MY SAY.

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES By Jeremy Leariwala Christmas time has always been a time to create memories, good ones for that matter. From the festivities; nuptials included, new dresses, shoes and toys to the urban folks strutting across the dusty-rural-streets in style, there is always something unique about the time. At the back of our minds (born 70s, 80s and 90s), images of model cities, created by the frail hands of villagers using clay, at the centre of the village, are tucked and vividly clear as if it is just the other day that we participated in Christmas competitions. When I was a child there were inter-villages competitions every end of the year. The rules were simple: the villagers were to organize themselves and use clay to create a model of Bethlehem, where Joseph & Mary had gone to be taxed. It must show Bethlehem as it were during the birth of Jesus Christ. Depending with the creativity of the villagers and their understanding of the story of Christ’s birth in the bible, the...

LOOKING ACROSS  By Jeremy Leariwala  Walker exits the van, immersing his fatigued body in a cold sea. A soft breeze, blowing directionless, carries a mixture of smells; from the leaves, tilled land to the approaching rains. Overhead, the sun lurks behind drifting clouds. Ahead stands a bearded man; one of the curios sellers aligned along Nyahururu-Subukia road, looking him over, sizing him and judging his purchasing power. But Walker stopped for something behind the shops. The magnificent view across the Rift Valley from Subukia’s Eastern viewpoint has always been nostalgic.  “Jambo?” The seller beamed.  “Jambo, jambo...”  Walker throws him another glance. Early thirty-ish, with a countenance of a stress-free family man. The artefacts: grey-haired busts, spear and shield wielding warriors, jumbos, giraffes, Thomson’s gazelles etc, line up behind him like a battalion. Enviable canvas paintings hang on his shop’s wall. An affordable artwork of a gourd-clutching Ga...

FLASH A.K.A VERY SHORT   By Jeremy Leariwala    Growing up as a reader of the novel, I loved to plough through acres of words, flipping over pages and tracing the story scene after scene. Packing a Tom Clancy or an Andy McNab novel in a day-sack and stroll down to the riverside always felt good. I learnt of flash fiction, just the other day!  During the Corona Virus lock-down, surfing the internet was one of the activities that filled the vacuum. The internet became the window and avenue to see what the neighborhood held. And so, through it, I explored the world of fiction writing. Talk of the Comic novel writing, the short film screenwriting or the short-short story writing. I dug deeper into the flash fiction story.  Now to cut long story short, the flash fiction story is a complete story that is about 75 words long! That is all the elements of good story telling employed in 75 words only. How on earth could I tell a whole story in such few words? It is not ea...

How does Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) affect projects performance? * Then how does M&E Planning, Resource allocation, Staff training and Community participation affect project performance? * Look at this study: www.ijebmr.com/link/738

AWAKENING THE GIANTS  By Jeremy Leariwala   Back in the days, decades before fibre optics,  Mostly over the memorable school holidays,  When highways longed for then touted tarmac,  And a single transistor radio served a village,  Broadcasters repeatedly announced ‘The Rally’.    The Safari Rally-an annual event, was a MUST see.  Announcers named household legendary speed-masters,  And everyone knew of Carl Tundo, Njiru among others.    Come the D-day, even the heaviest sleepers woke up early,  To line up by the road, just to glimpse the road giants.  They braved the cold, birds chirping the only other noise.  As radioed, they’d spot their rising dust 20 Kms away,  They’ll cheer, jostle for space and wait with abated breaths.    And then, in a flash, ‘Vroooom!’ the cars were gone,  Leaving spectators groping in the cloud of dust,  Thrilled and grateful for an achieved annual goal.  ...