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The struggle with many a rigid Logooli cultural practices

  The Logooli community is one of the deeply cultured societies – with near everything supposed to have been done as per custom – to allow another custom to follow. One example is that for a mature man (with a child or more) to be buried, there must be a house structure at home. Another is that a boy must be circumcised and nursed in father land. If maternal family decides to, the boy will have a hard time reconnecting with father people - a dent on his masculinity. There were two children who got burnt to death in a house in Nairobi. The single mother had left for night work. Elders were told that one of the children was Logooli. The other, the woman had sired with someone else. The Logooli family wanted to burry their little one and long discussed the do’s and don’ts. Of a man who died childless and the grave was placed as if he had died as a man with children. It should have been dug on the sides, the grave. A real thorn should have been thrust in his buttocks, his name go...
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The Diary of a carpenter

06/09/2014
My friend Wilfred had informed me of some urgent work today. I was ready in wait for the customer to reach me via him.
At 6.00am and I received the call. That was too early! The customer is the boss, we say. 
It is never pleasing to walk in the mud. It’s been pouring all the day through lately.  I had the gumboots on to counter nature. Kibera slum roads are poor.  Many people wipe off mud at the DC police station place, along that small river.
I met the customer. A namesake! So Patricks we are. He did not keep me on wait. I thought that the job was just around the Nakumatt Prestige place. He was not ready to pay 20 bob to Chaka place. We took route eleven. I am used to walking and it did not seem far.
Wardrobe kind of thing- he drew it. I looked at it and tried to draw it in the brain. That was what we did. He was mtu wa mkono and I liked it. We storied. I told him about my family and how my daughter is fairing on in school. I am really thinking hard of the school fees. He was confident that I would take in full bread! I could not. Sawing pieces of hard wood is not an easy job anyway. It needs good energy.
After the masterpiece of the day, he brought in a side job- people of this nature…., I expected that we would be done by midday. I had no problem to join the remainder pieces of wood to form a home theatre closet as he called it. He won!
The whole job costed 1100. I had asked 1500. But people never wrangle in business.
Carrying the furniture home was another task that I will least forget. He and his friend could not find a superb way of sharing the weight. We had pauses on the road before I settled it on my shoulders so that they would carry the small ones. Just opposite the Prestige supermarket, I did hit the gate accidentally and fell back with the wardrobe. In muddy water! Good that no one was close to me, or else… My clothes got dirty and wet.
Back home...
(My day spent with a carpenter. I think that this is what he would record if he keeps diaries. I do not however know his day before and after we met)

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