Walking my dreams, on the dry paths

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

 ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Walking for over ten kilometers to fetch firewood and back is heart wrenching, but that is where my dreams started. Fetching firewood is one task that I find scary, nostalgically, based on my personal experience, and continues to be a risky duty for women and girls in many parts of Africa. Many days, I found myself among other girls and boys, parched throat, rumbling stomach, in plastic sandals with a load of firewood on my back, crossing my fingers that some courteous driver would give us a free ride. When growing up, that was a common occurrence during the weekends and school holidays. We did not call it child labor or any complex term; it was just one of those duties we performed. It was necessary. Fetching firewood was a role for pubescent girls, boys, and women. Boys were lucky to escape this and other roles after initiation. Those are some inequalities and unfairness that I questioned and made me wonder if girls and women are lesser beings. In the village, firewood was the primary cooking fuel. In our surrounding, there was a scarcity of forests, so we walked many kilometers to look for firewood in the forests and coffee plantations within my home county of Kiambu. Somehow, however daunting the task, I recall the mornings being full of excitement as we met with many kids in the neighborhood. What was exciting about walking interminable distances to look for a scarce resource and walking back tired with a load of firewood? It is impossible to imagine, yet I still vividly recall being excited every day that we woke up to go for this task and exhausted, tired, on the way back, and wishing that I would not do this for another day. Only to wake up enthusiastic the following day or the following weekend and starting the routine over again. We used to be a group of children aged between 10 and 20 years. Somehow, I have no memory of these tasks after primary school. Possibly, collecting firewood was no longer a task as families settled to cutting trees in the homesteads. I honestly cannot recall. We rarely had adult company, in fact we did not enjoy the days when there was an adult company because it meant we would have to go directly to the task at hand, collecting firewood and traveling back home. As children we would spend half of the time playing and only when we realized it was getting late would we quickly get to the task of collecting firewood. We had old sacks and sisal ropes to carry firewood that we tied to our waistlines. This allowed us to play with ease. Part of the time we spent socializing and learning new skills, including swimming in the rivers or temporary water masses formed after rains. I missed on the swimming skill since my mother sternly warned my siblings and I against it. I may not have been very obedient, but I feared punishment. Swimming would mean the skin would be dry, a clear betrayal that would earn you a punishment. By the time we were ready to go back home, there was the scorching sun, and we were hungry and thirsty. As we trudged the winding paths, our laughter and joy would turn to somber silence, with only the rhythm of the small feet tapping on the road and clicking of the dry firewood assuring us of each other’s presence. During that time, we had very basic desires — some water, food, and a hitch-hike back home. We would step into someone’s house to ask for water. I do not recall us ever carrying water in jerricans. That was not a practice then. Many times, we would get some water. We would then stop on the road to hitch-hike from a lorry or pick up. On some lucky days, we got a free ride, and it was such a welcome relief.  Remembering this, I shudder at how dangerous it was! We were lucky. I do not recall any incidences during those days, which is a risk especially for girls and women in different settings to date. Many have experienced atrocities including sexual abuse when fetching water or firewood.

One thing I remember vividly is how the hardships would bring my mind to focus on my dreams. I dreamed of a better life in adulthood where I would not have to look for firewood, and much more. Having been an ardent reader, the stories in the books inspired my vision for a better future. My creative mind contoured many dreams. As a girl, I do not recall many mentors or people I could admire in career and education. But there was my late older sister who was a teacher and the teachers I encountered in primary school. My late sister was an inspiration, and I tried to read her high school and college books, and that was my first encounter with an English Bible that I read like a novel, and other books. Luckily, she was accommodating, and I do not recall her keeping her books away. I also read different books from other kids. Books therefore created images of life in other places, and so I had big dreams forming. The very immediate dream was to go to a boarding school as that meant less housework! When I joined the high school of my choice, that formed a lasting impression, that I can dream big and that my dreams are valid. In the hardship and lengthy walks, I dreamed! Many years later, having achieved beyond my wildest dreams, I look at the young girl who dreamed, and I see myself in the lives of the girls I encounter. I have a soft spot for women and girls living under different circumstances. It is no wonder that my professional career has been around empowerment of women and girls, promoting gender justice with a passion for mentorship. Despite the fact that understanding of women and girls of rights and exposure was much less in the 1980s, I still grew up in a fairly supportive environment. Yet, even then, I noted the gender disparities and the challenges that women and girls underwent with discriminatory treatment in households and schools.  As an adult, and having worked among different communities, my lived experience fades compared to experiences of many girls and women today. Even where there are more opportunities, the landscape is uneven for women and men, girls, and boys. Those dreams, formed many years ago, allowed me to see that a better future is possible. That is why, in my personal and professional life, I am passionate on work, with women and girls, to achieve beyond their wildest dreams. I hope to assure each girl that I encounter, that their wildest dream is possible.