STORYMOJA

I’ll begin with a short piece I received titled ‘Kenyan Time’  from one Timothy K. Ndegwa.

Najivunia kuwa Mkenya (I’m proud to be Kenyan) but this time I am a little embarrassed to associate myself with Kenyans.

Fellow Kenyans, there is one way of telling time, by using the universal clock.

But it has been proven through out the world that Kenyans have a different source of telling tiame. Kenyans have turned to be event oriented and not time oriented. Recently I have been to different Kenyan events particularly outside Kenya and like they say ‘you can take a villager from a village, but you can not take a village from the villager’. Kenyans are the ones that you see attending events late. They distract everyone by tip toeing even to their own events.

It seems that any time you have an event; you have to give Kenyans a different time from the official one. Why, because they are known to be late unless it has to be at their work place where they are seldom tardy.

On a recent issue of Kenyan Empowerment Newspaper, Kenyans were late to attend a speech by their own Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga in Harvard University. Ninety eight percent of attendees were whites. Most of the Kenyans were locked outside because they were late. Now they are blaming PM Odinga for ignoring them. He has a schedule to keep by being on time.

When you visit American events, most of the time everyone is seated minutes before the starting time. They respect time and their events end when they say it will end. The Kenyan events start late because everyone is waiting for everyone. That is punishing some of us who are time conscious. We will stay in the events until the cows go home and leave us in the fields!

My grandma WaMwoho (God rest her soul) used to say, ‘Be careful not to be for your own funeral.’

The holidays are here!

Speaking of time, it is once again that time of the year. Holidays, family reunions, shopping, and then the primary school exam results will be out, the cue for parents to panic financially. Don’t forget what the important things in life are. Life, family and life. So do not drink and drive. Be good to those you love. And spend wisely because January will be here, probably sooner than you wish for it to.

We begin with Reena Shah’s Invisible: He has no name. At least to you, he has no name. He is simply a young boy with grubby hands, a snotty nose, tattered clothes and unkempt hair.

And then we join Dominic Otianga in Freiburg, Germany in his Dallaian Immigrant: Almost two weeks after my arrival in Germany, my eyes began to open aiding my desire to explore new places and ideas. My language course was a good enough tool to help me curve out a social window from the…

Gideon Chumo is in an online battle. @MortifyingMona: Unless you make a decision by tomorrow that, you are terminally bedridden, that you have to go away for a year or two and sadly have to deactivate your account—Monday morning (and until you bow out honourably) every Status Update will carry your story.

In Quest of love by Paul Kariuki: This editor believes that this is yet another call to war, but I believe all is fair in love and war, so I hereby give Paul Kariuki a chance to put on his battle armor while I assemble my weaponry for the duel to death.

Remember, the Man and His Goat Picture Prompt Writing Contest was reopened and the deadline placed at January 15th, 2009. Write a 500-1000 word story inspired by the picture and send it to blogs@storymojaafrica.co.ke. Storymoja will pay Ksh 1500 prize by M-pesa or Zap to the  most interesting story. Did you notice, the prize cash went up! Please mark in the subject of your submission email: Man and his Goat Picture Prompt Writing Competition, and attach in Word 97 compatible document. All stories that do not adhere to these rules will not be considered.

In the meantime, please go back and read all the stories that have been on the blog in 2009. Send the title of your all time favorite story to storyof2009@storymojaafrica.co.ke by December 31st, 2009. Please include the name of the writer who you believe has grown the most in terms of creative excellence in 2009. Subject your message as Story of 2009. One story, one writer and one reader will have the chance to reign at the throne of Storymoja 2009! You stand to win your favourite Storymoja book and free entry to one of our events!

Happy reading and a safe December to all of you!

Your faithful blog editor,

Juliet Maruru.