A Kenyans & Nairobi Discourse

 

Nothing beats the gorgeous chaos and human traffic that is a Nairobi Friday evening. The hawkers scattered all over the streets, some being chased by kanjo, dondas screaming at the top of their lungs their destinations and fares, the mats hooting, and nganyas with the loud bass music. The people leaving their workplaces are bumping into each other, rushing to either get home or, most of them, rushing to get to the nearest club. Basking artists with their huge speakers, photographers scattered in cute places hustling, ladies of the night with their gum and short dresses and skirts and shorts scattered in dingy streets whistling and hollering at the men and sometimes women passing by, and men with their famous "Why aren't you smiling?" among other cat-calling they think is clever. On a normal day, this would overstimulate me and piss me off, maybe especially the bumping and cat-calling, but for some reason Fridays inspire writings like these, and it is the day I put my people-watching skills to good use.

Nairobi Skyline

We often don't talk about how good our country/Nairobi is, and I know it's from a good place of seeing how much potential we have to do better. But generally if you travel outside our country, you will see how much better off we are. Now am I suggesting we settle for less? Absolutely not. And that's the thing I love about Kenyans; they're so economically hungry. We are a very hardworking and resilient people. Resilient because of how we pick ourselves up every time this country drops and bad leadership takes hold. Even at our worst, we still manage to stand out and come out on top compared to other nations. Kenyans are a funny people; we never seem to lack humor in each situation, which begs me to ask, is it all just humor or a cover, a coping mechanism for a nation that hasn't 100% embraced mental health as a serious disease? See, one of the things we seem to be doing a bit poorly at is taking accountability. Let's revisit bad leadership. For instance, we are so quick to point our fingers at the leaders for what they have and have not done, but what we seem to forget is we are a democratic country, and these leaders didn't necessarily place themselves there. We are a man-eat-man society too, as long as it benefits me and mine, kind of people. And we knew some of these leaders weren't good for us, but we took their money and are still taking their money and still voted for them. Some of us never even voted and are still pointing fingers, but we can't ever bring ourselves to turn around and look, acknowledge, and resolve our mistakes. And dear reader, I am not just pointing fingers because in certain instances I may have lacked accountability too.

I love how vocal we are as a people; I love how we co-exist with nature and care for the plants. It is not easy to find a green capital city. We might not be too expressive but still are in our own ways. A very welcoming people, a bit open-minded, creative and appreciative people. The spirit of harambee and togetherness and ubuntu too. With all our faults and flaws, I wouldn't change or trade it for the world. And so, as beautifully and uniquely chaotic as it is on a Friday evening, I see so much more, so much to appreciate and love on.