What do I love about my country Kenya that makes me a patriot! Well this is harder than I thought. I guess I love it because it is like family. If you ever lived abroad you’ll always feel drawn back home normally because of your own family, but there is a nice feeling being able to walk on the streets of Nairobi and bump into someone you know.
Especially if you attended public school like I did, there’s always that familiar face that you see on the street and all you can say to yourself or to the ‘random’ person you stop on the street; ‘I think I know you from somewhere’ and be able to name schools and other institutions that are not alien to them. After all you are one in a sense. You are Kenyan.
In the world we live in we will always echo, familiarity breeds contempt’ yes, there is some truth to it. But it’s nice to be known and know people. Traveling abroad at a later stage in your life, there is almost a surety that the friends you make in unknown nations are there for convenience; get by while you live there. Don’t get me wrong you can still make friends in foreign lands and nurture your friendships, but there’s nothing like being at home. Well at least to me there isn’t.
The relatives we love to duck and run from on the streets, the ones who yell your name from over 200 metres away, it shouldn’t bother you; it’s the pride of knowing you; even when it means jeopardizing or even embarrassing you in front of your date.
Walking around in my rural home is proof of the love that really exists. Absolute strangers, with no relations whatsoever are always willing to greet you. And some who may recognize you from your tell -tale facial features will ask you how your parents of grandparent are. And will whole and open heartedly invite you to their homes for a meal or a cup of tea. I admire that, and it is something that I fear is dying out.
I can remember as a child, actually even now up until this point, I hated the constant ,’do you know who I am’ question by supposed clansmen who believe that we are family. Looking at it now, I guess this has made me appreciate something that we are loosing; knowing our family lineage and kingship ties. Family is where the heart is they say. Where is my heart today? My heart yearns to know and grow to understand the ties that bind me, my forefathers and their forefathers. I pleasure in enjoying a luxury that others lack; a chance to visit and meet and sit in the presence of the bearers of my heritage history.
Listening to the feats of my great grandmother and great grandfather who fought in the First World War for the British, his several heads of cattle, a dog he loved and saved him from a leopard. My grandmother the great cook, nurturer and amazing business woman who loved and cared for her grandchildren. There really is so much I take for granted, the fact that I have the privilege of being able to visit with most of my family in the same borders, not divided by a fence or wall. I am blessed and privileged and for that case truly my home and heart are in the same place. A place that I love and that is Kenya; my home and my family!
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