Honia-Heal Afrika Initiative (HAI)

By Gĩtaũ wa Wangeci.

Why do I love photography? Coz photography not only records moments in history but also this one… I think photography is such precious divine gift which Mwene Nyaga gifted us, as a another channel to deliver his message of love.

By capturing nature, the camera records the present, photography preserves the exact time and space in the present as a credible point of reference for the now itself, the past and to the future generations to learn from.
Photography is like a teleporting matatu driving us in the present, into the past and into the future and back spontaneously.

This photograph, God bless the producers, is a very awesome proof that Ngai uses photography to speak to us through the symbolism hidden in the photo.
Look at the photo closely. A new young tree has grown and is strongly forcing itself outwards, from inside a long cut-down-’n-dried-up big tree stump.
We see a big tree flourishing mightily both in the past and in the future. With many birds perched and flying into their nests and around the branches in glorious melodies. We see an old woman cûcû, surrounded by anticipating grandchildren, great-grandchildren salivating for her interesting stories, or teaching them tongue twisters, or songs or…
We see a cat 🐈, or a dog, or a responsible mother hen with her exuberant chicks learning how to make use of their claws and beaks conservatively, scratching into the ground under the shade and protection of the big tree.
Our sweet daydream is cut short instantly in the shrieking screams of all the birds, insects, chameleons, cats, dogs as the tree fell down in thundering noisy and dusty boom!
You see tears of disappointment rolling down the frowned cheeks of the little babies just like you would. You feel the disappointment of grandparents, everybody who enjoyed, or shall enjoy the protection from scorching sun rays under the trees serenity of a shade.
This photo is a living inspiration that even though we may be brought down, though we fall, we have an opportunity to rise up again.
The young tree is bursting in health. Look closely, the humus of the dead stump supplies the nutrition, feeding the growing new tree.
Indeed, “Mbeū ya Ngai ndĩūmaga”- God’s seed knows no extinction, the Aagĩkũyũ of central Kĩrĩnyaga-Kenya philosophy!
Have a blessed day 🎈.