Discovering Richness

Last weekend me and my good brother Ismail took a trip to Machakos as part of the preliminary activities for shooting a documentary on my historic uncle, which will be done by a researcher and explorer Jonathan. I first met Jonathan at an event several weeks ago now and when I introduced the story of Mathews (my uncle) to him his initial reaction was that of a mixture of skepticism and fascination. The personal documentary on Mathews; an American by decent, Kenyan by birth and Akamba by heritage tells the tale of a life of struggle of identity. A story that describes someone trying to get in touch with his roots and carefully embracing his future. It describes a journey of a white man struggling in a ‘foreign’ land and finding safety in his resolution to accepting the harsh realities of life. It draws the picture of a son who tries to come into terms with the death of his mother while still as a little child, disappearance of a father who worked with the American Navy in the 70’s and detachment of siblings as young kids. Jonathan is really excited about this incredible combination of culture and myself and Ismail are finding this experience of documenting as a whole new practice even with us having known a good portion of Mathew’s life story before.

For us the trip was more of a learning experience and we wanted to soak ourselves up in the culture and lifestyle Machakos had to offer hence we made our agenda that of to inquire about the past and present Machakos lifestyle and to duly make some serious interactions with the locals besides our role in enabling the documentation of an uncle of mine who had lived a life full of richness. Also big on our agenda was a visit to the famous Kyanguli hill where everything defies gravity and any mass put in motion goes up the hill instead of downhill essentially disobeying gravity and putting Newton’s   law of gravity to some serious shame. I have been to Machakos several times before now but this would be my first time to visit Kyanguli hill And Yoo people! This gravity thing is No Silly joke.

It had just rained when we got there and we got to see water go  uphill, and kids tossed marbles on the
ground and enjoyed watching them roll upwards against the direction of motion they were released in and even a wheel tire dramatically went in the opposite direction as the slope. But me what I wanted to see was a 500 plus Kg vehicle drive upwards! So I got into our car and put it in neutral gear and No kidding me and the car went up the hill *faints. Ha ha The people of Machakos are generally kind and they receive guests well. As a growing town, the leadership of the town  is doing a good job in construction of social infrastructure such as sports grounds and amusement parks like the ‘People’s park’ which By the way looks absolutely beautiful at night from an aerial view. The county officers are kind and talk to you politely which is very unusual in the Kenyan context. We didn’t get the fine opportunity of being served Muthokoi but I have got to say the stew we had was really good. A ten minutes gas refill at any gas station within the CBD and the girls appear noticeable as far as style is concerned not saying the gentlemen are not doing their job well anyhow the females appear more visually apparent when you care to look out for some style in the city. 

This trip to Machakos meant so much to me personally but this feeling was ramped up by Jonathan when he decides to give me ‘The $100 Startup’ a book by Chris Guillebeau which is special to him and he offers to give me a $100 reward once I finish reading it And tell you what you had better have my money ready Jonathan Because I am reading it the third time now just in case you decide to get clever and ask me of its content Ha.

As always, Thanks for dropping by.