Everybody has that one
crazy friend, the one that sees nothing wrong in continuously banging
your door in the middle of the night until you acquiesce to their
demands and just hope they catch the hint and leave. Those friends
who after struggling to catch some sleep for hours show up when you
just about to slip into slumber land and talk on hours about things
you will probably not remember the next day. This is especially
trouble if you sent somebody on compulsory leave for the night to
attend to ways of increasing Baba’s tyranny of numbers come 2040.
The only consolation is that they’ll be the one trying to catch a
break next time and you’ll be the one passionately doing the
knocking. Payback is a bitch, I heard they said so.
So yesterday Sad News
texted me about lunch time. This guy is a nocturnal fellow so when I
say lunch time I don’t mean when the sun is overhead but when the
moon is overhead, if there’s something like that. I guess this is
what happens when the KU director of catering decides to offer meals
into the dead of the night. I think upon being Mr. KU the extension
of the eating hours is among the first things Sad News advocated for.
‘You guy, how about
chicken at the Eastern mess?’
And even before I could
reply came a swift rejoinder
‘I’m
buying’
What’s the big occasion
I thought? Maybe he finally decided to be a good friend and give me
some through pass to some super model with the weight of the whole
world as her ass and the figure of Hale Berry. Maybe this could be my
turn to beat a photo with the likes of KU supermodels like Miss Minky
before she goes to KUSA as KU Women Rep, sorry, Gender Secretary. Sad
new in all fairness is a generous guy. He is the kind of guy who
shows up with hot water in a thermos and those sweet yellow mandazis
and claims he was just in the neighborhood. About the high affinity
for tea, I get it; he’s an indigenous Luhya, a true half cast
between a Luhya father and a Luhya mother, so just like a vampire’s
veins screams for blood, his arteries yearn for tea. What I don’t
get is the flask bit, surely a heater is a household item in every
room in KU!
Any way long story short
he wanted me to promote a fashion event for Hope Hands Life, a group
that has achieved so much under his leadership. I’m no event
promoter but surely the sight of the most beautiful girls in Kenya
skimpily dressed displaying their wares, flaunting their thighs,
giving the roving eyes of many an immoral men untold pleasure should
be enough to promote an event. Turns out that this event isn’t just
about legs and cleavage.
I’ve never seen him
passionate about something, maybe even more passionate than he was
about Ms. Madara, the geography teacher on teaching practice all
those years ago. He insisted that I actually suspend chatting with
Chichi and start using my phone to start taking notes and listen.
In brief Hope hands Life
is now a registered entity that hopes to achieve millennium
development goal number five on maternal mortality through fashion by
marshaling comrades to do their bit in curbing cancer that is a key
threat to the complete sense of wellbeing in Kenya today. It also
strives to advocate for the sexual and reproductive health rights of
the youth of Kenya.
Hope hands life believe
that fashion shouldn’t just be about the glamour, it should be
about responsibility, fashion should have an end objective, to sell a
product. In this case, not a designer, but a piece of information,
not a fashion line but to save lives. And that’s what hope hands
life is all about, using the superficial veneer of fashion to achieve
a deeper calling.
He tells me a free cancer
screening that was organized by the group had shocking results. The
VIA/VILLI tests showed that five out of the first twenty to be tested
turned positive. This is not a statistic that can be taken for
granted. Whereas there could be slight margin of error because of a
bias, the truth remains that pretty much everybody knows somebody
suffering from either breast cancer or cervical answer. This non
communicable disease threatens even the traditional communicable
diseases like HIV/AIDS as a course for alarm. The most important
woman in my life for example has cancer of the cervix and I know what
early diagnosis and appropriate preventive, therapeutic and
management services can do. Despite the gloom statistics, there
exists a huge gap in awareness creation, sensitization and allocation
of resources to address the poor health indicators on the ground.
Have you ever been to a
fashion show where the models are pregnant women strutting across the
runway like colossuses? I haven’t. Have you ever been to an event
that mixes the electrifying mood of the revelers with the somber
gesture of passing information?
The most important
question for me would be of course how to translate an idea into a
workable project that is not only sustainable but whose progress can
be measured. In this regard he says Hope Hands Life has so far
received enormous support from campus students, corporates and
institutions not just in Kenya but all over the world, even as far as
Maryland USA.
So far the main sponsors
of their activities have been the support of the registered members.
Being a member he says, opens doors and gives you an added advantage
in the job market with a recommendation letter to most of the
organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, entails they
work hands in hands with. They have also released merchandise like
branded T shirts, trophies and bands that distinguishes you as a
supporter of this noble course. There is actually a major auction
slated for 12th November at a venue to be release soon
where all customized merchandise will be available. As for the
trophies they range in prices from as little as a few thousands to
over ten thousands.
The enormous support
received so far has enabled them to facilitate health talks on issues
of sexual and reproductive health concerns such as cancers, obstetric fistulas created
awareness and organized shows where fashion meets health.
You can be forgiven if
you forget everything I have been yapping about but mark Fri Nov 1 as
an important day. Be at the 680 Hotel Sentrim and have fun at the
fashion galore in the event of the year hosted by Hope Hands Life. Be
there and show you care, maternal mortality is real, somebody has to
do something, that person is not just hope hands life alone, it’s
me and you.
There will be
representatives of the county executive committees of the 47 counties
as this event will also take Hope Hands from a Nairobi affair to a
national affair with offices and activities running at the County
level.
You can get more
information from Hope Hands Life Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/HOPE-HANDS-life/525782920766154?fref=ts
or email hopehandslife@gmail.com.
I was told to write a
serious article that is not serious and I’m realizing that it’s
not actually not a walk in the park, but I hope I tried.
“Nos veremos allí"
……that’s Spanish for see you there
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