Apologies for the lack of posts, been dealing with personal stuff (read drama).
So I’ve been thinking it’s time for a little break since the news is slow pending the outcome of the Annan negotiations. There’s all sorts of people complaining about “imposed” solutions,and foreign intervention, and “Kenyan solutions“, but the last time I checked we were achieving zero on our own as far as working towards a local solution for the crisis. Except for continued violence. That’s what we get for having leaders who are bozos…we have to be put in line by other guys. Do I think that ultimately whatever solution that is reached will have to have local legitimately? Of course. Do I think that ultimately the solution to the deeper problems that are underlying the crisis will have to be tackled by Kenyans? Absolutely. But I think it’s a bit rich for folks to be scoffing at the current international mediation (or bullying) efforts from the safety of their houses and their offices. Can anyone tell me where things were heading if Annan was treated as shoddily as Kufuor and others? Frankly, I think we are “lucky” in some ways to be a country that has some international goodwill remaining (hello Somalia?). It sucks, but it is what it is.
Oh, this was meant to be a mental break. Dammit.
OK, so a couple of days ago a few of us were cracking each other up with stories about our 8-4-4 projects. Those dreaded pyjamas, nyatitis, huts (the guys who built huts, pole…I went to Conso in Westlands and the biggest dilemma for the school admin was where to actually put the hut), woodwork (I can’t even remember what we built, but the woodwork teacher was a terror…apparently all woodwork teachers had “issues). My dad was old school, so he had banned that storo of having the housie shona your pyjamas and do your weaving (yes we had to weave a rug with some hideous loom, WTF?), not to mention that he was cheap (for good reason, school fees was expensive enough, and I really appreciate the sacrifice in retrospect but going to a posh school without the necessary accroutements was trying at times in that I’m-going-to-be-made-fun-of kind of way ). So my pyjamas were made from this material that was really for sewing machines, and I won’t even go into the story of the wool for the rug. You know that kind of cheap where the plastic for covering your books starts ripping apart as you are unfolding it? And when you FINALLY got an Oxford mathemetical set (and not the cheaper ka-red and gold one), it was accompanied with a fire and brimstone lecture on how you better not lose it? But he caved when we got to the nyatiti. Mine was made from by some Jua Kali guy in Kariokor.
So (presuming that some of the people who read this blog are 8-4-4 products) what were your “project” experiences?
Annan is and has been doing fine but Condi/Bush statements are sickening.
Project: Kinitting booties.
i confess … 8-4-4 by-product – pioneer class – kilimani junior academy Yikes:-)
Yes we built a mud hut with a thatched roof with our teacher snapping pictures away as evidence or his pleasure, who knows?? Shortly after we built the hut it was brought down for reasons that i now do not recall but that turned out not have been the project that we submitted.
Also put together a pair of starch cotton ugly pink pyjamas. One Limb short an inch of expected length LOL
Ooooh + growing tomatoes….LOL wht a disaster..my harvest..a whopping one tomato.LMAO
Favorite part of 8-4-4 was music class – we would sit out on benches in the remotes + bushiest part of the school compound learning how to play the flute with one awesome mr katana…aaah bliss
Sigh….talks..i subscribe to the school of whatever it takes to get people to stop killing each other. If these talks, foreign or locally initiated, are the first steps on the road to peace then what is the problem?
8-4-4 was trauma! But my dad was kind. For woodwork, we had a folding chair that was made by a real carpenter. Then there was some carving for art. For whatever reason, the art teacher was forever angry. He got very angry at my carving and did not hesitate dropping it on the floor where it duly cracked into pieces. Yes, I had to do one from scratch. .
back again. I think there is need for more pressure. I dont mind Bush pushing hard. Otherwise we are going to see more hotel and resort meetings for the next six months with nothing substantive but casualties. Watch that space. I think the public opinion is that an agreement be reached now. But more importantly, it will be good if it affected the constitution-review of the constitution. otherwise, we are going to see a repeat of this in the nearest future if we have one.
On 8.4.4 projects, I cannot recall much but the most memorable and transformative was when I was in class 5 with homescience stuff. we had to prepare starch** from maize or cassava and knitting using those crotchets and long wires (cannot remember the name…pins, needles….??). Believe it or not, I a man, out performed all, including gals in knitting baby socks! I remember they were white in colour! Good days those were.
I remember other accomplishments, desiging a small shirt and using needle and thread to fix it. I cannot remember what happened with that one. The only recollection here is that I prayed bedsheets and lesos, cut them for the projects. To avoid being got, I would hide the pieces of remains under bed for months! poor me. But this helped me even advance. At the age 12, I was became curious with the sawing machine (cherehani) my dad had bought. I also tried it and was perfect in riding the wheels. Talk of 8.4.4.
I ended up digressing into quite unrelated profession despite the talents.
LOL! Mine was a shirt that I made from a woolen sheet. Boy was it something!
As for all those haughtily pontificating about “Kenyan solutions” i decided to neither lose their temper nor smack their heads. It takes a special kind of doofusness to refuse help and keep digging yourself into a hole!
Great memories, I was also and early 844 product and we did the pyjamas and the hut project plus cooking mandazi(this one I enjoyed). I never finished the pyjamas this is despite that my mum was working at KIE and was involved in setting the Home Science Syllabus – so I flunked that . Building the hut was fun but in our school we cheated since we were not supposed to use modern building material i.e Nails after several failing attempts to tie the wooden framework with raw sisal we just nailed them together and covered with mud. I especially liked the treading the mud business cos that job of kneading the mud was given to the girls while the boys plastered.
LOL!!! Ory, I think our woodwork teacher was the guy who had 6 fingers and that is why he creeped us out more so than his strict standards! I think we made an ironing board? I could be wrong though…
In hind sight though, as an adult I appreciate the intentions of those lessons because one of my close friends from Japan is very handy when it comes small projects etc and it always makes me think… in a world void of the luxury of going to the grocery store to by tomatoes, or even shop at the mall for shirts she would survive and I the “African” who is from a country that hasn’t undergone industrial revolution is completely dependent on ready made/ready to use produce/products… just food for thought
LOL! 8-4-4 was (is it still used?) was just brutal. We had to knit booties/sweaters. The woodwork part, well, we kinda *cheated* the teacher had previous material from the long gone students and we *picked* from there. LOL.
I wonder who created those *projects* I haven’t benefited from any of those!
was an 8-4-4 product and i really enjoyed it. in standard five we made booties and a green coloured blouse/shirt and also a woollen baby shawl which had all types of colours, then i remember in standard six we cooked githeri, the home science teacher told everyone to bring a quarter kg of maize and beans and it was a class of 50 students. At the same class, i was in 4K club and we reared rabbits, then one day our 4K club teacher told us to kill one of the old rabbits and cook it, wowww it was sweet, i had never eaten rabbit meat before but i enjoyed it. We also did the pyjama thing and in music i remember the class eight project of doing the taa-aa-aa-a; tafa tefe. I do wonder till now the purpose of doing all those funny music stuff. The project I loved most was the one for making stools and tin lamps, there is a boy who was good in it but for me, i went to a nearby jua kali shop and bought them. Good old days of 8-4-4
Hey KP, My projects involved knitting a scarf, which my dad taught me to do. Yes, his folks believed that a man should be able to knit and darn his own socks.
I made a lap bag from jinja cotton and nearly got tetanus making a soap dish out of scrap metal.
But for the crafts, I know how to make those wooden joints thanks to Mr. N, the crafts teacher. He had such an enigmatic personality, and taught us to fear him.
Sha, thanks for asking about 844, the system that made me into the student that I am now.
844 – remember building the hut…aiiiii kazi ngumu sana…and also shonaing an apron …which i finished after 4th form…i always went to class bila shindano…we shared a needle between 4-5 kiddos….so we just sat down and wasted time talking….needlework has benefits though at least i can shona a kabutton on a top ikitoka in the washing machine :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
BTW Ory …i would like to start a blog…email me at my email given and let me know how to so……..PLIZ ……
Ory,
the cheap set that you are talking about is KOFA
ofcourse i had a cheap dad too.
i rem. crazy projects like making a JEMBE.
always looked ffwd to home science, chapo cooking projects.
it was hell if you were in boarding school and the neighbouring class was cooking chapoz.. you would be giving them an eye hoping to get a hook up.
8-4-4 For home science? we had gto knit a vest sweater – The maid did this for without the peros knowledge since she liked knitting and I promised to let her have it when it was done, thought he teacher was highly suspicious of the qality product being my work.
Woodwork we had to make one of those stools that looks like a tiny bench. There was no escaping this since the woodwork teacher never let the unfinished products leave the workshop and could only be worked on during Craft. We also had to do a funnel for metal work .
Art I don’t even remember.
Music we had to make a flute. That was actually the easiest using bamboo.
Agri we had to grow spinach and sukuma, which after harvesting were turned over to the teacher for grading never to be seen again….they must have been delicious though since my group got 100%.
Had to do pyjamas and after seeing me struggling so much even my oldschool parents decided it was time to hire a tailor to do it.
I thin the best class 844 really had was business education. A lot of things we learned in those classes we take for granted but in countrie like the US some people have to learn how to open a bank account when they leave home.
8.4.4 – I loved it! I was no good but I loved homescience when it was non practical. I managed to make a tray cloth and a gathered skirt using a very cheap red and white stripped material. I’d enjoy all the projects now as I’m learning to DIY and GIY and stuff…
As for the jingas that are criticising mediation – FFS fellows, grow up! I’m so glad the blatant killing of each other has tailed off and I hope and pray it gets better and better. Thank God for Annan. Wish he was Kenyan too. He’s a fab leader and I wish there was one in Kenya right now like him.
For our ‘hut’ project we had to build a ‘stone wall’ – and having been part of ‘helpers’ building my parents’ place (ok I was like 4yrs old, but still) it was good. And music – when in the UK one of my friends was my former music teacher (who I loved, and the music too) and she would never ever stop telling people that she was my teacher when I was six (oh the pride in her face, and the horror on mine) Memories…
I still prefer to read about what is going on in Kenya from the ‘horses’ mouth – Hi M 😀
Ory, Kisses to Gabriella..
Ahahahaha! The thing I vividly remember was grown beans in a plastic contaner using maji and cotton wool. I could NOT stand those things cause the udaro smelt like shagz for the longest. No matter how many I planted they ALL died! Conspiracy? ? As for the woodwork class I decided like most of you to support the informal sector (Jua Kali). Cheers to that fundi for giving me great marks for my project. I honestly should have gone back and offered him at least a mkebe of toivo or cham at the very least.
LOL!!
The woodwork teacher in Conso (my yrs) was called Mr. Kimani. I remember the classes were in the workshop building that was “down” and the lower floors had table tennis so guys would skyve to go play! and I had a hammer and nyatiti made by the Jua Kali folks.
I remember the weaving / loom thing to make a mat!! It was huge, then u had to criss-cross followed by now shorter threads that you knot. I didn’t know guys had to make HUTS!!
And to compensate for the non-oxford set, you filled it up with the latest STICKERS!
Ah, the memories of the 8-4-4 projects. My deskie in primary school was a guy called Charan (short for Charandeep). His father owned a woodwork/furniture store. So since I did not want to deal with the mortise and tenon (sp) joints, we cut a very deadly deal. He took care of making my stool for me and I shonad his pyjamas for him. Needless to say we both passed that course and were proud of it.
Oh. gone are the days!! 8-4-4, weren’t it something else eh? My most memorable and certainly embarasing period has to be high school.
We were in Form 2 and had to hand-sew a skirt for Home Science. Unfortunately this very silly girl underestimated her skirt length and ended up with a ka-mini. Woe unto her, on the day of presenting the final products, the whole class had to parade their works of art (or science!) She had to do a cat-walk in front of the whole class amid whistling and cheers…. how I will never forget !! LLOL
lol at KOFA sets and Haco rulers….I think we made starch, lapbags, booties and for woodwork “we” made stools….i think the school pelekad the wood to some jua kali place and made stools for all of us….hahahaha at tafa tefe…oh my goodness …Does anyone remember Youth and Hero ink pens….all the bougi kids had Hero and the others Youth which would mess up your Kartasi brand exercise books…
Hey Ory, you are not the only one dealing with personal issues (please read as drama)! Hang tough! We went to school together (conso) and I see why you were such a chop, so you had a professional make your nyatiti, etc …I see what I was up against. And I do remember the woodwork guy, eeek! Anyway I remember the PJ’s I made which I swore were good enough to be sold on VS.com, with hindsight I needed a vision plan and serious styling up. The good old days though, dont forget the headmaster we terrorized (teenage hormones were raging and we were going to bring change to Conso ama?), I recall you giving him a hard time at least once, at least I played angelic. Swahili was my fav class oh and of course GHC for the entertaining Mwai. Thanks for the comic relief, I think we all needed it.
Can’t relate to 8-4-4 .. but I feel that any and all intervention that pressurizes the idiots/buffoons masqureading as leaders in K to design and establish a starting place for reassembly of the fractured country and any hope for the future is welcome. Whether it is Rice or any other individual. She/the US has a right to their comments and while they represent their own interests (as all other nations and BTW the stupid so-called leaders do) they commonly speak the truth. Kofi Annan and her are essentially agents of the same entity. The vacuum in Kenyan leadershp becomes more and more apparent as negotiations continue.
I recall many sleepless nights making a tapestry and more sleepless night doing a cubist painting for my art practical. I recall staying up almost 2 days straight, it was no fun at all but for some reason I actually miss it. 😯
Our sovereignty is of little if any use if we cant come up with any solutions to this crisis and have refugees in a country that is supposedly at peace. There is a time and place for pride but now is not it.
Looks like I missed all that fun! I wasn’t an 844 product, but taught the first 844 students in high school. Had just graduated and was posted somewhere far away from civilisation only to discover there were no students coz they were still 844-ing in some primary school. I spent the year doing “research”, which meant hanging around and travelling across the republic visiting my mates. I had no
” experience” to teach the upper classes. It was a wonderful time, I took off to Nairobi every weekend. All Coast bus and Akamba bus manambas knew me. I even got to travel for free sometimes.
The rude shock came a year later when I discoverd I had to teach oral literature?? ORAL WHAT?? I didn’t even know anything about my culture, langauge and heritage. There was a book by Asenath Odaga that taught me a lot. I just played wize! the rest I learnt from the students. Alaways gave them homework. I was really amazed how rich my culture is. I was born and bred in Nbi; never had time to learn all this. We went shags in August every year, coz my parents didn’t want us to lose touch. It was an adventure! fetching water, digging, lighting the fire,plastering huts with the cow-dung mix ( yak) we were totally useless. My Grandma swore we’d never find bwanas- Who would marry such women, who couldn’t even cook on the hi-tech ” 3 stone cooker”
I guess that was my 844, tailor-made and idividually customised by my parents….
otherwise, I found an interesting article see below
World must help Kenya enforce Bomas draft
Published on February 20, 2008, 12:00 am
http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143982109
By Prof Henry Mwanzi
Kenyans need leaders who are prepared to place the interests of the country ahead of that of their tribe.
Kenyans needs leaders who can say, with the founders of United States, ” We pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honour,” in defense of those values and principles that give dignity to human lives.
Kenya is burning. And as it burns the rest of the world feels the heat. It was an Iranian sage who said, “All mankind are limbs of the same tree. For in creation they have one pedigree. When by hard times one limb is put to the test, the other limbs are made restless and depressed”. This is the story of Kenya. It has been put to the test, as one limb of mankind and the rest of mankind are depressed. That is why the rest of mankind is justified in showing concern about local events. They have the right to intervene to remove that, which has caused pain.
British High Commissioner Adam Wood US Ambassador Michael Ranneberg and French Ambassadors Elizabeth Barbier have been with Kenyans, in their hour of need.
They have chosen to speak the truth, that what the chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya announced on December 30, last year, was not a result of a democratic election. It was a subversion of the will of the electorate.
Samuel Kivuitu did not know who had won the presidential election. Security personnel had been drafted into the plot to ban all the avenues of protest, including freedom of the Press. Many Kenyans, who are now accustomed to democracy, reacted violently to the affront to their freedoms.
This reaction was not unexpected. Accumulated injustices since Uhuru were bound to explode; the question was when.
In 2002, many hoped this trend would end. But these injustices have been accelerated in the last five years. And as this acceleration took place so did the resentment to it. Messing up presidential election was the last straw.
There are two ways of a reclaiming a stolen victory: One is a counter-move. The other is a political settlement.
The spontaneous protests that followed the Kivuitu blunder were a revolt against those who had subverted their will. Then the international community asked for a political settlement, to address these injustices. There can only be peace if there is justice.
Now why did some people think they could subvert democracy and get away with it?
In 1964 the departing colonial Government bequeathed Kenya a good constitution, which would have ensured justice and peace and prosperity. It was a constitution in which power was dispersed throughout society. It ensured that Kenyans enjoyed the blessings of liberty. But this enjoyment lasted from December 1963 to August 1964, when that constitution was abrogated. Since that day, Kenyans have never enjoyed liberty. There has been neither justice nor peace. Many acquiesced, and this was mistaken for peace.
The constitution of 1964 created the office of the president, which lacked checks and balances. It placed political and economic power and resources in that office. Placing of both political and economic power in the same hands is what constitutes tyranny, no matter by what other name. Initially, we called it African Socialism.
A divided nation
But it was neither African nor socialist. Then we called it national unity, but there was no unity. Instead we have become more and more divided over the last 45 years. The few rich around the president have become richer while the majority has been impoverished.
Indeed, if there was development, how come 60 per cent and more of Kenyans live below poverty line? These are concepts that we must now discard, because they have not served us. They constituted the ideology of tyranny.
We need an ideology to advance. This is the age of defused, shared and devolved power and resources. This is what has been lacking. That is why citizens are revolting against the tyranny of the rich few.
The debate in our National Assembly during the swearing-in of new members of Parliament highlighted what ails Kenya. This to me was the most important debate in the assembly, since the days of Tom Mboya and JM Seroney. Ugenya MP James Orengo reminded members that Kenya was a republic, and that in a republic the Constitution, not and individual is supreme; all allegiance should be to the Constitution.
Amos Wako told members the Presidency is a symbol of unity and likened its role to that of the queen of United Kingdom. The queen is a symbol of unity because she holds office by virtue of heredity. She does not participate in the day-to-day politics of Britain. Theoretically Britons serve their queen. But there is a political government in UK, which serves the British. If it fails in this duty, it is removed.
The Presidency is the problem that has been ravaging us since 1964. Kenyans realised this and came together to cure this disease in 2004 in the Bomas draft constitution. That draft contained proposals to establish a just system, where power and resources are devolved. It is those who subverted democracy who sabotaged the Bomas Draft implementation, because, as they said, one of their own had become president.
Now is the time to implement that draft constitution to bring justice and peace. It is this draft that was the true change that the majority of Kenyans voted for last year. Seven provinces out of eight voted for change. Status quo will not bring peace, because there will be no justice.
When young people say there will be no peace without justice, they mean it. And they do not mean Raila Odinga. They mean an agent of change.
The international community, especially the US, Britain, Australia, Norway, Canada and France should help implement the Bomas Draft Constitution – a local initiative, which contains a homegrown solution to the crisis.
—The writer is a professor of history at Kenyatta University
Projects :a pair of cute little red booties in class 6 which was very proud of as I discovered I could knit quite well. Mortise and tenon joints LOL I hated woodwork though we had the nicest of teaches
Std 8 had to make a drum from a cow hide and an oil tin with a lot of help from an experienced craftsman.
On Annan talks I think we are lucky there are other people who care enough to stick their noses into our affairs as a country. Very lucky.
8-4-4 system
what a System, I remember the music in the morning just after waking up @ five in Kilimo Primary, someni vijana and amka tujenge taifa. then I would go to school to be whipped for failing to spell words in English dictation and then Ms Maina would come with the mathematical Drill of which I would get a whipping too.
In my final year agricultural project we planted maize and before we could harvest, tulikuwa tumezichoma zote and we had nothing to submit, thanks to the 4k club I got me some money after selling sukuma wiki to my teacher too.
but I really loved Maziwa ya nyayo.
Ochunyi, were u in Kilimo at Egerton? What year?
Well, I was too and I remember the heady one OHMS (Oganga Hana Meno Sita). He was tough, but he brought out the best in us.8-4-4 (=0) but i bet it produced quality products.
My Pajamas where pretty good, well, I had tonnes of help and I used them in high school. Quite corny.
I remember cleaning lamps, but not the agriculture project. Somehow I skipped that class.
Ahh! KOFA it was! I was trying to remember that doggone mathematical set brand name. Those were indeed good times. Luckily for me, my elder bro had a half made pyjama from his failed sewing project (which by the way had no bearing in his KCPE grade or anyone else’s for that matter). I only had to finish up on his “white elephant” and viola! I had a completed project. What really got to me was something called a tray cloth with some embroidered multi-colored flowers. The hut was ok with the illegal nails nicely covered in the dirt plastered walls. Oh…we also washed a lantern lamp, and boy was it hard to find one in nai. I had to borrow one from a kiosk owner who could not recognize his formerly black soot coated lamp when i appeared with a bluish looking one and really had to convince him that it indeed belonged to him. who on earth was it that thought of these project ideas??!!
I had to make a kerosene lamp and an Orutu. The Orutu came together quite well courtesy of my grandfather but I soldered my hand at some point while trying to fuse the kerosene lamp and had to give up for medical reasons. I also had to grow radishes on the sandiest most unhealthy patch of soil in Buru for my agriculture class. SMH at 8-4-4.
What was all that about anyway because it never counted in the KCPE grades.
I forgot all the sewing. I had to make pyjamas, an apron, a bag, and those pointless table cloth things and I sucked hard at it. There was this one girl who had the most perfect stitches and I viciously hated her for it (I was young and petty!). She made her pyjamas in about a week. I hope she’s a designer now. The second I could manage it in high school I dropped every non-science course with a practical requirement.
The only issue I have with the whole coalition/power sharing deal for Kenya is that it does not seem like there will be an effective opposition, which I think any country that boasts of being a multiparty democracy must have…
Did none of you scrub sufurias until you could see your reflection in them?????And what about making drums? Mine was made by the cobbler down the road from my house with a block of wood and goat skin. No questions were asked about how a twelve year old girl was able to carve out the wood by herself!
8-4-4 was a bit much. In hindsight am having a laugh especially at these storos. We had a homescience teacher who was such a clown. How’s about she used to sell samos and would recruit a few of us to be her henchmen – the reward of course was free samos (which were so delish). She also was not very stuck on finesse, her class was a breeze. The pinnacle of her shenanigans was one fine afti she was fidgeting with her ‘chest area/bra strap zone’ and in quick order she unleashed a piece of garmet from inside her top. we’re like ala, did this woman just unleash her bra or WTF? Am still laughing.
I distinctly remember learning the *right* way to hand wash a sweater. Knead and squeeze. I also made the most misshapen little pot ever seen. And I really loved the gathered skirt I made (white with yellow polka dots, remarkably similar to something I’ve seen in recent fashion magazines).
Wood and Metal are not friendly.
Mine, hehee, we had to practice making a shirt using old newspapers before making the real ones using real material. Cutting newspaper was easy and I used Taifa Leo (that dad never allowed kids to touch the Daily Nation or Standard). So in the end I had a black and white different-fonted- shirt screaming headings such as “RAIS MOI KASEMA WAZAZI WAPANGE UZAZI”. I wore it to play in the Eastate and when the rains came………..
i remember whittling several pieces of bar soap to bits in an attempt to create some kind of sculpture. i also made the ugliest pajamas ever seen, with some crazy seams. no huts or walls for us, but we did scrub a suf with gravel…never really understood the point of using the gravel, but hey … i guess it was to prove that scotchbrite and steel wool were white man’s inventions? oy … 8-4-4 … good stuff!
LOL I was in the second 8 4 4 and we built a Concrete Wall, the one immmortalised at the entrance of Hill School Eldoret. As for my wooden stool, the carpenter from huko Gikomba was promptly paid by my DAD to do a shoody job!
Tehehe! I can see we were all put through the wringer by 844.
Art and Craft: Loved the art, loved it-had a great teacher who didn’t impose his vision on our work as long as the students work fell within the parameters of our assignment. Fave projects were collage/mosaic, sketching/drawing and sculpture (sijui what the abovementined angst with sculpture is about-loved it!)
Now craft was a whole other story:
Metal work (why?!) a soap dish and a jiko, I quickly discovered that in the tussle between me and the humble soap dish-the soap dish won. Having suffered numerous cuts of varying depth while wrestlng with the 2kg kimbo/cowboy can-mum finally took pity on me, if the soap dish was beyond me it was unlikely I would fare better with the more complex jiko.
So aftr yelling at my clumsiness (bwana, those shiny and greasy tins were slippery so it was not my fault) dettol cleansed, elastoplasted and immunised against tetanus (hate getting injected, that was so not necessary!) we were off to the jua kali mzee to help us out in our time of need.
Wood work (why?!) I was helped by an ability to take careful measurements (thru experience I learnt that if I didn’t things could go badly wrong!). I could wield the chisel and the saw but anything more demanding and I was out for the count.
The jua kali mzee and I were beginning to build a relationship after collaborating on that fiddly jiko (we each played our part-he did the work and I sat and watched him do it) since parents insisted I contribute by knowing what went into the process step by step incase the teacher asked . So he wasn’t the least bit surprised to see me back for help-again!
Drama with home science and agriculture. The headmaster was the agriculture teacher and the coolest though also a hard task master when it came to our chicken rearing project. home scince teacher was ridiculous and I was always getting into trouble for making fun of her…who said that?…what is so funny? needless to say I had quite a few visits to the headmasters office during which the he tried to look stern (hey, it was funny!) I got the requisite scolding and sent right back to class.
On to distressing news coming out of Kenya: Annan has his work cut out for him and the very real possibility of failure looms. I think it is time we ceased to downplay and ignore this in our zeal for a settlement.
I’m deeply offended by the illegitimacy of our election results-by how it has shaken our faith in representative democracy, by how it has undermined our confidence that our voices will be heard through the ballots cast and our choices respected.
I still maintain that I cannot support an illegitimate occupant at state house thus the the proposed political solution is imperfect (possibly as flawed as the purported election results).
Having said that, a return to mass action with demonstrators shot/killed/maimed, a return to bloody outbreaks of ethnic violence , an increase in displaced Kenyans as well as the destruction of livelihood and property takes us right back to square one …a situation deplorable to us all.
We need a ratcheting of pressure from the Kenyan civil society, the business community needs to weigh in heavily with their outlook and projections on effects on the business climate in the medium and long term, too.
We need harsher criticism from AU & EAC, we also need additional visa bans-this time accompanied by asset freezing, in the interests of reality setting in we need the suspension of supplementary budgetary support (to the tune of funding 45%+ of development and aid projects) by EU/UK/US and others until further notice.
It may once again be time to make calls, write emails and send letters in the interests of keeping the necessary evil that is the mediation process on track.
I abhored the whole tedious 8-4-4 projects unitl i emphatically realised later in life that all they did was make us all more pragmatic in life. I do not know if it was a thought out strategy by the Ed ministry but if you pause and consciously reflect on the system look at how adept most of us 8-4-4 products became you will knowing smile.
I sincerely hope we were not made to ‘stitch’ pyjamas in the hope that we would one day become tailors; I hope we were sowing pyjamas to hone our attitude to life.
Most of us excel in whatever fields we are in – success is not necessarily gratified by monetary gains. That warm feeling in our heart on a job well done opening up doors to new challenges and possibilities (even as a security guard) is success. I relish on whatever success I can find for 8-4-4 was much easier and straightforward than the ‘LIFE’ education system we all seem to be going through right now!
me i had a MKEBE WA JOMETRY they were made in china and the dges were raw they could slice u and give u tetanus. i had the gisty pen hero. then we started of with quink, the changes to champion ink. then ended up using WINO ink.
for art and craft i remember we made soap carvings and hang them in class kumbe some maboos used to do some work in school and use them to shower so they gradually started shrinking mpaka they disappeared.
I also rememeber building a rabbit hutch and baby sweater.
i was in Hill School eldy. hope its still standing and i know many of my school mates have been affected my thoughts are with you.
Why do I remember learning how to make a nyatiti? Shock and awe I tell you!
8.4.4 system was a great business opportunity. In 4th through 8th grade, boys don’t want to do girlie stuff and girls can’t stand some of the woodworking stuff……………….ok some anyway. So I figured a way to have the girls do the girlie stuff for the boys, and the boys to do the woodworking stuff for the girls, and I made a commission on either side of that transaction.
That helped reignforce my belief that every “problem” in society is a potential business opportunity.
I must admit though, that I hated both the woodworking and the homescience project, except for homescience practicals when we made mandazis, cakes etc and got to spend the whole afternoon outside under some gigantic Jacaranda tree near this fishpond that had a fountain …….. memories.
Three days since I last was here and one cannot resist the laughter! This was the most amusing thing that some of us who ve been glued on K despair since Dec ve had.
Linda O, I am guessing and I think I know who you are and will call u one of this day.
Thanks guys for making this thing fun. Esp Ory.
One last thought: some colleague of mine from Nigeria in this foreign land asked me the question: why shouldnt Kibaki and PNU accept executive premier post and have him PM and Raila President- balancing interests!
oh the memories. the kofa sets saved my neck multiple times, my dad would never buy the oxford one! the red log tables that had formulas, heloooooooooo! heh heh!! I still have the sweater and pyjamas that i had to make, and they were awful….
😀 Ohh man apart from a short burly headmaster who really was out to get me at any fault, I guess I enjoyed learning how to wash a sweater, building a mud hut, growing beans on a small plot, pottery, wood work, metal work, music etc. I really enjoyed building things. I guess this was because I am do-it-yourself kind of guy and somehow talented in all these vitu za mikono.
I used to be the kid who made the kimbo or cowboy cars with tyres made out of old slippers for the eastate during safari rally…even the wire ones held together with bladder. I once also made a wire F-16 😕
I went on to do some of the stuff in campus overseas!!! I enjoyed metal work…not sure about woodwork though its more usable and like you say the wood work teachers have issues I noticed that even out there!
Well I notice that this things do come in handy since I am around building sites a lot and sometimes have to show the Jua Kalis that I really do know what I am talking about and cannot be conned when they do a shoddy job.
Woi…8-4-4 memories..i remember the kitambaa we had to do emroidary (oh the colours) and the stool idea was crazy..who really made that stuff from scratch?..i used to like the projects though gave me some (flossing of my skills time) to the schools hearthrob and it paid of well (read he noticed me and ended up liking me ) I think of it was a little more organized it would be great system but ..im glad i went through it
Loool!!! Reading all posts here has made my day!! I am an 8-4-4 product but deserted it before I could finish standard 8. I was sent off to Uganda where my parents thought I could get a better deal for an education.
One thing I remember about the system is the bulk of books one had to buy and all those subjects that were included in the syllabus! Were they all necessary?
Good old days, Kofa sets, Hero and Youth pens, new shoes from Bata at the begining of school term plus the glossy covered new text books from text book centre!! AND the khaki book covers. It was such a hustle covering books every begining of term.
Ory & Mimi, I was also in Conso, during our time the wood work teacher was Mr. Kariuki, he had this thing when you had to plane the wood to make it smooth, ” I want that as smooth as a baby a**” with his six fingers, memories LMAO
Ory hit me up.
yawa! 8-4-4 (sigh)
In class five i had to use the crotchet to make some thing (i dare not remember the disaster that it was and the thorough beating i got from the teacher for shoddy work). I looked forward to class 6,7 and 8 to do easier (why in the name of God would i think that making a full sweater was easier than a piece of crotcheted scarf).
Ati i was the chair of the 4K club. The DEO came to see our garden and what we had planted…eeeiisssshhhh, depending on rain that did not come, every thing had withered and died. A beating from the headmaster for ’embarassing’ him in front of the DEO. silly man did not even know where the garden was prior to that day.
I am with the person who could not concentrate as was trying to make eye contact with ‘mates’ from the class that was making chapo.
Woodwork? i can not use my hands to make a craft to save my life ( i can not survive in the forest if chaos breaks loose in Kenya).
Mud hut- we were to make a wall of stone. I was in the cheering squad. did not touch even a stone! and we passed…..cheering is essential to fulfillment of a goal. Ati in high school i had a shamba for cabbages which turned out as sukuma wiki with really big ‘leaves’ – failed!
made a rug/carpet thing using dry banana leaves. I am still proud of that.
and now my nephs think am crazy when i tell them (at 12) to shona their own buttons back! i could do this at 6 (a product of a mathy who taught me to make fire at 4 and an education system that thought i was good with my hands!)
I know I’m over a week late with this but I hope you read it:
8-4-4 memories: I won’t name the school, suffice to say it was across the street from City Park. We did not have enough mud for the huts so we had the bright idea to head over with wheelbarrows and steal soil from the park. The insane monkeys at the park were not amused, and I recall a classmate being pelted with monkey-doodoo. (true story!). I wonder what the park employees thought about the mysterious holes that would suddenly and fairly regularly appear in one corner of the park… For some reason, I don’t remember teachers being present for all of these shenanigans, but I think permission to break the law was implied…the funniest thing was that there were 4 streams in standard 8, ranging from the smartest kids to the “academically challenged” and the huts clearly reflected that…those kids in 8K (the dunces – I’m going to hell already ) built a hut that literally lasted a day before toppling over with little fanfare. So funny.
We were given the option of making pyjamas for ourselves or for a midget/small person. Guess what I picked? (The baby jammies, of course- but for some reason, all the boys in my class thought they could pull out a pair of useable pyjamas for themselves. Ha!) I learned the power of outsourcing very early and gave my mini-pyjamas to a fundi to sew for 30 shillings. I thought I would be wracked with guilt for years, but strangely, my conscience remains quite clear in that respect. Hey, I never had any fashion maven/tailoring aspirations. My parents never found out how devious I was back then.
I think I’m ok.
Do I win a prize?
BREAKING NEWS:President Mwai Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga have signed a power sharing deal that includes the creation of the post of the Prime Minister
This is from KBC website.http://www.kbc.co.ke/default.asp
President Mwai Kibaki (2nd R) poses for a photograph with (L-R) Chief Mediator Kofi Annan, opposition leader Raila Odinga, his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Kikwete and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa inside his office. ( Reuters )
Breakthrough as President Kibaki and Raila sign deal
Written By:Millicent Awuor , Posted: Thu, Feb 28, 2008
President Mwai Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga have agreed to the formation of a coalition government, which allows the formation of a Prime Ministers office with two deputies. The historic event took place at the President’s Harambee house office.
UN Secretary general Kofi Annan and AU Chairman who is also Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete witnessed the 5.07 pm signing ceremony.
According to terms of the accord, the Prime minister will be elected from the party with the majority in parliament. The office of the Vice president still remains in the arrangement. Each party will nominate a deputy.
The two also agreed to the sharing of cabinet posts on a 50:50 basis.
Parliament reconvenes next week to ensure the changes are embedded in an act of parliament paving way for a constitutional amendment.
According to other details spelled out by mediator Koffi Annan the coalition will cease if parliament is dissolved, if one of the coalition members pulls out or if the parties involved agree to such terms in a meeting.
On the other hand, the prime minister can be removed from office through a majority vote of no confidence by parliament.
The talks will now move to the fourth agenda which aims at looking at long term issues including the constitutional reform, poverty reduction and land reforms.
[…] Published February 21, 2008 Errata Ory has the best post ever! (Read the […]