors’ cases that many never get to know about. That’s a story for another day.

    I can almost hear you thinking about what my endpoint is.

    We are facing unprecedented times brought about by the Corona Virus–COVID-19. There is a concerted effort by governments the world over to contain the virus.

    Precautionary Measures in Place

    Many have put precautionary measures in place that are now obvious at the fingertips and lips of every sane human being.

    A few to mention include:

    • Washing your hands with soap and running water for 20 seconds.
    • Sneeze and Cough on a flexed elbow, handkerchief, or tissue paper.
    • Maintain social distancing, and avoid crowds.
    • Drink lots of water to keep your throat moist.
    • Avoid the handshake.
    • Sticking to plastic money and mobile money while avoiding cash transactions.

    Now, this is important.

    What lessons can we draw from the Corona pandemic hitting the world today?

    1. The Corona pandemic hitting the world is not the first and the last. Several others came with death in their wake and vanished. SoCorona is there for a seasonand will soon disappear.
    2. It’s not a disease tied to a particular race of people. So it’s not about a “Chinese virus” but a world pandemic threatening to sink planet earth.
    3. Health starts with you. So make sure you always maintain high hygiene levels. Exercise. Eat well and always go for routine checkups whether or not there is a Corona pandemic.
    4. Love is good, but the ones you love can be your downfall. Take care not to inflict your family with the virus.
    5. As human beings, we can give ourselves everything but not life. The creator, the God, is the only giver of life. Having neighbours is good, but alwaysknow your boundariesand learn to say NO.
    6. Alwayshave some savings aroundfor such unprecedented times.
    7. Catastrophic problemsunite the worldand make it go round.
    8. You can be flexible enough to work from home. This is my next post. Stay tuned.

    Final Thoughts

    World governments are facing hard times in containing the COVID-19 virus. And some with better resources are giving support to other governments. Case of China and Italy.

    The country’s economies will feel the bite. It has forced mainstream businesses to close to avoid overcrowding.

    But guess what your health is more important than the many things you are worried about. Just make sure you are staying safe and never say die.

  • Is the Marriage Institution Under Siege?

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    Image courtesy of Google

    Sometime back while on a public vehicle, I happened to be seated in front of two young ladies who were having an animated conversation on a range of life issues.
    Given the nature of Kenyans on PSVs,(Passenger Serving Vehicles), many were hardly talking except for pleasantries and demanding their money changes from suspicious looking touts.
    Being ears reach from the two ladies, I got wind of the marriage topic they were discussing.The fact that they cast aspersions on the married and the marriage institution surprised me.
    The two young ladies, fit as fiddles, averagely beautiful and potential mothers were saying that marriage does not work in the 21st century and would instead live as single women or single mothers.
    We are all aware of the fact that marriage has its own ups and downs, but that should not be a justification for saying no to it mainly by single unmarried women or men.
    Folklore, in a bid to inspire women to embrace the marriage institution, tells of how the 19th-century woman could withstand the challenges that arose in marriage, including her cheeks being warmed with fiery slaps but could still not pack her bags and leave😢😢.

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    Image courtesy of Google

    However, it appears that a lot must have changed since then. Of course, the issue of male chauvinism is also a factor to consider per se.

    Not like a script to rehearse before the stage play, a simple misunderstanding, remark, or a more complicated scenario like unfaithfulness or domestic violence in marriage could throw the spanner in the works, rendering the once an oasis of joy into a desert of its former self.
    Most youths have been on the forefront to castigate the marriage life, citing abuse, infidelity, and mistreatment of the spouse.Whether its something they see and hear from their married neighbors, I cannot tell for sure.

    But for a fact, moral indecency and deprivation could be a significant factor affecting the marriage institution today.

    In the olden days, before many of us had the chance to see the sun, stories concerning sex, one’s sexual escapades, and bedroom matters were spoken in hush tones and were considered private but not anymore.The internet, as I write this is awash with all kinds of funny and quite shameful stories about a pastor caught in the act, somebody’s wife or husband adultery ways busted, a man marrying his house help as a second wife.
    If you think this is enough to change attitudes and perceptions toward marriage then you need check again.I want to believe that no one is oblivious to the fact that our radio stations are darlings to topics that center on infidelity, divorce, domestic violence resulting in the death of a spouse, homicides and you name them in a bid to win more listeners and heat up their shows.
    From the foregoing, whether you choose to confirm or deny it, its quite clear that our minds are being fed with bad, negative and sad information day in day out about the marriage institution.

    Unknowingly, we pick the attitudes, perceptions and the spirits of those we listen to more often that we think.

    This culminates in a phobia towards the married and the marriage institution.Thanks to
    technology, your Smartphone makes available all the ‘juicy’ gossip you will want to hear about a celebrity or prominent person.
    As if not enough, the marriage institution has been mocked severally by wedding attendees who show up at a wedding to celebrate their friends’ wedding but talk negatively about marriage.
    Worse still, the issue of a mistress, commonly referred to as ‘mpango wa kando‘ has been a much-hyped topic that it no longer looks distasteful but a way of life to the married.
    I don’t know where the rains started beating us, but something has to change really fast.
    Recently, while attending a brethren fellowship, the marriage topic could not escape the
    speech of those present as it was clear that the men, in particular, had broken their vows (if they were made at all) in search of the other woman. This begs the question: are men natural explorers who feel tamed with one woman or is it the women who have a problem with keeping their men?
    As a final thought, I believe marriage is still holy, God-ordained and still has the reverence it deserves.Therefore, going forward, the youth and the unmarried should borrow a leaf from couples who have walked the talk, lived in the test of times and still stand with their marriage vows. Are there any in the first place? Yes, I believe we still have some good souls left.
    On the contrary, while it is good to listen and empathize, they should shun the advice and negative talk from those who have fallen victim or are paying a price for their wrong moves.
    What do you think?

  • Kirimari, Kenya

    Kirimari

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    Kirimari is a word coined by the Aembu people in Kenya, meaning land on top of the hill. You would still be right to title this blog post as Embu, Kenya.
    It is a now a month since I landed in this economically vibrant town in Eastern Kenya. Born and raised in Western Kenya, Embu to me was yonder and a place I had never been.

    I am here to do what people do – work. Given that it’s an agriculturally rich county you would be forgiven for thinking am an agriculturist. Embu is in a semi-arid area with high temperatures that make you sweaty and thirsty; if you actually find it hard to gobble 6-8 glasses of water a day, Embu is the right place to change that. I myself have been doing with 4litres of water half a day given the hot working environment. I find myself taking shower two times a day to relieve the body of heat and sweat. For the hydrophobic guys, this is not your place, flee away very fast.

    So what does my job entail!? I work on a growers farm majoring in the production of horticultural crops namely Demon chili ( kanyenje) for the local name, French beans ( mishiri), watermelon, bananas and onions. My typical day begins at 5 a.m. Wake up hot or sweaty shower up, prepare and take a hurried breakfast and jump on the next motorbike to my place of work. By the time am leaving my place of stay it’s 6a.m so I arrive at my place of work at about 6:30a.m thanks to a bumpy 11km ride over a rising and falling terrain with roads that are quite unfriendly, showering you with dust in a dry weather and slippery, sticky mud on a wet season. By virtually 7:30 a.m almost all employees and workers have reported for duty. A normal working day usually begins at 8:00a.m. Walking on gumboots the whole day is now a part of me; I work in the production department and my key responsibilities include supervising labor in blocks, supervising bed maintenance and general routine management practices on the crops in various blocks. By 4p.m am done working but due to the distance, transport logistics and sometimes the nature of work on a given day I arrive at my place at about 6 or 7 p.m.

    Here in kirimari, two local tribes exist the Aembu people and their cousins the Mbeere people. I am in Mbeere south, Kiritiri to be more precise. Though other tribes have also found Embu hospitable and liveable such as the Akamba, Agikuyu and Abaluhyia like me. The Agikuyu resonate well with the Mbeere people and therefore can communicate effectively. The dominant economic activity is agriculture with miraa being the main cash crop that sells like hotcake. On entering a pub or a club one would mistake revelers as people suffering from mumps. Their left or right cheeks can be seen bulged with shovings of miraa (muguka) accompanied with roasted groundnuts ( to make it tastier) , taken down by a bottle of beer and wound up with a smoke puff from cigarettes. What a stuffy and breathtaking place to be.

    Given the side effects, the sour or rather tasteless plant may have on your healthy young men and women consume it with relish enjoying every bite that goes by. However, it leaves behind a wake of irresponsible father’s and husbands that lazy around making their unusually beautiful women more productive than men; no proclivities here, save me your curious mind. Women walk as far as 11 kilometers to go work to and fro something I have not seen in Western Kenya. Most women there would prefer to stay at home doing house chores or be forced to stay at home by their husbands who go to work instead. A lazy, irresponsible husband will be harangued with an avalanche of insults and contempt from an irate wife.

    In Kirimari, agriculture thrives more so because of River Thiba backed by the seven folks hydroelectric irrigation schemes namely Kamburu, Kiambere, Kindaruma, Gitaru, Masinga , Mutonga and grand falls. The last two are still not operational.
    To anyone with misgivings about this place I would advise you on the contrary that it’s a place to be. Tourist attraction sites within include the 7 folks, Mt. Kenya and the Karue hill picnic site off Embu- Runyenjes road.