INSPIRE BEYOND BOOKS : 2 NIGHTS 2 DAYS NYERI

I slept nicely. It was simply because i knew i had made others happy and not just others there is a whole bunch of kids out there who will have memories of a life time. I think we should have more people do this. Just go out there and just be there for somebody else. Sometimes you dont even have to do anything. Just go down to their level and listen really listen. You may not know it but you create a bridge to the world of possibilites and fullfillment of dreams.

Its 9:00am in the morning time to stop being so sentimental about the whole thing and get down to business. I think my clients have overslept. Well with the current weather -read rain and cold and a few Kenyan beers, there is the general temptation to roll over and sleep some more because these blankets tend to just be warm in all the unecessary places. I put in the call and after like 3 missed calls i get my guys up. Now that done am headed to town to buy one lucky boy his uniform of which we will be giving to him later.

I am singing a tune to myself as the cold whips my face on the motor bike. Really am not a person to board those death machines but when i took one look at the road surface i beat down my fear sat on it and asked for a ride. We meet with my guests at the petrol station. Did i mention they have a self drive? sometimes it is such a good thing you are not restricted to places. Anyway we go to the bata shop to complete the Uniform set with a new pair of Toughees for one boy called MEME.

Meme as we had been informed has not been lucky to get two parents and his mother, the one parent he has may not be able to go out and do this things. I make a mental note to ask for clothes from him from friends and maybe buy some as well soon. Lets just say that smile you get from the child is enough to make choirs of angels sing..they are precious.

But before community today we start out at the Lord Baden Powell gardens--yap they turned it into a nice place.

An argument ensues...why on earth would guys have gone on to fight some war in south Africa for land that did not belong to them...I suppose that is their business. For now i like the ideals that B.P teaches young people.To be kind, loyal , i will add loving and morally correct. It is a good infection that he spread in the world. He totally ROCKS!! and to be buried in Nyeri - well ,....do i say we are an honoured bunch of people. WE SHOULD OPEN OUR EYES. Hey that is not all we discover someone else here as well

maybe someone did recognise him. Edward James Jim Corbett...they Indian Man who wrote about the man eaters of Murkomen (if i remember my history) he was B.P's friend.

There are so many others here i suspect they were all colonial masters. We are informed that only one black lady attended B.P's funeral and her name was Nyaruai. If i were her i would have felt odd to be among so many white faces.

MEME BEFORE

MEME AFTER

We progress now to the school. We are making good time. We learnt something here. It was really good. Back to Muringato Primary school and for Meme's sake. Again we are received rather warmly. I am impressed but its time for a different kind of business.

In an instant we have a boy transformed as witnessed in the picture ...it is a teary moment.. i suppose being a mother i do understand how that feels.

After Meme we go towards the secret falls of Nyeri. Pas our very own little rift in the valley to the almost 15 bends of Kiganjo before we stop briefly at the famous Police college. Unfortunately they do not have pesa point here only ATM of two banks Co-operative being one of them. Nevertheless the weather is improving and this area is drier..(thank heavens). We go towards Marua ..past the war memorial graves ---they are very well maintained by the way on past the Brade Gate chiken factory (wait a minute they have a restaurant now that is NEW and cool) oh and finally we are here.

look of suprise at the existence of this place

I mean we are at our destination. I love this place. For one it was the boundary between the Embu and the Gikuyu in times past and it is of some historical significant. Here the battle of the black river (bara ya rui ruiru) was fought i will quote from an article written in the star (http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-120441/we-were-humiliated-colonial-masters)

"He particularly remembers the Rui Ruiru (Black River) battle in Mathira where freedom fighters

rock formation with path between

part of the waterfall system at this place

were ambushed by British soldiers and home guards at Karuthi on their way from Mount Kenya to Tumutumu. “We had been spotted at a place called Kagaki and ambushed by British soldiers and home guards from Marua along the railway line to Rugathati. As we drank porridge at a home we had been welcomed to, women told us that we had been surrounded. To confront the small group that we were, the enemy was using radio calls to seek reinforcement from Nanyuki, Tumutumu and Karatina.”The freedom fighters had a few man-made guns which though not very effective as weapons, made a big racket that confused the enemy. “We also had a few conventional guns and a metal pipe weapon that shot a bullet further than a 303 could, but our main strength was the element of surprise through the loud blasts our weapons made. To make the other side think we were a big battalion, we would raise a flag and blow the trumpet. And if we were overcome, we would instead of retreating, run towards the enemy which at times scared them away as they thought we were unbeatable.”This however did not stop the Mau Mau from becoming casualties of the battle at Rui Ruiru as seven of the forest soldiers lost their lives and others were wounded. Mathenge recalls a colleague he was lying in a trench with who was shot through the eye and endured so much pain that he would keep raising his head in anticipation of a fatal bullet and thus relieve from the excruciating pain. “The man is still alive today and he still remembers how I kept pushing his head down despite his resistance.” "

The freedom fighters had a few man-made guns which though not very effective as weapons, made a big racket that confused the enemy. “We also had a few conventional guns and a metal pipe weapon that shot a bullet further than a 303 could, but our main strength was the element of surprise through the loud blasts our weapons made. To make the other side think we were a big battalion, we would raise a flag and blow the trumpet. And if we were overcome, we would instead of retreating, run towards the enemy which at times scared them away as they thought we were unbeatable.”
This however did not stop the Mau Mau from becoming casualties of the battle at Rui Ruiru as seven of the forest soldiers lost their lives and others were wounded. Mathenge recalls a colleague he was lying in a trench with who was shot through the eye and endured so much pain that he would keep raising his head in anticipation of a fatal bullet and thus relieve from the excruciating pain. “The man is still alive today and he still remembers how I kept pushing his head down despite his resistance.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-120441/we-were-humiliated-colonial-masters#sthash.S8Neufkg.dpuf

oh this place is beautiful and never ceases to amaze me just how nature tends to come out and do something to our sensenses.