The pretty nurse that crushed a giant

Photographs are an eternal moment in time immortalized on an image.

There are several things I remember from this photo. My mom wal a lifelong employee of the Nairobi City Council health department. Throughout her career, she was posted in several City Council (NCC) health centers across the city. I remember she loved night duty very much. (There were certainly many perks to it.)

I remember that starched appron and the nurses cap. (It was just a stiff piece of cloth held onto the hair with pins. But as little boy, I didn't know how it was held in place.)

My mom wore the ever fashionable ladies belt. One accessory that never lacked was her trusty handkerchief. She always tucked it on her belt, towards her hip. It always looked smart. (During her funeral, one friend of hers eulogized her that she copied her style because my mom was a very smart and neat lady.)

But the greatest quirk with my mom was that little, feminine watch riding high above her pretty wrist. She always wore one through out her life. (Of course after independence.)

Every time we went with her on public buses, she had this practice of folding the Kenya Bus Service (KBS) ticket and tucking it under her watch straps.  This KBS memory brings a nice anectode that will warm your hearts.

One December, my mum had to take us upcountry to the then Nyeri district (Nyeri county). Alongside her cousin, she had 5 excited, energetic little strapplings and a gigantic bag full of a months worth of clothing. And of course, her handbag. (My dad was at work then, and in those days, it wasn't common for men to walk around with their children lugging around tonnes of baggage.)

As we got onto the KBS, all 5 of us were excited with the adventure before us. A  uniformed conductor stood by the door bored stiff. He was a gigantic, black man, but a small brin. You couldn't tell this from his royale look untilehe opened his mouth. Seeing this coterie of children and two pretty ladies, he probably got a chance to kill his boredom.

'Mama, uko na watoto wengi', (lady, you have many kids eh?) 

The giant conductor said trying to vybe my mum.
I think having just come out of his twisted daydream, he was thinking aloud. He didn't know he had just vomited.
My mum had a legendary look that was sharper than the injections she administered. She shot

t back at the big bodied conductor. And like a boss, without any chills, the pretty lady replied,
'Ni wako?' (Are they yours?) 😊😁😎
Ouch! The guys life was crushed.

Pasqualina was a LEGEND! (1948 - 9th December, 2018)

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The tale of a 1978 Kenyan number plate on a car in 1958

Many movies that are set in historical points have the singular challenge of getting all the factual details

right. This is never easy. The 1985 adventure film King Solomon Mines was a fantastic but horrible little tale full of anachronisms and replete with inaccuracies.  Based on the book of the same name by Sir H. Rider Haggard, the book created the genre known as lost world. I remember reading this book in the eighties and being fascinated with the adventures in dangerous lands full of cannibals, witches, powerful African kings, and priceless wealth that was only rumored about. (It helped dehumanize Africans making the colonists perceive us as subhuman, an idea that still persists to this very day.) So what is that thing, anachronism?

Anachronism is a literal device placing someone or something out of its proper time period. It comes from a compound Greek word meaning ‘against time’ to show events, places or things that are out of their time. This technique is sometimes used to make it easier for people to understand stories set in a different historical and social plane.

This is widely used in popular culture that is movies, music, and film. Their use can be either deliberate or accidental. For example, Martin Lawrence starred in Black Knight (2001), a comedy that used anachronisms effectively for comedic purposes. Other times it may be accidental showing poor research on the part of the scriptwriter and producer.

Breathe (2017) is the true story of Robin Cavendish, an activist for the rights of disabled people and a responaut.  This is a person who is permanently dependent on a ventilator for breathing.  Robin became one after contracting polio while on honeymoon in Kenya in 1958.  With his wife Diana, the couple had only one son, Jonathan Cavendish, the film’s producer.  Robin died in 1994 aged 64 years, one of the longest living survivors of polio.

The movie has certain scenes depicting Kenya in 1958.  These were shot on location in South Africa. They are the source of several anachronisms.  A blue plane lands with the newlyweds in Kenya (6.09).  The yellow subtitle records this in Kenya, 1958.  At the end of the airstrip, a buxom African woman runs her vegetable stall.  She is unconcerned with the plane landing in this dirt airstrip.  She has put an advert for oranges and bananas, and it’s in English.  This is highly unlikely since there were few Africans who could speak the English language leave alone a Mama Mboga selling by an airstrip. 

The newlyweds sampling Kenyan tea at a Mombasa-based tea brokerage company. (6;35) The newlyweds take a ride in the pristine African wilderness on a Land Rover series 1 registration KTT 8211. (6;55) According to Kenya vehicle registration records, vehicles were registered in the format LLL NNN (L standing for a letter while N stood for digit).

Between 1920 – 1980, vehicles were registered in 14 districts across Kenya. All had a uniform letter ‘K’ standing for Kenya, followed by a second letter denoting a region, and a final letter for the time period.

First, KTT 8211 would not have been possible since this number plate utilizes four digits.  This is obviously contrary to the law. Secondly, the ‘KT’ series was issued in 1977 for the Mombasa region.  The ‘KA’ series was used in Mombasa between 1950- 1966. It is therefore impossible for the KTT 8211 series to have been issued in 1958.

From 1980, the number plate changed from a regional to a sequential system.  In 1989, as the number plates came to an end, Kenya introduced a new format, LLL NNNL.  The additional ‘L’ guaranteed that every generation of the number plates would register 23,976 vehicles. (A generation means KAA 001A – KAZ 999Z.) There are projected to be 23 generations with the exemption of KAF, KAI, KAO. 

This means 551,448 vehicles will be registered at the end of ‘KZZ 999Z’.  The first generation ran from 1989 to 2007.  The second-generation (KBA) run for seven years until 2014 while the third (KCA) was issued between 2014 – 2020. We are currently in the fifth generation (KDA 001A) which was issued in September 2020.

This anachronism is not obvious to any Kenyan. It is also near impossible for the international viewer to spot it, but someone has gotten it for you.

5 Steps to Better Online Writing

 Writing is big business.  Many writers dream of great success.  But the bulk of writers earn just enough to meet their own needs.  Many other writers are just passionate and receive satisfaction from setting words from their minds onto a blank page.  However, there’s no reason why a writer should not be passionate and grow rich from their craft.  A good writer needs to continually become better in his writing.

Here are 5 steps to becoming a better writer.

1. Take a writing course

Some people have a natural writing talent.  However, any talent that is not sharpened is like money buried in the soil – it never grows. Taking a good writing course is a sure way to becoming a better writer. A well-structured course will boost one’s confidence as you reach your key milestones.

2. Make writing a daily habit

Do you know someone who locks themselves in a room and churns out page after page of awesome work? Afterwards, they go for days, weeks or even months without producing anything until the next deadline. Sounds like you in college? Unfortunately, this method of writing will end up making you a moribund and disillusioned writer even if you are greatly talented.

Writing is a habit just like any other. Every day, set some time apart to write something.  One does not even need a computer to create this habit.  Simple journaling with your pen and diary is enough writing practice. As writing becomes a strong habit, begin to set daily, weekly, monthly or even quarterly word count targets.

3. Read widely

A good writer is a good reader.  A good writer reads widely.  In fact, a good writer reads even old works that are sometimes, honestly, very boring.  Imagine reading Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s ‘The River Between’, Alan Paton’s ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ or Solomon Northup’s ‘12 years a slave.’  (Alternatively, you could always wait for the movie release). I hope you get the point - reading is an indispensable habit for a writer.

4.As much as possible, get a mentor

Getting a mentor sounds cliché but it is true. Everyone requires someone who will guide them. A mentor doesn’t necessarily have to be a writer.  A mentor is a person who looks out for you and has your interests at heart. A mentor helps one avoid the many pitfalls in writing.  

5. Eliminate cliches from your copy

The world generates huge amounts of articles and texts. Due to global interconnectedness, there are many phrases, sentences and word that have become overused. For example, ‘sticking out like a sore thumb’ sounds nice but it has been overused. It can give an impression of one as a lazy writer. Taking a good writing course will challenge you to develop a personal writing style using uniquely constructed phrases. 

Writing is big business.  It pays well and it can only get better with time.  A writer needs to continually improve and sharpening his skills.  There is no shortcut to becoming a good writer.