Dan Okwiri
#PenningMyJournal.
Nairobi in the 70s was a different kettle of fish, it was greensy purpled with jacaranda hue. Nairobi was lazy, safe and friendly hood.
One of our neighbors was Afro American, it was rare to encounter afro Americans in Africa at the time. Being at the bottom of their societal barrel, they didn’t have the quid to visit the motherland.
Most Americans who came to Kenya were white. Dr Harvey though was different from his seed. He was one bloke who had gone to school, and attained a doctorate in economics, rare for a black dude. Harvey got a job in the World Bank and was attached to Kenyan Treasury as an economic advisor.
Dr Harvey didn’t just rock in alone, he trooped to Kenya with his basket of kids, 9 of them. They were a big bunch with big appetite. I was fascinated by the Harveys’, he had installed a basketball hoop on his garage wall and his son Mike loved dunking his basketball.
The Harveys’ were a different lot in pot, boisterously loud, pithy and loving. What fascinated me about them was their Mississippi American mellow lilt. Their voices sounded like they talked with their noses shut, the eccentric drool though difficult to follow sounded quirky but jazzy.
Amongst his brood was a daughter Sally, who became my friend. She was pudgy brownie lassie with chubby puffed-out cheeks and glinting beady eyes. To separate the forest from the tree, our Kenyans chicks are a pretty lot, but Sally did fascinate me more for her accent more than her looks.
The Harveys attended Kenyan government national schools, the quality of government schools quintessentially in them times equal to none. They gelled into the Kenyan way of life and become Kenyan in soul and think.
After 10 years, Dr Harvey’s call of duty ended, the Harveys returned back to their home USA.
I totally lost connect with them, till 40 years later down the wire on 15th Nov 2025. Zeitgeist in happenstance I was in the Village Market when this pudgy lady teething her 60s kept staring at me at the food court to my chagrin.
I thought perhaps she had seen some of my interviews on YouTube and was trying to figure if indeed am the one. Suddenly she rose, in mosey strolled over palming her cappuccino & croissant asking if she could join my table. In my officious gentle said, am much obliged, pulling out the chair in charm. A 60-year-old lady is my genre after all can’t be of much harm.
“Do you recognize me?”
In happenstance a do or die question, keepsake telling a lady you don’t recognize her is making an enemy forever.
“Aren’t you Dan the man? We were neighbors at childhood!”
Within seconds the daisy memories all flooded back. I was soaked in embarrassment as we were locked in reminiscing embrace. The thought of forgetting her pissed me off.
“What earth are you doing in Kenya?” Boo I asked in schmooze.
“Dan yes it’s been decades. We went back to the USA, but I really couldn’t fit into its knit. Must say I did well, made it to the prestigious Penn State University and studied finance. Dived into the Wall Street financial world. Managed a multi-million investment fund. Hunk dory I enjoyed the swim, it plated me a good life, the stress though profound.
Got married but it didn’t work out. Am now a divorced mother of two, my children long left nest in zest. My hubby got a hefty payout in the divorce settlement to my pest.
He was cheating on me as I oiled in the money. I was too busy to be with the kids as the financial world is grueling. They tots hardly talk to me, they shockingly side with their dad. Sunk to my nadir, felt lost and yearned for home.”
I was foxed and grilled her, where’s home?
“Danny boy, sua sponte I relocated to Kenya a year ago. Stepping here, my soul is at peace. This is where I had my best 10 years. Vividly the place you spend your youth is where you call home.
I never felt at home in the USA. Have a good pension when converted from USD to KES dishes me a swanky life in Kenya
Got a young Kenyan dude who gives me a great cuddle, at the fee of maintaining his muddle. Stepping into his puddle ain’t an issue for me, there’s nothing free. I bought a house near my childhood home. Am back and back for good my dude.”
Sally shocked me, I wondered why she would leave a cushy life in the West for all the razzmatazz that peppers 3rd world life here. In pejorative perhaps we don’t know what we got, but Sally sure does, & she’s here to spoon it.
Did someone say life cheeses @60, and if you ain’t young you need to live it with someone young to summer it till the day you die. Sally welcome home. Karibu Kenya.
#OkwiriMyJournalMyThoughtsMyWalk…
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