Starehians milling around Chaka House, named after the Zulu chief who founded the Zulu Empire. I was placed in this house when I reported to Starehe on 17th January, 2002.
Starehe Boys' Centre, a top high school in Kenya, has a housing system much like Yale’s: newly admitted students are placed in a house that becomes their home for the duration of their time at Starehe.
This system makes life vibrant for Starehians as houses compete for awards in music, sports, academics and cleanliness. It also fosters lasting friendships among housemates as houses celebrate winning competitions.
Some even march around the school singing ditties of victory. One ditty I heard in my time celebrating the talisman behind the victory stuck in my head. It went like this, with my housemate Peter Nguraiya as the lead:
Tuna Nguraiya, aah Nguraiya! (We have Nguraiya, oh Nguraiya!)
Tuna Nguraiya, hamtamweza! (We have Nguraiya, you won't beat him!)
As a Chakarian, I threw myself into everything from the 'mob race' to music and volleyball competitions. In 2004, I taught my house choir the set piece—the hymn "I Hear Thy Welcome Voice"—and took it past the preliminary stages.
Agnes Sabata, one of the friends I made at All Saints' Cathedral, Nairobi. She and another chorister, Susan Sawe, shared with me how they felt during their first days in the cathedral choir I joined. My friend Moses Aran went to All Saints' Cathedral with a trumpet one Sunday in 2006 when we were in Starehe Institute. He later told me congregants there gave him a round of applause for playing the trumpet well during a service.
One Saturday night the following year, I thought of also going to All Saints' Cathedral to see if I could be a pianist there during my years at JKUAT, which I was to join in a few weeks' time. I then asked Aran where the cathedral is.
"It's next to Uhuru Park," he replied, a tad too lightly.
So I went to the cathedral the next morning, sat through two services, and approached the organist after each service was over. Needless to say, only the organist I approached after the second service, Imbugi Luvai, was welcoming.
Imbugi went out of his way to introduce me to the 9:30 a.m. English service choir when I told him I had some piano skills. I joined the choir, and two or three Sundays later, he allowed me to accompany it on the organ as it sang one hymn.
Like I had done at Starehe, I played the hymn ("I Will Sing the Wondrous Story," I think) well, which surprised some choristers at the cathedral. They looked at me with amazement as if I had discovered a cure for some major disease.
Not surprisingly, the cathedral became my second home. I loved going there to sing hymns, or, more precisely, to be with the choristers. My goodness, they sang beautiful hymns! That simple Sunday visit changed my world forever.
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Also check out "The Sister I Never Had".
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Spread the Love
"Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do... Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand."
~ Phillipians 4:4-7 (TLB)
About the Author Name: Thuita J. Maina Marital status: Single Lives in: Kiserian, Rift Valley, Kenya Mission: Inspiring the world to godly living, one person at a time.
Just for Laughs
There was this drunkard called Azoge who loved drinking at Josiah's Bar. On being told a certain Hon. Nanga was flying to America to be conferred a law degree so he could be admitted to the bar, Azoge replied, "Why fly all the way to America to be admitted to the bar while you can get into Josiah's Bar any time?"
Author's Note I am learning to treat life as a journey, not a destination; I have therefore given up the things that weighed me down and I am now living my life to the fullest because the tomorrow I had always hoped to live my dreams may never be mine.
Fun Facts
The fear of having no cell-phone service, running out of battery, or losing sight of your phone is called Nomophobia, reportedly affecting 66% of people.
A single Google search needs more computing power than it took to send Apollo 11 to the moon. The Apollo computer was less equipped than a modern toaster.
Besides being some of the biggest names in the tech industry, HP, Apple, Google and Microsoft have another commonality. They all started in garages.
"So many of us take for granted the wonderful construction of the human body and the workings of its various parts. Some of us even expect it to function efficiently with less than the minimum care and attention. Learn as much as you can about your body and how the care of it can give you that greatest blessing of all—good health."
"My life in politics was a joy. I loved campaigns and I loved governing. I always tried to keep things moving in the right direction, to give more people a chance to live their dreams, to lift people's spirits, and to bring them together. That's the way I kept score."
~ Bill Clinton
Scientific Marvels
Space travel
Heart surgery
Fibre-optics communication
Concorde
Radios
Computers
Anesthetics
My Supreme Desire
To borrow Elbert Hubbard's words, my supreme desire is to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and goodwill. I wish to live without fear, hate, guilt, worry or jealousy; to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body—ready to say "I don't know" if it be so; to treat all men with kindness; and to meet any loss, failure, criticism and rejection unabashed and unafraid.
Greatest American Presidents
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Franklin Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Andrew Jackson
Finding Peace in Turmoil
"Moses' rod on the ground was a frightful serpent; in his hand, it was a marvelous wand. Thus are tribulations. Considered in themselves, they are terrible; considered in the will of God, they are honors and pleasures."
~ St. Francis de Sales
Toughest Colleges to Get Into
MIT
Princeton
Harvard
Yale
Stanford
Brown
Columbia
Why You Should Trust God
"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities and pour out peace."
~ Ezra Taft Benson
The 7 Greatest Scientists
Albert Einstein
Isaac Newton
Galileo Galilei
Nikola Tesla
Aristotle
Archimedes
Charles Darwin
You Matter
"Always be yourself. Never try to hide who you are. The only shame is to have shame. Always stand up for what you believe in. Always question what other people tell you. Never regret the past; it's a waste of time. There's a reason for everything. Every mistake, every moment of weakness, every terrible thing that has happened to you, grow from it. The only way you can ever get the respect of others is when you show them that you respect yourself and most importantly, do your thing and never apologize for being you."
~ Unknown
The Most Industrialized Nations
United States
Japan
Germany
France
United Kingdom
Italy
Canada
Keys to Success
"...in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance; to be great yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation; to so grow in skill and knowledge that he shall place his services in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. This is the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail."
~ Booker T. Washington
The 7 Social Sins
Politics without principle
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice
Science without humanity
Cherish What You Love "Cherish your visions, cherish your ideals, cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts - for out of them will grow all heavenly environment, of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."~ James Allen
The World's Largest Cities
London in England
New York in the United States
Tokyo in Japan
Berlin in Germany
Chicago in the United States
Shanghai in China
Paris in France
Benefits of Optimism
"In terms of success, optimistic people out perform their pessimistic colleagues. Research shows that they are consistently promoted higher and make more money while working fewer hours than those who think pessimistically. Optimists also contribute more significantly to social progress. It is the optimists who start and run successful companies, who win elections and carry out reforms, and who make breakthroughs in the realms of science and technology."
~ Pepe Minambo
The World's Greatest Lakes
Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
Lake Superior in North America
Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
Aral Sea in C.I.S.
Lake Huron in North America
Lake Michigan in North America
Demonstrating His Love
"Take your communication for instance - the way you address others. It ought to be with loving, gracious and edifying words. Never talk people down. Never use words that hurt and demean people. Communicate excellently with others without destroying their self-image or making them feel sorry for themselves. Talk to people in a way that they never forget the excellence of your words, the love and grace of Christ that you communicated. It's how God wants us to love."
