And that was the 8-4-4

As I am writing this text, I am not fully convinced whether today, 11^th December 2014, really marks the end of my 8-4-4 education or am just day-dreaming.
The journey was long, challenges real and many, but if I am not dreaming now, then it is finally done. Many years lie between 1997 and 2014, numerous things have taken place since I was just a small boy until today when a beard has started showing up.

Special thanks 

I want to thank the Almighty God for being faithful to His promises, as His nature is. He has given me all the protection I needed, guidance and direction in my education journey hitherto. Dear Lord, creator of Heaven and Earth, thank you for everything. Thank you for making it possible!

My dear parents, I cannot leave you out of this. God brought me to this world through you and you did your best to take care of and nurture me all these years since my birth day. May God bless you dear mum and give you longer life. As for you my dad, may your soul continue to rest in eternal peace!

Every other relative and friend, close or not, deserves a special appreciation too. Especially those that have played a noble role in supporting my education in one way or the other, God will reward them. The family of Uncle Blustus Konde, you were a central pillar in this, thank you. May God give all of you longer lives and may He continue to rest the spirit of my uncle in eternal peace!

My school mates, classmates, teachers and lecturers; you have molded my future which is already here. I remember many but will only mention a few in my nursery school – the likes of Alex Mwalewa, Joseline Kadzo, Peris Kasena, under the care of my first teacher who is the wife to my assistant chief. Primary school colleagues like Samson Ponda, Nelly Lewa, Mercy Tsuma, under the head teacher Mr. Callistus Changawa, wherever you all are, God be with you. High school ‘goons’ like Juma Katore, Erickson Juma, Kenny Amani, under the principal Mr. Vitallis Majeni; and finally my campus mates including Jacinta Nafula, Ronald Agak and Cynthia Ogolla – congratulations my dears!

My home church has also been of great benefit to me. The prayers you did for me concerning my studies and journey masses, the general spiritual growth you have facilitated, financial support and well wishes have all worked. You chose me to be the head of communications and announcements, something that closely relates to my course. That was great. My pastor Raphael Kenga and the whole congregation, thank you!

The journey

It began in 1997 after the heavy and destructive El Nino. That nursery school had no name, except being identified as one that was built by Plan International, which is a non-governmental organization. The building still exists but as a residential house for a certain family. That is where my education started. The red soil that formed a nice habitat for fleas and jiggers did not draw back my ambitions. I pushed through and finally got what took me to the next level!

January 1998. That is when I joined Ezamoyo Primary School. Unlike the previous institution where my assistant chief’s wife got it smooth by teaching us in Giriama language, Mrs. Lwambi and Mrs. Njoroge had a rough time, forcing me to understand what they were saying in some strange languages like Kiswahili and English. But I learnt fast and got assimilated into the system, until Thursday 10^th November 2005 when I did my last paper – GHCRE – the KCPE exam that gave me the qualification of moving on to the next level!

St. George’s High School was waiting. I did not join the provincial school on the required date, 23^rd January 2006. Rather I got there 11 days later but since it was on a Saturday afternoon, I had to wait for Monday 6^th February in order to complete the admission process. Admission number 3001 struggled with life at St. George’s in Kaloleni, a neighboring district, until mid November 2009 when I completed my KCSE exam that translated into a grade that took me to the next level!

11^th July 2011 was the official admission date for my lot at Moi University’s main campus. I still remember the tiresome admission process as if it happened yesterday. Mr. Kurgat, my first lecturer, took me through a unit called Introduction to Print Media. That is when I got the gist of what my work would entail in the media industry. Other misters, madams, doctors and professors then came in and successfully ‘corrupted’ my mind with the knowledge and skills that transformed me into who I am at the moment.

Moi University Press Club, a campus news publication, trusted my abilities and appointed me as reporter and finally Swahili Editor, a position that I handed over last weekend. Moi University Radio also did me a favor of making me part of its reporters and presenters until yesterday. I say long live main campus, long live Moi University!

Conclusion

Although the 8-4-4 journey has had numerous ups and downs, the silver lining in it is that it is over. I have realized that the uncountable challenges I have faced so far are more important than the smooth paths. They have taught me how to be hard along the hard way and how to face similar ones in future.

I am now fully prepared to face and take up the challenges of the world and may the Almighty God help and guide me in the next levels that may include, but not only, job seeking and possibly getting married – I don’t know!

Wanafunzi wazua ghasia na kupora mali chuoni

Kulishuhudiwa maanamano hapo jana katika chuo Kikuu cha Moi, baada ya wanafunzi kugadhabishwa na ukosefu wa nguvu za umeme hasa katika sehemu ya malazi ya SOWETO. Yalianza mwendo wa saa saba mchana na kuendelea kwa zaidi ya masaa matatu.

Wanafunzi hao walibeba matawi huku wakiimba wimbo wa mapambano na kufululiza hadi katika afisi za usimamizi wa chuo ili kueleza kutoridhika kwao. Walitaka kuhutubiwa na Naibu wa Chansela Bw. Richard Mibey, lakini badala yake akawatuma wasaidizi wake wawili kuwatuliza waandamanaji kwa kuwahakikishia kwamba tatizo hilo sugu lingetatuliwa mara moja.

Haikuwa kazi rahisi kwa wawili hao kuzima ghasia hizo hadi mwishowe wakawasiliana na mkurugenzi wa kampuni ya Kenya Power tawi la Eldoret ili afike chuoni humo mara moja. Alipowalisi, mkurugenzi huyo, ambaye alikosa hata nafasi ya kujitambulisha kwa jina, alilazimika kuvumilia matusi na kelele kutoka kwa wanafunzi waliojawa na hasira, kabla hatimaye kutoa hotuba yake kwa kifupi.

“Tayari chuo chenu kimelipa pesa kwa kampuni ya Kenya Power, kwa hivyo kesho asubuhi wafanyikazi wetu watakuwa hapa ili kutatua tatizo hili. Tutaweka mashini mpya ya kudhibiti na kusambaza umeme, shughuli itakayotuchukua siku moja au mbili kuanzia kesho.”

Hotuba hiyo ilisaidia pakubwa katika kutuliza ghasia hizo na hali ya utulivu ikarudi tena chuoni humo, na shughuli nyenginezo zikandelea.

Hata hivyo, mwendo wa saa moja jioni, ghasia hizo zilizuka upya baada ya umeme kutoweka tena na hapo ndipo wanabiashara walihesabu hasara.

Kwa kisingizio cha njaa, wanafunzi hao walivamia soko la mboga na matunda na kuanza kupora chochote chenye ladha ya chakula. Sukuma, kabeji, nyanya, vitunguu, ndizi, parachichi, na kadhalika, wanafunzi walijishindia. Hata vibanda vya soko hilo pia vilikiona cha mtema kuni kwani viligeuzwa maghofu kwa muda usiozidi nusu saa.

Duka la kuuzia vibanzi, chapi na mahamri lililo karibu pia halikusamehewa, kwani pia lilisaidia kukata njaa ya waandamanaji hao. Baadaye walivamia duka lengine mita kadhaa kutoka hapo na kupora chochote kilichokuwa ndani baada ya kufanikiwa kuvunja milango na madirisha.

Hii leo mwendo wa saa tatu gari la kampuni ya Kenya Power limewasili chuoni pamoja na wahandisi na vifaa vyao ili kuanza shughuli ya kurekebisha hitilafu za umeme kwa lengo la kuzuia ghasia kama hizo kutokea tena siku za usoni.

Vasity students loot shop in a night-time demonstration

Early this morning, students of Moi University’s main campus pretended to be surprised at the 3-hour damages they caused yesterday evening, approximately Ksh. 300,000 (figures quoted by one student leader).

 It all began yesterday, with a power blackout in the SOWETO hostels that persisted past the students’ ‘cooking hours’. Charged with hunger and frustration, the students collected themselves into a mass movement and began a demonstration towards the administration block, where, being on a Sunday, little help could be obtained.

The demonstrators then matched to the students’ centre, where they forced the director of Security and Accommodation, Mr. Beryl Guyo, to officially announce a peaceful demonstration as from 9am the following day. Left with no other option, Guyo declared the demonstration and even urged students to turn out in large numbers.

However, that seemed to be a story of another day, otherwise the students had to find a way of filling up their stomachs. From the students’ centre, they matched from one hostel to the other around SOWETO area with shouts and whistles, a strategy that was purely meant to expand the crowd. It worked.

Then it was time for supper and The Moon Shop was identified as the nearest point to serve the hungry students. It took them almost an hour to break the strong metallic door and the looting began. It was around 11pm. Nothing was forgiven, from loaves of bread, cash money (from MPESA), juices, flour, to anything else present in the shop, including pampers.

To the left of The Moon Shop is a chips café, which sells chips, chapattis, maandazi, sausages and sausages. A better section of the crowd killed their hunger at this point.

At around midnight, the students went to bed, having caused what they are now getting surprised at.

Avaaye nusu uchi ni sharti avuliwe

Kwa mara ya kwanza ninatoa kauli yangu kuhusu lile tukio lililoshuhudiwa maeneo ya Embakasi jijini Nairobi, mnamo siku ya Jumanne.

Kanda kadhaa za video zilinasa genge la wanaume wakishirikiana katika shughuli pevu ya kumvua nguo mwanamke mmoja, kwa madai kwamba mtindo wake wa mavazi ulikosa maadili katikati mwa jiji. Kanda hizo zimekuwa zikizagaa mitandaoni hasa ile ya kijamii kama vile Facebook, Twitter, na katika hifadhi ya video ya YouTube; Hata mimi nikajipatia nakala yangu.

Mengi yamesemwa kuhusu kitendo hicho, huku wengi wakionekana kuegemea upande wa muathiriwa huyo, wakiwashtumu vikali wahusika waliomvua nguo. Swadakta. Hata mimi ningepagawa iwapo jambo hilo lingemtukia mke wangu, mchumba au mpendwa yeyote wa karibu. Aibu iliyoje? Si vyema.

Hata hivyo, upanga wangu ni mkali, upatao kuwili. Hebu tuangazie eneo la tukio. Ni Nairobi, mji mkuu wa Kenya, nchi ambayo imejikita katika mizizi ya tamaduni za kiafrika na hilo si la kupingwa.

Hebu niwaulize wale wanaoshikilia msimamo kwamba wale waliotekeleza kitendo hicho walikosea na wanapaswa kushtakiwa. Je, huyo kipusa hakukosea alipotoka nyumbani kwake akijua amevalia nguo zilizoanza kuchelewa na kuisha mapema?

Najua mabaya mawili hayazai sahihi, lakini wakati wote enyi wasichana muwe makini kimavazi. Mjue kwamba mnapotembea katikati ya wanaume, kunao wasiosumbuka na wengine wenye mioyo dhaifu. Si vyema mwenzako kumpandishia hisia na baadaye hutamsaidia.

Namalizia kwa kuwapongeza sana wale wote waliojitolea kumsaidia mwanamke huyo, aliyekuwa amejiweka nusu uchi lakini kwa ushirikiano wao wakamfanya awe uchi kikamilifu. Hiyo ndiyo adhabu mwafaka impasayo mwanamke yeyote atakayevaa mavazi yasiyomsitiri hadharani. Tafadhalini wenzangu popote mlipo, nawarai tena kwa moyo mkunjufu, mkiona mwanamke mwengine kama huyo mvueni kabisa, msisaze hata chupi!

First years top in campus pregnancies

In almost all faculties of Moi University's main campus, current first year groups seem to lead in the number of pregnancy cases compared to their senior counter-parts.

This comes as a surprise because in the recent years, those joining public universities are generally perceived as being one year younger than those who joined in 2011 and before.

Before 2012, a students would stay for over 20 months after KCSE, waiting to join campus. This, in my opinion, gave them a chance to learn one or two things about the world. By the time such students began their final phase of the 8-4-4 education system, they were already mature as well as able to think and act like adults.

Today, this is no longer the case. Candidates complete their secondary education and immediately proceed to higher education, just the following year. This, according to me, is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to them.

In Moi University for instance, there is always a clear distinction between first years and the seniors. In the funny way they behave; walking in groups as if heading to a Physics contest, laughing and getting surprised at everything, bouncing along the paths as if trying to scare form ones; one finds no difficulty in identifying them, the former form fours.

Like in most campuses, first year female students are always the main target for senior male students. Their naivety always betrays them.

As innocent as they are, one thing leads to another, ending up yelling loudly inside rooms of senior male hostels, with no one willing to show up to their rescue. A few weeks later, resultant fruits begin to mould- pregnancy! The consequence of early exposure to maximum freedom.

What then can be done to rescue the situation? Public universities should incorporate 'funny' programs like sex education, guidance and counseling that help such young girls learn how to say no. This will in turn assist them to avoid a situation where a lady acquires two degrees at ago- one in her head, the other in her stomach!

Student complains about delayed kidney treatment

Patience Kaingu, a form one student at Sokoke Victory High School – Cassava, blames her parents for her having to endure kidney pains for about four years now, without any medical attention.

She explains the problem that has, for a long time, deprived her of happiness and subsequently affected her studies. According to her, she started experiencing chest pains early 2010 when she was in primary school. Her mother took her to hospital but the treatment she received could not solve the problem.

“I was taken to Kilifi District Hospital because of the chest pains where I was given some drugs that made me get better for about one week before the pains started again. I have never gone back to the hospital since then,” narrates the 16 year old girl.

The situation changed from bad to worse in mid 2010 when her kidneys too started aching, as Patience recalls.

“I then started experiencing similar pains in the kidneys. It began with one kidney but now both of them have been affected. The pains often get serious from time to time and when it so happens, I hardly go for a short call. Sometimes I find it difficult to walk or even stand upright. I normally suffer.”

Despite her situation sounding so serious, very little has been done in terms of getting it treated, especially the kidney problem whose medical history according to her only consists of buying pain killers from a chemistry at Kakanjuni Trading Centre earlier this year.

Patience’s lamentations clearly seem to point a blaming finger to her parents for delaying her treatment. She is afraid that further delays may result into more serious complications and therefore calls for help in order to undergo treatment soon.

“I usually remind my parents about my problem and the need for treatment but they always claim that they are still in the process of looking for money,” says the aspiring surgeon.

Speaking to Ebenezer News Online through a telephone call on Thursday 9^th October, Patience’s mother Mrs. Dama Wanje confirmed her daughter’s ill situation. According to her, she has once thought about an X-ray for her daughter but due to lack of money, the plan could not be implemented.

Social media and tribal hatred

Social media provides interactive forums whose aim is to bring people together in the cloud mainly for the purpose of sharing common interests. Apart from connecting two people like a telephone call would do, the social media allows more than two individuals to exchange messages and other contents in real time.

In Facebook for instance, one can create a group in which others can join, see what is happening inside and participate in its activities. Pages also exist which, after liking, one is able to see and follow every post made by the page. Facebook therefore is a typical example of a social forum whose millions of users enjoy the privilege of ‘seeing’ each other in the cloud as if no distance exists between or amongst them.

However, not all people use social forums in a positive way. There are some users who are out there to advocate for hatred between individuals or groups. The interactive provision offered by social media, if soberly used, would promote national unity and foster cohesion among people of different backgrounds. On the other hand, the power of the same forums when carelessly used can completely divide a people.

You have probably seen a controversial news article posted on Facebook by one of the media houses in Kenya, about a certain politician from a particular tribe. The comments that usually follow afterwards are enough to tell that tribal hatred exist in our country. Insults, abusive comments and replies from heaters of another tribe will thread, either against the politician or any other person whose comment appears to support him/her.

Unlike in the websites of mainstream media, where a comment to a story is reviewed by the organization before being approved or disapproved, comments in most social media are free flowing, regardless of their nature and message they carry.

For this reason, one who claims that social media promotes tribal cohesion is right and the other person who says that media promotes tribal division is also right.

Digital manipulation of football photos

Digital manipulation of images is widely used in the field of sports, particularly football. With the advent of new media and digital technologies, people across the world use software and applications to create, modify or change images in order to suit their own needs.

In football, this concept is used to exaggerate facts relating to things that take place in the field. Being one of the most interesting sporting events, football has a diversity of fans across the world, segmented by virtue of the football teams or clubs they support. There are several famous cases where fans have manipulated images in order to communicate the original message with more emphasis.

Flying Van Persie

Actual Van Persie flying header

In the recently concluded 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Robin Van Persie, captain of the Netherlands team scored a wonder goal when he converted Wesley Sneijder’s long cross with a header past Spain goalkeeper. It was his opening goal of the tournament as the Manchester United striker helped his team thrush the defending champions 5-1.

Funny: Modified Van Persie header

Just some moments after the match, several manipulated images of the scene started circulation in social media, where the Dutch man appeared to have wings as he flies with the ball. The addition of wings was meant to exaggerate the manner in which the goal was scored, in an almost impossible way.

Funny: Van Persie in the sky

Other photos were showing Van Persie in the sky, in the middle of some angels. The fans were just trying to show how the goal scorer’s dive could only be compared with an angel.

Van Persie’s goal was listed among the top three goals of the tournament, together with James Rodriguez's volley for Colombia against Uruguay and Tim Cahill's stunning strike against the Netherlands for Australia.

Ramos penalty ball

In the 2011/2012 UEFA Champions League season, Spanish club Real Madrid met Germany side Bayern Munich in the semi finals on 25^th April, 2012. Until the end of the second leg, the aggregate score was 3-3 and so the match went into penalty shootout.

Ramos penalty miss

It is that moment when the phrase “Ramos penalty ball” originated and dominated the social media alongside some funny photos. Sergio Ramos, Real Madrid defender was among the five selected to take the penalties and due to bad luck, he lifted the ball wide above the goal post. Bayern eventually won 3-1 and proceeded to the final where they lost to England side Chelsea.

Funny: Ramos ball in space

The scene was captured and immediately manipulated into various funny images. One of the photos was showing how far the ball reached and according to the designer, the ball flew to space and was spotted among the planets, revolving around the sun.

Funny: Impact of Ramos ball return

The following day, a photo in the social media was showing the impact of the penalty ball when it returned. The ball landed on someone’s house, broke the window and dipped into a plate of food on a table, splashing the contents onto the face and clothes of the owner.

Funny: Impact of Ramos ball return

There was yet another funny one in the morning, which was accompanied with a headline, “Sergio Ramos penalty ball finally lands.” The ball landed violently onto a moving car in the streets and the car could not withstand the pressure. It broke down!

All these were trying to exaggerate on the strength of the penalty kick and the fact that the ball flew far above the goal post.

The biting Suarez

Luis Suarez is a Uruguayan striker who recently joined Barcelona from Liverpool. He has always been in the headlines for his habit of biting opponents in the field. This has earned him nick-names such as The Biting Suarez, Vampire, Cannibal, Dracula and many others. 

Actual Suarez bite on Ivanovic

On 22^nd April 2013, Suarez bit Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on his arm towards the end of a Premier League match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was his second bite of his career after biting Ottman Bakkal of PSV when he was still playing for Ajax in 2010.

Modified Suarez bite on Ivanovic

After the 2013 incident, several photos began to circulate, with exaggerated effect where Ivanovic appeared to bleed profusely as a result of the bite.

Actual Suarez bite on Chiellini

Again in the 2014 World Cup, Suarez appeared to bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder in a match where Uruguay won 1-0. This was the peak of the matter.

Modified Suarez bite on Chiellini

The image of the scene was manipulated as to show three huge marks on Chiellini’s shoulder, suggesting that Suarez had deeply sunk his teeth, causing his opponent to bleed.

Funny: Suarez biting philosophy

Several other photos followed, showing Suarez’s biting philosophy, “If you can’t beat them, just eat them!”

Funny: Suarez biting prize

Another photo appeared after the tournament, with Suarez holding a trophy of the best bite of the year!