Happiness is a word you read in books. A word you might come across as you scroll through something on the internet. On your phone. But it is not something you have direct experience, or comprehension of as a Kenyan. Every day being a Kenyan means your very person being stripped away slowly. Layer by…
The Human Spirit
I haven’t written in so so long, i feel like iv’e nearly forgotten how to. I haven’t journalled, I haven’t written a quick note on my phone with a beautiful phrase that i randomly thought of, that could potentially fit into something i might write in future. I haven’t scribbled a few lines in another…
Worried. Deeply Worried for My Generation
(photo cred: Mutua Matheka http://mutuamatheka.co.ke/downloads/) I’ve been MAD. I’ve been hella mad. Every day, all the time. Why? Let me explain. As i mentioned in a previous post, i started the new year unemployed- actually self-employed to be more exact (and on slower days i like to call it ‘funemployment). And if you’re reading this and…
‘And even now, the flag has been raised, but we haven’t seen real freedom’- Field Marshall Muthoni
When a human being spends eleven years of their lives in the forest, braving the elements and using their bodies to physically fight for the freedom of a nation, you know that this person is a real badass. Especially when she is the only woman to have been given the title Field Marshall. So when […]…
#2 Nairobi Tinder- Chronicles: The peculiar nature of Kenyan men
I thought commitment-phobe was just a phrase we use for guys who are unwilling to commit in/to relationships. These past two weeks of my Tinder adventures, i have realized that in fact, the term can be used in a wide variety of situations. My most recent? That men on Tinder are unusually eager to get…
Nairobi Tinder-Chronicles
So. I dubbed 2018 my year of ‘mostly yes’. As cliche as it might be, due to the fact that everyone and their cat read Shona Rhimes’ book “The year of yes” and decided they will also jump on that bandwagon. Disclaimer: I have in fact not read it. Why mostly? Because you can’t say…
Listening to your heart
What things do you find yourself regretting more? The things you did or the things you didn’t do? For me it’s definitely the things I didn’t do (except for that one time I went and dated a piece of crap, but you know, such is life). For most of us it probably is. And that’s…
Nairobi’s Dating Culture and Other Extreme Sports
(Pictured: lover’s bridge- Paris) I was scrolling through Twitter a couple of weeks ago, (yes i am part of the twitterati as we are called- but don’t let that taint your opinion of my writing. Also Twitter does have the power for social good!) and saw a tweet that said something about dating in Nairobi…
The Celebration and the Exclusion of Nairobi’s Start-ups
(Photo cred: Mutua Matheka) I have been baking for as long as I can remember. At age six or seven, i recall sitting atop the kitchen counter watching my mother bake as drool lingered on the corner of my mouth. Dying to stick my not-so-clean finger and lick the bowl as tradition demands. By the…
Policing Women’s Bodies
This is a post that is long overdue. A post I’ve been wanting to write about for so long it has simmered in my soul and slowly, but unintentionally i have unwittingly become indifferent about it. But i refuse to remain quiet about it for much longer. Maybe this post will get reads… and maybe…
Lingua Franca
“Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.” – Frantz Fanon My heart thumping loudly against my chest, I looked around the noisy hum of the dining hall contemplating where to sit. I noticed a group of girls seated on the far end of the room and…
The women in my family
I come from a generation of broken women. Of women who were “too strong” to be loved. Of women who are too familiar with broken marriages, Of women who love betrayed. Time and time again. Who watched their parents before them, Unravel, break drift. And they went on to mimic, Adult love that was…unfamiliar. Mimic…
Nairobi Fringe Dweller 