Brotherly Inspiration

A True Story
by
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
This is my eldest brother Joe Kagigite.

When we were growing up in the '90s, Joe was such a charming lad that my classmate Steve Wanyee longed for his company. I remember feeling jealous when I saw Wanyee run towards Joe one afternoon in 1994.

More than charming, Joe was bright, at least by Naru-Moru standards, a public primary school we attended. Throughout his Naru-Moru years, he emerged tops, apart from one exam he was beaten to second position.

When I was in Standard 1 in 1994, I saw Joe stand in front of the whole school during end-term parades for topping his class. Seeing him honored that way made me long for the same.

I eventually got such an honor in the third term of 1995 when I emerged second in my Standard 2 class. Joe, who was absent on that parade, said congrats to me when I told him about it.

Many years later when I was going through a rough patch, I also told Joe about it. He then asked me if I knew how long Mandela stayed in prison, obviously to instil me with hope.

Later on when I set up my first blog, he said congrats to me. I've kept blogging over the years, but it's not until now that I'm trying to convert it from something I have to do to something I love to do. See?

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Sibling Shenanigans".
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The Week Dr. Griffin Died

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Jan 4, 2021
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
These were Starehe students carrying the casket of Dr. Geoffrey W. Griffin, the founding director of the school.

In 2005 when I was in fourth form, Dr. Griffin started falling ill. Once when he turned up for evening assembly, he was so frail he had to be helped descend a short flight of stairs in the hall. He was readmitted to hospital soon afterwards.

One evening as he lay in the hospital, I took part in a conversation some fellow fourth formers were having. One of them told us not to expect Dr. Griffin to live for long.

Sure enough, Dr. Griffin didn't live for long. We woke up one morning to news that he had passed on. His death was announced in the media by President Mwai Kibaki.

A number of teachers missed classes that day we heard Dr. Griffin had left us. And in the week that followed, old boys met every evening in the assembly hall.

I attended those meetings to accompany them on the piano as they sang hymns. After the meetings, some of the old boys would come to the dais and engage me in a conversation. I enjoyed the experience.

Dr. Griffin was laid to rest on Friday, July 8th 2005. It was drizzly on the morning of that day, but the funeral service, which was held in the school playing fields, went on as planned.

Though I was feeling rather confused that morning, I played the piano well during the service. And Mr. Fred Okono, the then dean of Starehe Institute, read to us the following advice that Dr. Griffin had written:
This world is full of people who do their duty half-heartedly, grudgingly and poorly. Don’t be like them. Whatever your duty is, do it as fully and as perfectly as you can. And when you have finished your duty, go on to spare some of your time and talent in service to less fortunate people, not for any reward at all, but because it is the right thing to do.
Probably because of the way I played the piano well, I became happy as the day wore on. In the evening, I left the dining hall full of the joys of spring. Long live the spirit of Dr. Griffin!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Remembering Dr. Griffin".
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Bible Quote

"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: To inspire 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 that 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?"



The 7 Deadly Sins

  1. Pride
  2. Envy
  3. Gluttony
  4. Lust
  5. Anger
  6. Greed
  7. Sloth

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Besides being some of the biggest names in the tech industry, HP, Apple, Google and Microsoft share another commonality. They all started in garages.
~Extracted from Codingforums.com

Health Tips

"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 the much you can about your body and how the care of it can help give you that greatest blessing of all - good health."

~From Your Body (A Ladybird Book)

Wonders of the Modern World

  1. The Simplon Tunnel
  2. The Sky-scrapers of New York
  3. The Boulder Dam of Colorado
  4. The Panama Canal
  5. The Golden Gate Bridge
  6. The Taj Mahal at Agra in India
  7. The North Sea Oil Drilling Rigs

The Kind of Leaders We Need

"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

  1. Space travel
  2. Heart surgery
  3. Fibre-optics communication
  4. Concorde
  5. Radios
  6. Computers
  7. Anesthetics

My Supreme Desire

To borrow the words of Elbert Hubbard, my supreme desire is to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and goodwill. I wish to live without fear, hate, guilt, worry and jealousy; to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body - ready to say "I do not 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

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. George Washington
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. Franklin Roosevelt
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Andrew Jackson

Making Peace With the Past

"Dwell not on your past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."

~Eileen Caddy

Toughest Colleges to Get Into

  1. MIT
  2. Princeton
  3. Harvard
  4. Yale
  5. Stanford
  6. Brown
  7. 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

  1. Albert Einstein
  2. Isaac Newton
  3. Galileo Galilei
  4. Nikola Tesla
  5. Aristotle
  6. Archimedes
  7. 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

  1. United States
  2. Japan
  3. Germany
  4. France
  5. United Kingdom
  6. Italy
  7. 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

  1. Politics without principle
  2. Wealth without work
  3. Pleasure without conscience
  4. Knowledge without character
  5. Commerce without morality
  6. Worship without sacrifice
  7. 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

  1. London in England
  2. New York in the United States
  3. Tokyo in Japan
  4. Berlin in Germany
  5. Chicago in the United States
  6. Shanghai in China
  7. 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

  1. Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
  2. Lake Superior in North America
  3. Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
  4. Aral Sea in C.I.S.
  5. Lake Huron in North America
  6. 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."

~Dr. Chris Oyakhilome

World's Longest Rivers

  1. Missouri-Mississipi (U.S.)
  2. Amazon (Brazil)
  3. Nile (Egypt)
  4. Yangtse (China)
  5. Lena (Russia)
  6. Zaire (Central Africa)
  7. Niger (West Africa)