I Can See Clearly Now
I woke up feeling awful. Again. Like I have been feeling all week since that incident on Saturday at Ndakaini and its aftermath.
And then I got to reading Chapter 46 of Wayne Dyer's book. I read a chapter or so a day when I am able. I was skeptical about the whole book initially but now I know it was written for me...
After reading the first paragraph, I found the story offensive (to my ego) so I put it away and went back to sleep. When I woke up again, I was being pulled to read the story. And I did. Terrible though it was, I realized that this story was writ- ten for me, to me. But in a unique sort of way.
It is the sad story of a girl who, at 16, got into a diabetic co- ma. Before she passed out, she asked her mother to never leave her. For 25 years, the mother kept the promise against all odds. Because, she told herself, "a promise is a promise". You can read the story about unconditional love for yourself in Dr. Dyer's book.
"I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy."
The catch for me was in a stanza from a poem by Rabindranath Tagore that said:
This stanza hit me like a bolt of lightning. Why? Because it helped me come to terms with a "problem" that I have been working on for more than 10 years. Yes, you guessed it. Nda- kaini - the dam, the afforestation, the marathon, the stadium and now the high altitude training camp. You see, I have reached a point where I am asking myself the proverbial $60,000 question: Why am I bothering myself with this end- less problem?
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And the stark answer is in that last line: There are things that you are condemned to do and for a reason. Because it was meant to be so. "Because", says a small divine voice, "you are not doing it for yourself but for Me".
If it were not so, I would have abandoned it years ago. But two things happened after I started work on the project. On Wednesday, 7th April 2004, I had an excellent game of golf and I won the clubnite at Vet Lab Golf Club which, coinci- dentally, was sponsored by my daughter's father-in-law. After the presentation, I headed to Nairobi Hospital to meet the lit- tle girl who had made me a grandfather a couple of hours ear- lier. I was beyond myself and in cloud seven...
But on my way home that night from the hospital, tragedy struck. In a bit of a drizzle, I did not see the truck in front of me spewing black smoke until almost too late. I swerved, hit the brakes and skidded to the guardrail which, unfortunately, had been partially vandalized leaving steel metal jutting out.
Which I hit and it sliced right under the engine, through to my side and ended embedded in the rear seat of the car. In the process, I miraculously ended up losing only the lower part of my right leg just above the ankle. Somehow, I did not feel any pain and in fact, whipped out my phone and started call- ing my wife...
Some good Samaritans took me to hospital and as we were going back to the hospital I had just left, I kept asking them what had happened to my right leg because I could not feel it.
Talk of hubris. You win a golf competition, become a grandfather and lose a leg. All in the space of a few hours.
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The Ndakaini Project
But back to Ndakaini. During this period, I had been planning to launch the Ndakaini Dam conservation project and had in- vited the Minister for Water, Hon. Martha Karua, to be the chief guest. While in hospital, it never crossed my mind to postpone the project and, against all odds, it was successfully launched on 24th April 2004. The minister, the local Member of Parliament, Hon. Peter Kenneth, and several dignitaries were all there and planted seedlings which are, today, 50 foot tall trees.
And the tree planting project has continued every year for the last 12 years. And has grown to include the annual Nda- kaini Half Marathon and now the Ndakaini Stadium and a proposed high altitude athletics training academy
Which brings me back to my own story. Having reached a point where I am doubting my own sanity, I wanted to aban- don the project and hand it over to the county government. But, there are a couple of things which I feel I must do before I do so. Like doing the showers, toilets and changing rooms at the stadium. And refurbishing some facilities we have recent- ly leased from a local school. And getting a university to ac- credit the sports academy.
All for the benefit of the local youth and the community. And, of course, that small thing about the glory of God.
It is a job that has to be completed.
Now that four years have passed since I wrote this piece, I am happy to report several good things that have happened. The stadium is now well grassed and a training running track has been built. More importantly, a set of modern changing rooms, showers for both men and women have been constructed.
All this was done courtesy of East African Breweries who had promised to do it for us as part of their corporate social responsibility, CSR. The facility is now first class and no doubt the guests to the facility appreciate it.
Another thing that has happened is that the entire 21km half marathon route is now all tarmacked courtesy of the central government. Our young children will no longer have to run over stones and murram. A truly remarkable achievement for which we must be grateful.