Honia-Heal Afrika Initiative (HAI)

By the pen of Gĩtaũ wa Kũng’ũ

A very exciting Swahili story is told, of a poor fisherman who experienced his awe-inspiring fishing on a Christmas morning. His family had nothing to feast on even after renting a new net nine days ago!

Surprisingly on that Christmas morning, his new net had caught some big shoal of fish so heavy his only child had to faint while pulling their catch into their dhow. Has God ever suffocated the seasoned fishermen? No! He smiled. His haggardly dog will have an everyday of tail wagging at last, he thought.

He thought of such days as our todays. You see…

When eventually it’s so joyful or so solemn a day. There’s a graduation ceremony or someone in the bosoms of our hearts has graduated into paradisiacal glory. We order crates enough to create a Tana of favourite soft drinks to set sail our emotions into or out of our floating hearts.

Just like our fisherman fantasised of appreciating himself later after he had pulled and pulled the breaking net into the boat.

Hey I tell you! All that sweaty, backbreaking pulling of the imagined shoal of big mbuta fish helped nothing but slice an icing, piercing shiver of shock across his disappointed but curious face. Instead of losts of numerous begging, betrapped eyes and frenzied fins, little bottled up soda bottle rolled at the bottom of the tired net.

Was all that threatening risk taking worth a little bottled up soda bottle betrapping a puny-looking liquid? Now his children started playing a touching drama in his sad imagination. Whatever the bottle contained, he wondered, how could he share to his seven children, without causing drama?

You’ve not watched the best drama live until when (almost all the time) sodas are less in a ceremony. Many tend to throw their high class status into the air to not only scramble, elbow, scratch, snatch but also insult, bake and escalate grudges into hatred.

I remember everyone in our village was infected with the highly contagious disease-ridden belief. That a Christmas holiday, or a dowry payment ceremony, or an out-of-school lunch item, or a graduation and many other a ceremony is not ‘wholly’ complete in absence of a cold-served soda, or cola! A bottle of soda or cola becomes a desire to guard with all means necessary including hurling insults and flying fists onto people’s eyes!

Well, our astounded Mtega Samaki was amazed and struck with bewilderment. He thought that perhaps, the bottle contained a very precious ancient treasure. But it was too heavy he could not carry it home alone. So he hid it in the sand and marked the spot with a rock. Off he went home to get reinforcement.

Sooner than later, he came back with his whole family behind him. The society,  curious of the family’s procession followed like the proverbial cat.

After sweating profusely, the bottle was pulled to the shores. You cannot imagine the thick suspense in the air as every neck almost bent striving to position the eyes for the best first sight of what would pour out of the mysterious bottle. Even the hiding villagers came out from the mangroves to witness the event.

‘Psssss’ the bottle opened in a gush of escaping air. Instead of a nameless liquid treasure flowing, guess what came out?

A gloomy mysterious smoke gushed out of the little bottle into the air. The smoke then danced in the air, causing a violent wind that collected itself into a horribly smiling genie.

“Aaaah! Niko huru tena baada ya milenia mingi!” The genie danced above, relinquishing its freedom from many millenniums of imprisonment from the little bottle at the centre of the sea.

What had been thought a potential treasure suddenly turned to a horrible nightmare… Or do we call it real ‘daymare?’ All children and most adults were already lying unconsciously on the sandy shore.

“Hahaha! Thank you for releasing me but I’m so hungry… And you are the descendants of the sorcerer who caused my misery! What a delicious revenge I’ll enjoy. Hahahaha!” The genie roared.

An old man then came forward before the genie. “Wait, oh big genie. You must be joking! We can’t believe you really fit in that little bottle.” Mzee Hekima poised.

The genie came down in a wind just above his head. “You foolish, old and stupid idiot, do you think I’m joking? I’ll start by eating your wajukuu before your  bones feeble bones make my toothpicks later.” It roared.

“Our ancestors may have done you terrible things but before you eat poor, powerless us. Oh big and powerful genie, can you demonstrate how you fit into that bottle so that we know for real that we’re not dreaming during the day, before we die?” Poised Mzee Hekima.

“Hahaha! Stupid old man, let me give you your last show…” The genie danced above and then dissolved its form into a smoke and got into the bottle.

Within no time, the old man took the bottle top and sealed the genie inside the little bottle.

It was then taken and sailed to the centre of the sea and thrown back into the ocean.

But now my friends… The little cola bottle was washed ashore again. And someone found it, opened the lid, made a deal with the genie and its now finishing us up. It must be taken back into the ocean. Someone has to do it.

Hello from Honia Afrika Initiative (HAI).