Kenya 2013: The Thiongos of Thika-Edith & Hannah

Driving to Thika from Kijabe is like travelling through history from the Agricultural Revolution into the Industrial Revolution and then back again. Thika is the Birmingham of Kenya where factories abound. John's family lives well outside of Thika town in the bush where agriculture returns. We drive through unmarked dirt roads with ruts big enough to swallow a Volkswagen never really sure which direction we are heading and confident that we couldn’t navigate our way out if our lives depended on it. Hope John knows where he’s going. The roads are much more entertaining and less bone jarring on a piki piki (motorcycle). John provides us with a daily full body "massage" in the Land Cruiser.

We arrive to the bustling family compound with voices calling "Mama John, Mama John". Mama is "Uncle" in kikuyu. The Pied Piper has arrived. The Thiongo Compound includes the homes of his extended family—his mother, Edith and sister Anne (Hannah), his brothers Antony and Phillip, their wives and children, and the six orphaned children of his deceased sister Feri. The air is teeming with the energy of 11 children ranging from Boniface at 18 months to Margaret at 13 years. Stand back and be amazed!

The carwashing event

Mama John, Edith III, Antony Minor, Alex, Fundi Minor (aka Rufus II), Rufus, Boniface (baby), John, Francis, Kevin, Samson (neighbor kid looking for a photo op next to Kevin) and Tony.

Edith is the matriarch of this incredible family. She has raised seven children, John and his siblings, and now is raising a second family of six, the orphaned grandchildren of her daughter Feri. She is up well before dawn (4AM) preparing chai to start the day and then we join her for dinner at 9 nightly. She is busy harvesting maize from the shamba while we are at the primary school working. At 61, she completes the physical demands of the farm with an alacrity that belies her years.

Edith and Boniface

Bean sorting

She speaks Kikuyu so we rely on John and his sister Hannah as resident interpreters. I am confident that she understands much more English than she lets on.

Our nightly dinner conversations covered a myriad of topics. One night we learned about "free hair". I thought John had misinterpreted. Qu'est-ce que c'est free hair? Kenyan women have a fascination with mzungu hair. Typical Kenyan hair is thick and close cropped. The women often wear wigs for entertaining. I assured Edith my hair was very real and "free". The kids, both at home and at the school, often sneak a quick hand up to our hair to explore this rarity.

I must admit we got home from work one day and I heard Edith's voice in the courtyard but did not recognize the person speaking as this woman had finely coiffed shoulder length black hair. I turned back to John and asked where Edith was and he just started laughing. It took me less than a second to realize my faux pas. Edith cracked up and we all laughed at and with the stupid mzungu!

Another fascination for her was the cost of produce in the US. Thika is fertile ground for avocados, papayas, mangos, oranges and pineapples. The avocados are huge—large enough to fill my hand—size 7 gloves!! They have a creamy texture with an incredible nutty taste. They cost about 2 KSH each (2 pennies). They would easily go for $5 in the US. Edith is incredulous. Five dollars is equivalent to 400 kenyan shillings which would buy two live chicks. Their shamba has both a female and male papaya tree...who knew. Pineapple is industry king as Thika is the home to Del Monte Pineapple. We are in produce heaven!!

Female papaya tree Male Papaya tree

Hannah, John's younger sister, is in Form 4 (equivalent to a senior in high school). She is an incredible track athlete, tall and lithe. Her specialties include triple jump and long jump with an occasional heptathlon. She competes barefooted and has had little, if any coaching. She placed first in Kenya’s East District Regional competition in 2012 on pure innate ability. Kenyan Athletic Association politics frustrate her…the location of her school, i.e. the Kenyan Bush, has little claim to fame so all the athletes from more prestigious schools are given priority to compete at high quality track meets and receive skilled coaching.

Her goal is nursing school with a financial boost from an athletic scholarship. She was an adept medical interpreter for me after word got out the the Daktari was in residence.