HIV/Aids is a killer  disease known all over the world, but not to my friend who was called,” Najma .About 2 years ago, when we became good friends, She was that kind of person who did not like  being told what to do or not to.

Early this year, I discovered that my beloved friend was infected with the HIV virus , yet she was still in school.She refused to take medicine and no matter how I tried to advice her on the importance of swallowing the tablets, she refused to listen to me.

She became an alcoholic, did drugs and earned her money through prostitution. Trust me if you saw her, my dear reader you will never ever engage your self in any of those evil acts.

She was in deep pain in the last few months, trying to battle with life and  finally,she was laid to rest. My Najma died on the 15th of 11-2008.

After the burial we all gathered in her house and as her sister was as busy as a bee cleaning Najma, room when she found a letter. A t first, she was afraid to read it, wondering what it may contain. Finally, she opened it and……

Written with a red pen was the word, ”MEDUSA”,  immediately I thought of,” Medusa root of evil,”  the letter contained  a list of more than 38 names together with the  phone numbers of men she  had already infected with the virus.

Oooohhhh No! Everybody exclaimed in disguise, we did not know what to do, how to go about it. Luckily, her big brother advice  as to go to the nearest VCT to be tested.

Even though we got tested and got to know our status, some of the people whose names appeared on the list up to date , no one knows where they disappeared to.So far, 16 people who were on the list tested positive to the HIV virus.

It would be a better idea if not only the Kenyan government but the entire world came in and helped to fight this killer disease, ”AID’s,”

To my fellow readers, please do not be afraid of getting tested, and if you are infected, do not lose hope , rather take medicine to prolong your life.

Do not spread it, but stop it! ”YES WE CAN.”

As I walked along the busy  streets of Nairobi , the heat from the scotching sunlight was so strong and one could have easily melted.

On my way to the shop,I heard some wild screams from a far, but could not tell from where exactly they were coming from. As I moved closer,I saw a crowd of people surrounding a young girl who was  screaming uncontrollably, asking for help, she was expectant, almost delivering.

I felt pity for that girl, as she was almost delivering along the road side yet it was raining  cats and dogs and the crowd was just looking at her , instead of helping her.

It was God send! Out of  blues,  came this old woman who every one  hated all over the ghetto of Mathare as they always alleged that she was a witch.

She came, assisted the young girl to stand up and took her to her house. In a minutes time, we heard screams of a toddler crying,,,,,,, miraculously, both the mother and the new-born were fine.

To my fellow readers, please do not judge a book by its cover, rather, by deeds.

Two days ago, I   bumped on one guy called Ali. He was used to begging money in the City center of Kenya.

I kept on looking at him more often and could not stop.Finally,  he noticed and came straight to me and asked  if I was in a position to buy him lunch. I told him, ”I do not have any money with me to give you at the moment,” he moved closer and looked straight into my eyes again,,, and laughed loudly.

”Do you think in my entire life, I have always been like this? ”he asked, putting on a stone face. I was lost  of words and just looked at him, putting on an innocent look.

He introduced himself to me,  saying,” My name is Ali,” I was dumbfounded when I heard him speak in English,though I already knew his name, what shocked me was that, he could speak in English. He continued saying that, it was not his wish to be on the streets but just , out of fate,destiny had decided so

He completed his studies and scored an average of  C minus. When he was about to sit for his last paper,he received  sad news on a phone call from his aunt telling him that his mother had got involved on a road accident and had been admitted in one of the city hospital’s.

”Two days later,I  went to  the hospital where my mum was.When I entered the ward, I got shocked when I failed to find her. Sad memories of my father’s death before I came to this world were still fresh in my mind. Who would I call daddy or even mummy?”

How he wished he could have died along with his mother.Immediately he moved in to the aunt’s place, he was given a cold reception as she always denied him food and said, she wished Ali would have died along with the mother. Besides, being denied food,he was to work tirelessly  in the shamba,if he failed, he would be beaten up mercilessly with his uncle and aunt.

It is from there that he decided to run away from home and go to Nairobi. When he  reached Nairobi, things were not easy at all. With nowhere to sleep, eat not even a cloth to cover himself,he was forced tobe sleeping on the streets, beg for money to meet his needs and it is from there, that he developed the habit of eating from the trash bins like a scavenger.

”I had to start sniffing glue as it could help me be high and be in a position to swallow rotten food and protecting me from feeling cold, as I always used the newspaper covers as mattress with nothing to cover myself with.” In order to survive I often beg, carry luggages or clean business premises and vehicles, ”he lamented.

Shockingly, almost hundred percent of the Kenyan  youths on the streets of Nairobi, abuse drugs. They mostly sniff glue and smoke bhang (the slang name for marijuana). They are lon the streets as a result of trying to run away from poverty, violence and  abuse.

Once, I had a great friend called, ”Stephanie,” We were there for each other, not only in times of joy,but also helped one another for all the ups and downs we came across.

We were in a group of six, and mostly discussed issues in regard  to our schoolwork rather than the outside world. We neither went for clubbing nor was any of us on drugs.

It was in mid-May last year,when I discovered all that was not okay with my friends. As usual, we always had a meeting on  each and  every Sunday to discuss our school grades and  social life. One Sunday, I decided to go to the meeting spot early than usual. When I got there what I saw was unbelievable! Stephanie and some of our group members were engaged  in shameful  activities .

They were playing loud  music till  none of them heard the door being  opened . Stephanie was busy smoking Bhang (marijuana) while the others were chewing Khat (miraa). Several bottles of whisky had been placed on the table and they were dancing and  laughing on top of their voices. Immediately, they noticed my presence,they were shocked, for I came to know the naked truth they had always tried to hide away from me.

They pleaded  asking me not to tell anyone what had happened and I agreed half heartedly.  I could not run away from them, but the  same time, they were not ready to call it quits the world of drugs.

Two to three months later ,My dear friend, ”Stephanie,” became a drug addict and got pregnant.Unfortunately, She did not know the father of the child.

“Pregnant at the age of 17 years,n yet I am still a student,,,,,,,,, really not me,,,,,,,, said Stephanie,” I tried to inquire from her what she really meant by that statement, but all she did was just to nod hisn head.”No, no,” was all he said.

What followed later was screams of anger, “I am still going to do it,” she said. I got shocked and was almost running away but I had to be  strong for her own sake.” I intervened by asking her if the father of the child was employed, shockingly, she did not know who the real father of the child was.

It did not take long, when my mother received the shocking news that Stephanie had been admitted to the hospital, as a result of taking an overdose so as to get rid of the unborn child. She was as lucky as a king, for she survived, despite of the ruthless act she  had committed.

Undugu Society  has played a major role in the fight against drugs and it a challenge to the government to help in the fight against this vice as it would save lives of the many future leaders of tomorrow.

 

It was  around midday when I left the house, I was enjoying my holiday, having closed schoool. I had a lot of time to go and pay visit at my friend’s place , Emily.

  

On my arrival, I found her and with her colleague preparing to leave for work,she was operating her own shop located in Eastleigh..She asked me if it was okay with me to accompany her and I accepted so as to avoid boredom..

 

 

It was already evening and they wanted to leave, and Iassisted them in shutting the windows, there after, Emily locked the door and we left.

 

 On our way home, we came across three men who were busy saying bitterly,”they have to pay for what they have done.”when we were almost near them,Emily saw one of the three men holding  a gun and it is as if he was trying to hide it. 

 

At first, Emily thought that may be it was not the real gun, but she became more curious, when she looked at their blood shot eyes. Immediately, she told us to increase the pace, without letting us know the danger that was ahead of us.

 

Hardly had we gone far, than we heard screams from behind. When we looked aropund to look for an escape route,we had been sorrounded by the three gangsters who were exchanging fire with the police. We ran helter, skelter for safety, due to confussion, each of us ended up going her own direction.

 

By the time, the sounds of bullets were disappearing, I saw one of the gangsters lying down in a pool of blood. He was already dead. As I looked around searching for my friends in vain, I heard someone shouting ,”help! help! she has been shot!” when I looked on my right, I saw Emily and we decided to look Ruth.

 

As we moved closer to where screams were coming from, we found a crowd of people busy trying to offer first aid to someone who was lying down. At the same time, there was an ambulance parked there with its doors wide open. Out of curiosity, we moved closer to see who it was, Gosh!! exclaimed Emily in disbelief. It was her friend Ruth bleeding profusely after being shot on the right leg. 

 

Emily became emotional and started crying unconrollably and by the time we were reaching hospital, her eyes were already swollen. 

 

We were lucky to have found a doctor who attended her immediately and after two hours of being removed the bullet from the leg and stitched, Ruth could atleast offer a half smile.

.

 

 

It was on 23 December  2007,when Kenya was holding its elections that had stiff competition as the two major candidates  had a great appeal from the public.

Initially, we had several groups of young people in our  area, who always collected money from the shops that were being operated around that area, claiming that it was payment for security they were providing. Little did we know that the money we were paying would in return be used to harm us.

Before the results of the heavily contested election were announced, the  security group turned out to be a major security threat. They started doing mysterious things that frightened most of us. They started beating up people with no apparent reason, stripping women naked especially those  who wore trousers. This was injustice being done on broad daylight. 

Immediately the results were announced,almost all shops were closed down yet it was only 2:30pm. Our house was two metres away from the main road, so we could hear almost everything that was happening.

Suddenly, the noise started drawing closerand closer. Without further ado, we ran to the next vacant room that was located within our plot so that we could  have a quick view of what was happening. They were christians who had come from the church, unfortunately, when they were on their way home, the outlawed group struck of them and as they were trying to scamper for safety, one of them was not lucky.

The old man was unable to keep up with the pace and he ended up being cut on the forehead with a machete.He started bleeding profuselyand we saw the gang lick his blood and left him lying helplessly for the dead.The man lay silent in a pool of blood and we thought that he had already kicked ooff the bucket of life. After a few seconds, he started moving his hand trying to ask for help. By the grace of God he managed to get upand tried walking whiile at the same time staggering. He could hardly see where he was heading to. 

Hardly had he made several steps, than another gang emmerged from behind. When one of them raised a machete ready to attack him, he looked at him surprisingly and said,”Aren’t  my neighbour and you want to kill me?” The boy ignored the old man pleas and hacked him again, this time, it was meant to finish him for good, they went him lying dead silent and went away.

Immediately, the boy came walking towards our plot and lifted up a rock and went back where the old man was lying dead. He smashed his head into pieces and left smiling with no regrets at all.

The old man’s body remained lying on a pool of blood for almost eleven hours, by the time the policemen were coming to collect it, it had already started to decompose. This incident shocked me and I could hardly sleep, not even feel comfortable to move out of the plot alone.

Even though we survived the incident,it was a painful incident seeing how the innocent old man was hacked to death for no reason .

For the past five years, my friends, Jane and  Simon have been the only true people whom I had shared a lot with in our day-to-day life .

I used to live with my sister in Mathare since my parents were nowhere to be seen. We had to survive with the little that we could afford for our upkeep.

My sister had a  friend,called Aisha , they had been friends for quite a long time and within a few months thereafter,God blessed Aisha with a companion who was wealthy to be her husband.

She left Mathare and moved to  Kahawa West thereafter, my sister sent me to school.

Suddenly, things changed in the environment I was sent to, and I found it better to be where I was previously,as in my new school,very few people wanted to associate with me as a result of my background,”Ghetto,”It was so devastating sitting in a class where people did not want to appreciate you. More so painful.

Some days later, Jane and Simon started narrating to me the difficulties they were facing too. At that time, they were still under the care of their aunt who used to stay with them after their father passed away and their mother went abroad. She used to work in a leading firm in America, but hardly did they get even a penny from her.

The three of us having been friends for a long time, we used to see each other as a brother or sister. But after the bomb explosion of 11th  September, the day World Trade Centre was bombed by the Al Qaeda terrorists, things turned and took a new twist.

When I recall that day, to me it always seems as if it just happened yesterday, the painful memories still as fresh as daisy on my mind .

I was just a day like the other, when I went to the mosque to say my usual prayers, when in the middle of the prayers,we were interrupted by the sound of the wailing sirens that could be heard from a distance away. the United

Immediately after the prayers,sheikh announced to us to remain silent for a second and pray for the souls of the victims of the bomb explosion in America. After wards, he requested us to remain calm as the police were trying to control. the crowd in the streets that had gone wild, especially those who had relatives abroad.

It was so shocking and unbelievable! I could not comprehend anything at the moment.

When I was about to go home I saw Jane and Simon coming towards me.  I was about to break to them the most devastating news,immediately, they called me a traitor and that I deserved to die.

I could not make head or tail of what they were trying to mean,,,,,,,, Friends turn foes!!! are the words that kept on ringing on my mind. Just because Iwas born and brought up as a muslim.

I could not believe my ears, the incident of the  bomb attack was painful to the entire world inclusive of the Islam community.

To my fellow readers, please do not  judge any one by the skin color, tribe or religion.