Some Mischievous Acts I Liked

A True Story

by Thuita J. Maina

on Aug 8, 2018

Picture related to the title of the story

A few years ago, I was having a haircut in my hometown of Kiserian at a barbershop owned by my friend Goldine when I spotted a sticker glued on one of the barbershop mirrors. The sticker had a quote in Agikuyu language written on it. It read, "Nie nyedete ciana; wana niguo itedaga."

In Swahili, that quote translates as, "Mimi napenda watoto; utoto ndio sipendi." And in English, it translates as, "I like children; it is childishness that I don't like."

Though that quote tickles my fancy when I think of it, I don't agree with it entirely because I like childishness to some extent. Or rather, I like mischief provided it doesn't do any bodily harm or frighten the weak. Let me tell you today of some mischievous acts I liked.

There is this friend of mine I call Jack the Jackal who I met at All Saints' Cathedral in Nairobi. I came to like him during one Bible Study session we were having in the cathedral. During that session, he started calling some of the attendants with his phone and then ending the call just as the receivers were about to receive the call - what is popularly known as "flashing" but my dictionary has no such definition of the word "flash".

To give a clear picture of how mischievous Jack the Jackal was, imagine you are in a Bible study when your phone rings. And when you take it out of one of your pockets, you discover that the caller is Jack the Jackal who is seated just opposite of where you are. Haha, how I liked Jack the Jackal for that mischief!

By the way, when I first befriended Jack the Jackal, he used to tell me that he was from Jamaica, the birthplace of reggae music and the Motherland of Bob Marley. I came to believe him given the pride with which he said he was from that country. And he promised me on several occasions that he would one day take me to Jamaica.

But then, I at one time asked Jack the Jackal, "What is the capital city of Jamaica?" He didn't know.

Another mischief I liked was of the students of JKUAT where I matriculated in 2007 to pursue a degree in Electronics & Computer Engineering but dropped out in 2009 after repeating and failing my second year. I visited the university later on in 2012 to reconnect with the classmates I befriended when I repeated my second year. That time I reconnected with them in 2012, they were finishing their degree course.

When I visited the university in 2012, I was impressed with how beautiful it had become. And on the night of that day I visited the university, I was taken aback on seeing a neon-lighted signboard that read "FAR HO TEL" pointing to a hostel which was for girls during my student days at the university.

Surprised to the core, I paused and asked one of the guys passing by, "You mean they converted this women's hostel into a hotel?"

And the guy was like, "Oh man, where has this dude been?"

I can't recall what the guy told me but I quickly pieced the story together and learnt that the university had named the hostel as FARASI HOSTEL. Then some mischievous JKUAT students removed some of the characters on the signboard; that's why it read FAR HO TEL.

As to how the JKUAT students could remove some of the characters from the signboard without fear of being caught by authorities or getting an electric shock is something I have never understood. All I know is that I liked the mischief.

Yes, I like mischief provided it doesn't do any bodily harm or frighten the weak. That's why I am a big fan of April Fools' Day. And should I ever get lucky to have children, I will encourage them to be a little mischievous. So help me God.

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How My Captain Helped Me

A True Story

by Thuita J. Maina

on Jul 30, 2018

On the right side in this photo is Stephen Lenai, a sensible classmate of mine at Starehe Boys' Centre who served as my house captain when I was in fourth form and in the institute division of the school. He is posing here with Peter Omondi, another classmate of mine who disappeared without trace after our high school years came to an end in November 2005. To this day, no one in our class knows whether Peter Omondi is dead or alive.

While going through my LinkedIn news feed sometime last year, I came across a post on the differences between a boss and a leader. The differences are:

Boss	Leader
Demands	Coaches
Relies on authority	Relies on goodwill
Issues ultimatum	Generates enthusiasm
Says "I"	Says "We"
Uses people	Develops people
Takes credit	Gives credit

That post had me thinking about the people in my life who have exhibited those distinguishing qualities of a leader. And the person who first popped up in my mind was Stephen Lenai, the sensible classmate of mine at Starehe Boys' Centre who, as I have told you in the caption of the photo above, served as my house captain when I was in fourth form and in the institute division of the school.

For all the time I got to know Lenai since we met in Form 1 at Starehe in 2002, he never uttered anything negative to me like the way some schoolmates did when they commented on how confused I looked. Instead, he was an encouraging buddy who sometimes tried to draw out the best in me.

During one lunch session in 2005 when we were in Form Four for instance, he called me aside in the dining hall and asked me to be controlling my temper. Believe you me, I sometimes used to erupt violently like a volcano.

Then on our first days in Starehe Institute in 2006, he requested me to be attending the 6:00 p.m. roll calls after I missed them for several days when I reported back to the school for my college education. Note that he requested, not commanded, me to attend the roll calls.

The reason I had missed the roll calls was due to the loneliness I felt on my first days in Starehe Institute because my efforts to get a job had borne no fruits and some of my classmates in high school had left the centre. But thanks to Lenai who encouraged me to be attending roll calls, I eventually felt at home in Starehe Institute where I acquired a transformative diploma in information technology.

And later on during our time in the institute, Lenai would occasionally ask me to address our housemates during the 6:00 p.m. roll calls. It seems to me now that while some schoolmates at Starehe saw confusion in me, Lenai saw potential.

There was one Sunday roll call in 2006 that has remained etched in my memory owing to how euphoric I became after Lenai had me address my housemates. It was the day before junior boys of that year began their end-of-year exams and fourth formers, their final high school exams known as KCSE.

Just before the roll call began, I instinctively sensed Lenai would invite me to speak. So to prepare for my address, I wore an overcoat I loved to put on since it made me look like an American president in a winter inauguration ceremony. And my instincts turned out to be right, for Lenai did invite me to speak. Guess what I said?

Well, I just encouraged the junior boys not to despair since they still had plenty of time for improvement. As for the fourth formers, I was frank with them not to expect any miracles in their KCSE results if they hadn't been studying diligently. And when I asked my housemates whether miracles still happen, some shouted back that miracles still occur.

That short address to my housemates, which I delivered with feeling and conviction, is what made me feel euphoric after the roll call and well into the night. Lenai had made my day.

But what I am most grateful to Lenai now is the way he allowed me to sneak out of Starehe on Sunday mornings to be with my hometown Catholic church youth group when I was in the institute. You see, nothing much used to happen at Starehe on Sundays. We were just expected to wake up at 7:00 a.m., have breakfast and attend a mandatory church service after which we were free to do whatever we wished.

Looking back, I am thinking Lenai never minded my sneaking out of Starehe on Sundays because I was always back to the school for the 6:00 p.m. roll call. I am sure if some people I know had been my house captain, they would have created hell for me by forwarding me to the school administration for sneaking out. Oh, how I thank God that Lenai was my house captain! He truly was a leader, not a boss.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on how my captain helped me, you might also enjoy another on "A Model for Servant Leadership" in which I mentioned some other two high school classmates of mine. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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