Moments & Musings

Exploring Ethiopia: A New Chapter in My Travel Adventures The Call to Adventure What’s the most daunting thing you’ve done in the name of adventure? I found myself asking that question as I clung to a sheer rock face, just below a church carved into the stone, high above the Ethiopian landscape. After years of saving, I had finally made it to Ethiopia—a place where history, culture, and nature converge, challenging me in ways I never anticipated. As a Kenyan, travel has always been about discovery. I don’t indulge in extravagant birthday celebrations or big gifts. Instead, I save for the kind of travel that changes me. This year, Ethiopia was my destination, and it turned out to be far more transformative than I could have imagined. A Land of Wonders Ethiopia had always intrigued me—not just because it sits at the heart of the Horn of Africa, but because of its deep cultural and historical significance. As Kenyans, we share a quiet connection with Ethiopia, rooted in centurie...

Albert Luthuli’s Path to Revolution Albert Luthuli’s Path to Revolution Born in War, Raised for Peace Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli was born in 1898 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, during the Second Matabele War. His father, a missionary, worked in the area. After his father passed away, Luthuli moved back to Groutville, KwaZulu-Natal, where he attended mission schools. These early years shaped his view of the world. In 1920, Luthuli earned a government bursary to attend Adams College for teacher training. Though he was offered a scholarship to the University College of Fort Hare, Luthuli chose not to take it. Instead, he stayed home to care for his sick mother. This decision showed that Luthuli valued family over personal gain. Building More Than a Classroom At Adams College, Luthuli didn’t just teach. He worked to improve his community. He became the secretary of the African Teachers' Association, started the Zulu Language and ...

The History and Global Celebrations of New Year's Day The History and Global Celebrations of New Year's Day A few days ago , we wrapped up Boxing Day celebrations on December 26th—a day traditionally associated with generosity, leftovers, and, let's be honest, a financial hit after the holiday shopping spree. The decorations have come down, and now we find ourselves facing a big milestone: January 1st—a new year, new beginnings, and, for many of us, a reality check after all the holiday indulgence. Let’s take a quick look at why we celebrate January 1st, how it became the global standard for the new year, and how Kenyans are celebrating while recovering from the financial aftermath of a season that often leaves our wallets a little emptier than expected. The Roman Roots of January 1st Just like Boxing Day has its origins in the Roman Empire, so does January 1st as the official start of the New Year. ...

The Box: What’s Really Happening One day off. All year. You pack up your box of scraps, catch the morning coach, and finally, 18 hours late, celebrate Christmas with your children. That’s Boxing Day. In Britain, servants received leftovers and were given a holiday. Somehow, that tradition made its way to Kenya. The Original Box (800 Years Earlier) The Boxing Day tradition began in medieval churches. Before the Victorian era, when servants received leftovers, the tradition had humble beginnings in medieval churches with locked wooden boxes. In the 1200s, Catholic churches across Europe kept collection boxes by the altar throughout December, where people could drop coins. The boxes were left locked for the entire month, untouched by anyone. On December 26th, the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, priests would crack open the boxes and give the collected money to the poor. The name “Boxing Day” comes from these boxes. Simple. For centuries, this was the t...

Christmas in Kenya does not arrive quietly. It does not whisper. It does not tiptoe. It does not politely knock like a visitor carrying a small Bible and perfect manners. It comes like traffic. It comes like a crowd. It comes like a choir practice that begins at 6pm and somehow becomes 2am. It comes like your cousin who says “Niko karibu” while he is still in Naivasha. TL;DR: Christmas came to East Africa through missions, schools, and colonial calendars — but Kenyans remade it. In shags and in clubs, in churches and on beaches, in bedsitters and on night shifts, it has become a season of belonging, pressure, joy, and return. Long before the day itself, you begin to sense it in the small betrayals of ordinary life. Workplaces soften, as if even the most serious people are tired of pretending. The city begins to empty — slowly at first, then suddenly, like someone pulled a plug. Markets swell. Matatus develop a different impatience, the kind that makes conductor...

⚠️ Content Warning: This article contains descriptions of violence, child abuse, and alleged cannibalism. Reader discretion is advised. Jean-Bédel Bokassa: From Orphan to Emperor to Monster Names like Stalin, Hitler, and Idi Amin are often the first to come to mind when we think of history's most notorious dictators. But one name is almost forgotten — Jean-Bédel Bokassa. The self-proclaimed Emperor of the Central African Empire, his reign was a twisted blend of unimaginable cruelty, lavish excess, and absurd delusions of grandeur. This biography delves into the rise of a man who started as an orphan in colonial Africa, served as a decorated soldier, and eventually became one of the most brutal and bizarre figures in history. On December 4, 1977, a barefoot nation watched as their president crowned himself emperor in a $20 million ceremony copied from Napoleon Bonaparte. Two years later, he would beat over 100 schoolchildren to death with his own hands because their ...

Jomo Kenyatta’s Legacy: Kenya’s Liberator or Its First Oppressor? A long-form examination of land, power, political violence, the Mau Mau question, and why Kenya’s founding years still shape the present. Reading time: ~12–14 minutes Jomo Kenyatta (1966). Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons (public domain / PD Israel). Source: commons.wikimedia.org Jomo Kenyatta did not walk into history quietly. Released from colonial detention with a fly whisk in hand, he became the embodiment of a people’s longing for dignity, land, and freedom. Independence in 1963 felt like a door flung open. But when Kenyatta died in 1978, Kenya was also a nation learning to fear its own state: unresolved political assassinations, shrinking opposition space, coercive policing, and a land system that promised restoration but often delivered privilege. “This is not a trial of Kenyatta’s soul. It i...