Stepping into a mother’s sho es

1. Stepping into a mother’s shoes This is me and myself By:dunpresident

2. dedication • I dedicate this work to my beloved mother who has always stood by me in all the storms that we have passed and to God the lord,who has given me ability in life.

3. My role models Raila Amolo Odinga Barack Obama My beautiful Mother These people inspire me in everything that I do in life David Makali Nelson Mandela Bill Clinton

4. Stepping into a mother’s shoes Duncan Ogaro Mikae was born on the 6th of August 1984 in Bungoma a district in the Western province of Kenya. He is the last born in a family of seven. His parents were blessed with five boys without a girl child. His parents at the time of his birth were living in Bungoma and his father was a civil servant as the mother was a house wife. His mother’s courage, love, stability, hunger for Education have always been the reason behind his struggles in life. He promised himself that he would fight his mother’s fight to the end to make sure he achieved his goals and probably educate his mother who always wanted to read his books. In the early years of his childhood while living in Bungoma, Duncan realized that the life in his hometown and the whole country was not conducive in the development of human race, at this early age he had a dream; a dream to contribute to the betterment of the living conditions in his hometown and the country as a whole, this was when he was in Moi primary school (where he attended from 1992-2000).

5. While just in class six then Duncan had started making plans for the country that he loved most:Kenya. Duncan wanted to be the president of the republic and this was no ordinary illusion as associated with young kids, Duncan lives with the dream to date. He decided that the ultimate tool that he would use to achieve his dream was to crack the books and aim for the best results, this he tried very much and when the final year in primary school arrived, Duncan had performed very well, he had scored 512 points out of 700 points, with this he was called for admission at the Coveted Kamusinga Boys High School a provincial school that produces the nations top achievers,for his O-LEVELS. For him to join the school despite having performed well,he had to pay the full school fees and at this time his parents would not manage this because his brother Christopher was also joining secondary school. He decided to nest where his mothers reach would enable him (his mother was the provider of school fees from her small green grocery business since his dad was long retrenched) he decided to secure a place in the local day school: Namachanja High School (2001-2004).  It is in Namachanja High School that Duncan started laying down his work plan, he wanted to do best in arts so that he would go to the university to study Law, (He had always known that the best way to defend the rights of the people of Bungoma and Kenya as a whole was to first study Law and use the knowledge to empower the powerless) His plans were to come out of college and vie for a civic seat as he waited to get employment, (In Kenya graduates don’t get jobs after college they always tarmac for years first before they are considered with some even not being considered at all) in his plan he anticipated that while in the civic office he would serve the people of khalaba ward a civic area in BungomaDistrict,then he would later vie for the parliamentary seat so as to serve the whole of Bungoma, in this plan he wanted his charity to begin from home from the

6. parliamentary he would then go for his ultimate prize the presidency, and that is the sequence that Duncan Ogaro Mikae started planning while in Namachanja High School during his O-levels. When the final results of the O-level studies came out, Duncan had qualified for university, because he had performed well and secured a mean grade of a B- (minus) although this did not guarantee him government sponsorship which he so much prayed for, he had to go to the university by self funding, this again denied Duncan a chance to go on with his plans because his mother’s small savings could not offer the big university fees for a parallel programme,he had to try another avenue, at this time he chose to go for A-level education. He got admission in Nabumali High School in the neighbouring country: Uganda. He had to choose a combination to study on, despite having performed best in sciences, Duncan chose to do arts because he still wanted to do Law, at this time he knew he was going to make it and worked very hard towards it. It is while in Nabumali High School that he decided to take poetry writing serious ,previously he was writing for fun but this time he decided the world had to have his point of view. His situation of failing to enroll at Kamusinga High School and the university due to lack of school fees compelled him to write the poem ‘Emptiness’

7. emptiness Children go about, With, Constant hunger and nakedness, Their chests sunken, And their bellies swollen, You can mistake them, For pregnant pygmies, About to deliver. Cows graze on air, Not even a single grass, Can withstand the harshness, The harshness of the enchanted land, The soil was eroded, Because the natives, Couldn’t and wouldn’t be taught, How to control soil erosion.

8. Houses are unsteady, Supported only by tree trunks, And walled by patches of mud, Ready to fall down, At the first gust of wind, Where are the masons? They could not be given knowledge, To build the nation. Piles of old tins and plastics, Heaps of excrement, like; Mountains of half cooked ugali, Mocks the air that people breathe, Pools of green waters, Render people sleepless nights, As they fight the small and deadly, Since they lack treated nets.

9. Fathers and brothers are unfair, They sit on the heads of; The Nakhumichas and Atienos, Putting them in servitude, For their comfort, They command ”no school for them’ Since their only highway to riches is dowry, They claim only the man should know kizungu. The daughters and sons of the land, Who at least sat in classrooms, Have piled shoes with worn out soles, In the dark corners of their shacks, Because in their world.. Jobs are given due to; Technological know who, But not technological know how.

10. Many are killed in robberies, • Some sell their birth rights, • Without caring the judgment day, • Just because.. • Their stomachs are growing ulcers, • But forgetting that, • Their bodies are rotting instead. • Oh! Lord, • The provider, • Why can’t you tame this catastrophe? • Keep it out of mankind’s sight, • Enable all to be fortunate, • To be able to eat,drink and sleep, • In utter similarity, • Then graceful bravos shall be all yours.

11. When the final two years of A-level ended, he qualified to enter the MAKERERE UNIVERSITY OF UGANDA.He had performed well and he applied for Law at the University. • Unluckily, when the admission letters came out, Duncan had not been considered for Law but a programme in Information Technology. This time round he decided he would not turn back and he decided to enroll for the programme and try Law later when he would get the financial opportunity. • It is in the university that Duncan Mikae started campaigning for his favorite candidate for president in that year of elections, he made a blog which he wanted to use to communicate to the whole world with his writings and also to use it to support his candidate of choice: RailaAmoloOdinga.Through this blog Duncan participated extensively to Kenyan politics. • This blog was and still is www.dunpresident.blogspot.com. • Just as he was in the first few weeks of the first semester, he got a summon from the Dean of studies, from this meeting he learned that he was supposed to complete registration at the campus, (usually students started attending lessons even before registering) so after paying the little he had thinking he would be given enough time to offset the balance, he was given an ultimatum of two weeks, to finish the full payment, things had practically changed and he had to pay the full fees before resuming studies. • This was yet another unfair time since Duncan could not meet the deadline.

12. He was axed from the University. It was yet again another time when fate was unfair to this gentleman. • As he was recollecting what to do next, he decided he would work on his own to help his mother raise money, this he knew would enable him go back to studies in the university. He vowed that he would support his mother to the end since his father had long been retrenched from civil service. • He decided to look for casual jobs and save money, luckily he managed to get some casual job in the Kenya Ferry Services located in Mombasaa District very far from Bungoma • While in Mombasa, Duncan came face to face with the reality of the struggles of the African poor, he had to depend on a single meal a day and sometimes he had nothing at all for the stomach,something that he had never faced back at home where parents provided, he also had to walk a long distance of six kilometers to the working site. • This suffering prompted him to write ‘The guilt of living’

13. The guilt of living • You have seen those sketches, • That pollute the air conditioned city, • The rats that move around, • In the clean sophistication, • You have seen those rich bellies, • Living within a malnourished era. • You recall the day you met it, • And was startled by its intensity, • You were born not so long before, • Born into a hollow world, • Even the postnatal care was ignored, • Obligated you were to support yourself up. • .

14. You struggle to make it, • But you always miss the mark, • Because; • The fundamentals were downplayed, • No structuring at all, • To develop the people • Some few creep into the shops, • To escape its stare, • And come out with shopping, • Only shopping for food, • It’s from hand to mouth, • And from the mouth into the starved chambers.

15. Savings is not in their vocabulary, • The vocabulary of the day, • Many people live by wages, • After working for ages, • The salaried are few, • And they can’t smile throughout. • This is it, • The sleeping life, • None can enjoy the skyscrapers, • Because many can’t get bread from them, • This is it, • The guilt of living.

16. This was towards the end of 2007 when the country was bracing for a general election, Duncan managed to save enough to go home and start a small shop, from his weekly wages at the Kenya Ferry Services as a casual labourer, he had finally got capital to start a business. • He went home and started a small shop that sold basic goods, at this time he had already added stock in his shop and was very optimistic that he would go back to university in the first intake. • Finally this day arrived, it was on 27th December Duncan voted for change, he voted for a man he had always admired as his role model,he voted for RailaAmoloOdinga. • And when the results of the presidential elections were announced, the very bad unexpected catastrophe happened, the results were rigged, and as the people’s choice was denied leadership, Duncan was denied an investment, just after the announcement of the results the whole republic went up in arms against the results. There was widespread violence and looting of property, Duncan’s small shop was not spared either, how unfair it was! • His dream of seeing RailaOdinga in office was shattered, his dream of joining the university in the following year was killed too, it was a double catastrophe.

17. After this trying moments, Duncan had to start from scratch, he joined friends and started a peace initiative to help in the healing of the nation, they formed Siritanyi Peace Makers initiative in Bungomawww.bungomapeacemakers.blogspot.com his plans were now shifted from joining University to helping harmonize unity in his home District. • Due to inter-tribal hatred that emerged after the post-poll violence, he knew he had to serve his District by bringing the people together through the initiative. • It is this initiative that occupies Duncan Mikae now, at the moment he isn’t earning even a single penny as before while he owned the shop but he is very happy because he is serving his people as he would have loved to serve them as their president. • For the moment he chose to put his struggles of joining university aside and concentrate on national healing and reconciliation. To him ‘Education has no age limit’ and he is optimistic that sooner or later he will pick himself up and join university since he believes that everyone’s life is curved out for him/herself by God and his is no exemption, he will have to wait for his time because Duncan says “you get what you want but not what you deserve” • And he wants to make his mother proud. • God help Duncan OgaroMikae. • May his dream live on.