Kwaheri, nyumbani…

So you really thought I’d leave my beloved home-of-choice without saying good-bye? Naaa….

“127 days”, it said on that form from the Immigration Departement. 127 days of staying, working, living and enjoying beautiful Kenya. And I enjoyed every single day….

And now I am sitting here at JKIA departure lounge, reflecting the last hectic days, and actually trying to figure out what Europe will be alike. I’ll hopefully arrive tonight, and by tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have to bury my father and speak to a crowd on behalf of my family. Quite an interesting task, but something I am looking forward to. Everything will work out fine.

You see, the message I am taking with me on this journey into a new future is something I learned and experienced in Kenya. Something I needed to come here for in order to understand a few things that have started to have an impact on my life.

Upon arrival in Embu, I quickly realized that staying in such a rural area, one *might* easily become quite religious. Or as I would call it rerrigiiiaaas.

Now, instead of telling you more details of this journey to myself, let me just show you this picture of a church service (in Kiswahili!) I attended on my last day in Embu.

Reason for showing you this one – and I hope I didn’t offend anyone by taking a picture within church – is that among all these people who opened their heart on a sunday morning to something they have never seen but truly believe in, I felt at home. It made me feel good.

It are these impressions and feelings I am taking home. Something that gives me strength from within (yes, happiness is that easy to obtain! :-)

Thengiu muno, Kenya. Kwaheri(ni)…

Author: jke

Hi, I am an engineer who freelances in water & sanitation-related IT projects at Saniblog.org. You'll also find me on Twitter @jke and Instagram.

16 thoughts on “Kwaheri, nyumbani…”

  1. Kwaheri. Pole kwa yaliyokupata na Mwenyezi Mungu akujalie.Of course you are still with us “blogospherically”, aren’t you?

  2. Hey you,

    Take care, be well…Thank you ever so much for being here.
    You’ll be back right? Soon right? Please right?

  3. Dude, you are only gone for a while, you shall be back soon. I know you will, you love Kenya way too much to leave her forever no?

  4. It was nice having you around. I hope to meet you next time you are around. My heartfelt condolences to you and your family at this time. Do have a safe trip and do take care.

  5. good bye and all the best in your future endeavours. As we say kwaheri ya kuonana, milima haikutani lakini watu hukutana.
    God bless you and be with you and keep the faith. Hope we can all meetup someday…

  6. Kwaheri kikuyu moja, one day do come back. Through you i saw Embu, and now i shall go there just to check it and for the first time checking out places is not a 2 days stay at the so called place for me.

    And maybe you can do a post on what germany is like coz i have a friend who has been telling to kuja and after asking for what i shall be seeing once there all i have got were erm’s and pauses.

  7. Hope you got to Deutschland safely. And as others have said, your love for Kenya will probably see you back in the not too distant future! Danke schon fur die Bilder. Aufwiedersehen!

  8. hey hey hey, thank you very much – everyone. I really do appreciate your support!

    Yes. I am in fact a half kenyan inside, and I am already saving mbeca for getting home. There’s something about this place that sucks in the long run despite all the luxury….

  9. Pole pole – we really wished to pay you a short visit when we were in Embu in January, but you made such a secret out of the actual location of your burrow that we decided not to bother.

    We stayed at the Prime Hotel (decent value for money, but do not ever take the rooms at the hillside), haunted the Kenol pub (hmm, I think I saw you leave in nice company on a Sunday evening), went up shags, got stranded in Kianjokoma… ‘t was nice.

    Osas

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