Peace, Love and Harmony

My name is Gloria Tsuma Owichira. Usually,most people are unable to guess which tribe I am from.The only people that accurately get it right are those who know my father or who know that he drives a white pickup in Kakamega. The ones who 'always know' things guess Giriama and feel good about themselves because they have utilized their wisdom to impress.And then I say,NO.I am not from coast and just to rattle them I throw in a very smooth Swahili accent whilst denying that I am from Coast.(by the way,we are talking about the name Tsuma).And then there is this group which pronounce Zuma,and then ask whether am related to Jacob Zuma of South Africa.eeeerh,dude,you baptize me and then ask me about relations that you invented yourself? The smaller group just calls Juma and an even smaller one calls Chuma.Is all good.
We have not started on OWICHIRA,it is a pretty easy name to pronounce,actually, one just needs to follow the syllables and you are home(O-WI-CHI-RA).Now,this one none ever gets it,where is this one from?Keep thinking.
And then-----wait for it....my mother,my real birth mother is called Ruth Njeri.And my sister Ciru and my bro Wachira John.
How now?
How is that my father married a Kikuyu Lady and gave birth to Kihya children.

For the most part of my life I have met people with different names especially in Campus.In fact,I have not met as many Luhyas.At one point,the people I got together with to put up a production while in school were all from different parts of this country.One of my friends is called Wanjiku Mwawuganga.What does it make her? Kiata?

My point is that,tribe should not matter as much as it does.Why is it important for someone in an office somewhere to first of all know where the name Tsuma comes from before we can discuss my agenda for the meeting?

Tribe is a beautiful thing and the fact that we are blessed as Kenya to have more than 42 tribes should not be what breaks our land rather what unites us.

It is our various cultures that should matter if anything should matter.
People hate when the comedians make jokes leaning along tribal lines but what you do not see is that,that is what tribalism is about. Making jokes and being happy about the Kamba because that is who they are.Why should we not make light of the situation.

The Luhya memes making rounds are too funny for life and personally I do not mind when we look at it that way.
Our cultures are diverse and we miss the point when we confuse tribe and identity. I think it is one of the lowest forms of interaction with a fellow human being when you form an image of who you imagine the person is based on tribe.When you refuse to acccept somebody because of their tribe.When you stubbornly bypass all the other qualities of a human being and dismiss them solely on the basis of tribe.

We need to understand that for so many of us,a concoction of various tribe DNA runs in our blood and we are essentially tribeless.So,in the school of tribal profiling,where do we fall?

The election is near,and I would wish that for the first time,especially we the youth(18-35),would style up.Take the time,to read the manifestos of each candidate and what they bring to the table.

I always wonder if people became sheep when the news anchor drops a line that goes something like these"the M.P is charged with incetement".Muy question is inciting who? Why exactly do you accept to be told to either kill or destroy property? Unless of course you have changes and become a sheep.

I was in Kakamega when the mayhem that was the aftermath of the 2007 elections happened.I was there when mad men burned down rental houses belonging to a "Kikuyu woman", when they burnt her house down,her daughter who was in the house at the time narrowly escaping death.Have I mentioned that these were the houses where they were living.

They went from house to house trying to flush out their friends who suddenly became enemies because their last name sounded Kikuyu-ish.
We sat in our house and prayed and prayed hoping that our neighbors from when I was eleven years old would not turn on us because my mothers last name was Njeri.

They burnt matatus ,they burnt shops and then went home.Those who were unfortunate enough went under tight police security to where their last name would be accepted.Still they prayed to arrive safely because the road to that place was full of people who did not like that you looked a certain way,or did not communicate using another language,forget the fact that you can very well communicate in Swahili or English.

It took forever for Kakamega to catch up in terms of business again.Instead of learning from these people with a different name we punished them for it and we were left to pay the price.
In truth,we made the situation worse because now we really had a reason to hate those with a different last name.Because everyday ,we see the scars left ( burnt hospital buildings,children sired whose fathers their mothers could not remember because the process of airing was not only by force but painful and rough and a betrayal,single women whose husbands suddenly realized they were not from the same place as them,homeless people who have tried and tried to start their lives over but seem not to be able to because they were burned out of the places they knew to be home for generations).

These scars can indeed cause pain and increase animosity between people whose last names betray them but someone once said that a scar is a mark that you defeated the wound.
This should be our saying too,that these scars we bear should remind us again and again that the price for whatever has been fully paid and that such a transaction is fruitless and it in facts leaves us more broke than when we started.

That we are better off loving ourselves and accepting that we do not have to know where Tsuma is from before we can write a play together,before we can do business together.

We need to accept that when we finally know where Tsuma is from we will celebrate her not condemn her to eternal doom.

I would like us to refuse to be told what to do because a certain individual wishes to have a bodyguard and get stamps on his passport (codename for politician).
I happen to know that when a certain film crew went to shoot in a big hotel on an island in Mombasa,they peeped at the visitors book.And,the guest list,was full of politicians names during the period that we were busy hacking and burning one another.
Especially the youth,style up I say.

I am aware that what happened was also spiritual.I always say that the devil on his to and from the earth strolls,was passing by Kenya at the time.So,let us always remember to pray for peace for Kenya and our borders.Let us also pray for individual grace to never look at our friends in the eyes of tribe.

Love,Peace Harmony.

I AM...

I am...who am I really? I have been plagued by that question a lot lately.I have not found an answer yet.What am sure of is that I am a woman who is in the process of refining,you know like gold.Before it becomes like gold.
So; where were we?
Keep reading....

Chapter one...

A heartfelt thank to God Almighty because you always have my back.To you my readers,I am grateful...
I have always wanted to wait for the right guy to cross my path.I have wanted to feel that thing that people say you will know.In the process,like I have said so many times is that I have had a couple of detours along the journey. In the space I am at now,I am scared of making another detour.I really want to find my the one at some point in life.However,my real goal and dream is to be content and happy being me.Just being comfortable in being the loud me ,who hates salons,who has her foot in her mouth too many times, who says the extremely wrong things at extremely wrong times,who is funny,who is very quiet because she is observing.That is my biggest life goal right now.

I would like to share with you this new chapter of change in my life.As usual it is mostly about my journey of love for God,for self and for fellow man.

Its been two or three months since my relationship ended.I

Before Anyone/Anything Else ,Phenomenal

Bae has acquired several meanings over time. Today,I focus on the one commonly known as" before anyone/anything else".
Before I proceed,let me say a big heartfelt thank you to all of you who take time to read my blog and comment and ask for the next piece.We are moving forward and going places together.
Continue reading....

GLORIA TSUMA OWICHIRA: OF FINDING, NOTICING AND THOSE WHO GOT AWAY

GLORIA TSUMA OWICHIRA: OF FINDING, NOTICING AND THOSE WHO GOT AWAY: I hate traveling, I really do not enjoy, is what I told myself for a long time. This was of course one of the covers that I used because I n...

OF FINDING, NOTICING AND THOSE WHO GOT AWAY

I hate traveling, I really do not enjoy, is what I told myself for a long time. This was of course one of the covers that I used because I never really saw myself able to afford the cost of traveling. It was a reserve of the rich. actually, I do hate traveling, that is sitting in the vehicle for a long time waiting to reach the destination.I am yet to board a plane though, I will be sure to share the experience when i do.
so, over the weekend, I was privileged to be in the company of a group of volunteers as we traveled to go to brainstorm on one or two things.( you see I kind of joined a volunteer organization when I was left to begin the life of a single woman) .Well, it was also one of the reasons that I readily agreed to join the trip, it stared as a gateway from the anger and confusion .
 continue reading...

REALLY, GOD DO TAKE IT FROM HERE

Thank you so much for being there in this crazy journey I call story telling. I hope to be here for a long time and that we grow together.
I love the Lord with all my heart. And through my life I have gone through so many phases which have sometimes left me wondering about my relationship with God.Either way,God has been faithful this far.
I am at a point in my life that I have never been before. I always take so much care of my heart, my money,my soul and all that I am just so I am not vulnerable. It has been like that all my life,it has been hard for me to even act (career wise),because to fully bring out a character well,an actor has to tap into their vulnerability.
That is a story for other days.As I was saying ,I feel like I am floating in the middle of a big lake,kind of the one DiCaprio was floating in in a bid to show his love to that lady(Titanic).I am not dead,nor I am I at depression, if anything I am the busiest I have been in a long time,you know since high school.But that is just it,I am busy but nothing really makes sense.
The joy of a new day is almost non-existent and I have began resonating with pain and violence in terms of movies and even novels.It's almost as if hope is hurtful.I am just floating in a frozen lake and lifting my head to look for the shore of the ocean hurts my neck.
Okay, I am done with my sad take,here comes the big BUT.
BUT,I have a hope .A hope in Christ Jesus,this is something I know.It is something I am aware.Now,if I can just relate to it,if I can just understand it,believe it for me,I have faith that I would have more peace and I can float to the shore safely. So,I want to make this prayer to you God,that take it from here.
God, take away the hurt of a heartbreak and replace it with a contentment that you are the lover of my soul.Because only you God can fill an empty heart and mend a wounded soul.
God,provide for my needs.You know that I need fare,I need credit,I need pads,I need food.I am tired of acting like I am on a diet yet it is the lack of money for food that makes me go without food.God,provide my needs.
Dear God,help me make the right decisions in life. Do not make me give in to desperation and make harmful choices.
God,you know that I need a career or something, a job that I love, that I am good at because anything that I am not good at,anything that I am not passionate about will kill me.I believe that you made me good at something for a reason. So,dear Lord I know that you will give me a position in that line.
Lastly,thank you for all the experiences I have had through my life.Because, you are alive and active,because you are an all seeing God,I know that you can see me and nothing goes by you that is accidental.Therefore,thank you.And through this experience,Give me Grace to know that you are God.Give me Grace to be still and know that you are God.
I guess what I am trying to say is that "God,really (meaning totally) take it from here.My strength is done and am sorry that I tried in the first place.