25/08/2025
This life is a journey not measured in miles, but in the echoes of the eyes we meet along the way.
I have seen the theater of power and the altars of faith. The politicianâs hand, outstretched not for connection, but for a voteâa transaction of promise. And not far away, the faithful, their hands offering not a vote, but a hope, a silent plea for grace whispered with a coin. Two forms of supplication, one ascending, one descending. Which holds more truth?
I have carried the weight of gazes that haunt the periphery of our comfortable lives. The hollowed eyes behind Kamiti cold steel bars, windows to a soul already sentenced long before the judgeâs gavel. The raw, guttural cries from Mulago hospital wards, where pain dissolves pretence and reveals the pure, terrifying animal of our being. These are not sights; they are feelings imprinted directly onto the soul.
I have walked the spectrum of human dwelling. The vibrant, struggling Kibra slums, where community is woven from shared lack. The vast, quiet farms of the wealthy in Ngoma, where solitude is purchased with acres. The anxious middle class, in Kilimani apartments bought on credit, ordering a taxi to a future they hope is secure. We all live under the same sky, yet we breathe entirely different air.
I have seen the brutal wrestling match with povertyâa man in Maligiti market,using his body as his only tool, every day a round in a fight he can not afford to lose. I have seen the beautiful, tired woman, her body no longer a temple but a commodity in Kireka, her spirit a flickering candle in a harsh wind. I have seen the little boy in Homabay, his uniform traded for rags, his potential severed at the root by the blunt axe of school fees. In cruel juxtaposition, I have seen the heavy sums allotted to cushion a politicianâs well-being. This is not merely inequality; it is a philosophical failure of our collective soul.
I have seen injustice in its mundane evil. On the construction siteâthe mjengo's in Eastleighâon payday. The foremanâs mischief, his casual betrayal, awarding a man half the value of his weekly sweat. The stolen shillings are not just currency; they are stolen hours of life, stolen meals from a familyâs table, stolen dignity. It is a violence performed with a pen and a smirk.
I have learned that love and hate are not neighbors to wealth or poverty. I have seen profound, selfless love on Nairobi streets, a shared bread roll that feels like a feast. And I have seen icy, calculated hate in opulent Bunga mansions, served on silver platters between courses of bitterness. The heartâs capacity is not dictated by the walletâs weight.
I have seen our heroes celebrated in bronze and speechâMandela, a testament to what is possibleâwhile his legacy is worshipped in words and abandoned in action. We commend the precedent but lack the courage to follow its path. We love the symbol but fear the sacrifice it represents.
And then, there are the journeys within the journey. The intimate galaxies of personal connection.
I have seen you, Comrade. I have felt the cold draft of your betrayal, a sudden winter in a heart that thought it was safe. It was a lesson that trust is not a shield, but a gift, and its breaking is a tuition paid in pain.
I have seen you, L'Agathar. In the times when the vision was lost, when the map showed only fog, you did not find the path for me. Instead, you stumbled with me. Your hand still in mine not as a guide, but an anchor. In the darkness, you were not a light, but a presence. And you still wander with me munange! I have learnt that it is the truest form of loveânot walking in the light together, but refusing to let go in the dark.
I remember you, stranger. In a moment of unburdening, I spoke not to be heard, but to release. And youâyou really listened. You offered no solution, just the sacred space of your attention. You taught me that sometimes, the most profound ministry is a silent heart.
And you, my family. You who belong with me not out of obligation, but out of a chosen, unwavering belonging. You see my empty hands, my status as the poorest sibling, and you look right through it to the brother you claim. You have taught me that wealth is not what we have, but who we have.
So we give thanks. Not to the loud and the powerful, but to the freedom fighters of the everyday. To those who give hope not from a podium, but through a quiet act of resistance: a kind word, a shared burden, a steadfast belief in a better tomorrow for the majority who are still in silence. Their battle is not for glory, but for grace.
This collection of sights is the ledger of my life. It is heavy with sorrow, yet illuminated by sparks of breathtaking humanity.
And I have so much more to see. My eyes are still open, my heart still willing to be broken and mended. I am a student of this world, and my education is not yet complete.
So I journey on, collecting my moments. And I hope, sincerely and with every fiber of my being, that someday, in the eyes of another, in a gesture of kindness, in a moment of shared understanding⌠I will see a piece of you.
JKS.
Josh Tymz