On Friday December 9th at about 09;20 GTM, I received a whatsApp message from Edson. The message came to my family group.
Do you also have numerous whatsApp groups like me? I think I have about 14 or so groups that I belong on this crazy social media platform. But they don't all bother me. I have only three that I check out occasionally. The first one for my family. My siblings and spouses belong to this and i give this my ultimate attention whenever I can. The other is one that has my friends including Wycliff . It's a small Christian fellowship aka Cell. Let me save you the other and get to the subject matter of my writing today.
The message from Edson contained sad news. He had just received a phone call from his contemporary Karumuna about the passing on of a good man. Karumuna did the right thing to call Edson. Karumuna is a young but strong saul. At the time of death, and the death of a loved one, memory runs to who should be informed. its the other loved ones that will come to mind. those one feels ought to know about the emotional moment. those who would otherwise otherwise would share a feast if it was good news. so Karumuna was right. Edson had to know. the two men (now) went to the same class at Primary School. They formed a friendship while still young.
Friendship is a good thing but childhood friendship is better. It is full of love! And as they say, love like rain, does not choose on which grass it falls. Childhood friendships share the most of love. I will one day write about my childhood friend. Pray for me so that I remember to do so soon.
But let give you a snapshot about our childhood friendships. Just a snapshot! Whenever we made friends, we ate food at their home, almost as often as we ate at ours. Their homes were our homes. Somehow, our parents recognised our friendships and approved of them. Somehow, all our siblings became friends of our friends and our families became friends. In instances where our parents were just acquaintances, our friendships made them friends. so our parents would also start visiting each other.
But let me tell you why I wrote today. I wrote to tell you about the burial of a good man. The good man Mzee Eric Kyonyo was a grandfather to karumuna. This man had his house near the staff quaters of the NTC Kakoba. The NTC is now transformed into a University. The man I am talking about was not just a neighbour to the now University but a key stakeholder.
My fondest memories of him were at our church. He had to say something at every sunday service. he spent a long period of time as the head of laity. The small Chapel still stands. it's the chapel of the Good Shepherd in kakoba. he had a specific spot where he sat at church with his also now gone wife. They were both very humble souls. occasionally, he preached. When he preached about love, he shed a tie. He was passionate about the subject of love. love for everyone. If there is anything I remember from his many sermones is the appeal to love and love more. His house was bellow the hills.
I also remember his visit to our home. At one of the visits, he promised my father that he would supply our family with milk for breakfast. And so we received Milk from him every morning. One of his daughters would bring us the milk on her way to work. So we had his milk. the other part of the story is long. I will not say much about it. It's about his way with us as children. Whenever he visited home, we escorted him to his home. He would listen to us. He would tell us about the importance of studying hard, the importance of respecting our teachers. At his home, he would sit us down and pray for us and then we would run back home. He was was a man of strong faith. I think he would sing any runyankole/rukiga hymn without aid of relics.
Now, that is when we were young! Time flies, we felt e had grown up and are no longer children. The good man new this. as is in the Bible , he "talked to us as though we were infants".... He still emphasized the importance of hard work, the importance of friendship, the importance saving, the importance of faith and hope. I worked at Office in the same place I stayed as a young boy. He often called at my office and wished me well. He was a store of wisdom and this I knew from childhood. So I wasted no opportunity. I gathered as much everytime we met. He knew a lot about the land demarcations. a lot about the importance of Land as a capital of production. A Lot about God. So I tapped. Pray for me I become practical with all this I have.
But so he died. And like many other, the killer Cancer took him. He went at 75 years of age. Don't say he was old. Not at all. let me tell you, you may follow an elephant days after its passing by! Mzee Kyonyo is not one to forget fast. he left stamps along his path.
So I nearly missed attending the vigil on my Friday of Travel. this was because two reasons. I had to attend the Uganda Child Cancer Foundation inaugural Childhood Cancer Conference at King's College Buddo. So I tended part of it. I liked their 3C approach. Then I had to drive a long Masaka road and the days of Fika Salama. Apparently I was not stopped at any of the many Police Stops along the way. By the way they use small generators for light at night. I could hear their buzz in the forests.
But wait, I had an encounter that you may find interesting. I drove part of the long route with two boys. They were about 15 and 17. They had received a phone call that thier mother was badly off and so they had to run back home. She had been bed ridden for about 2 years. Now, in our culture, when you receive such a call from home, you prepare for eventualities. i mean the worst news. It could be that...but they caller just wants you get home and get the bad news first had. I dropped them of at Mbirizi after Masaka. God bless their souls.
In Mbarara, I found an old man holding a mat waiting at Kamoomo stage. I enjoy it when I meet an old man and we talk. I engaged him in talk. He is Nathan Mwesigwa from kyagaaju. A surveyor that has been at his profession long enough to write about it. He was at my school in 1959. The man is my OB from Chaapa. The journey was so short. apparently, he was from Kamwenge to nail a good contract. He may have had his faults but his counsel can be taken by his years of stay on earth and work. He said, avoid okuryangatanisa as you work! The man went to school with the likes of Museveni, Prof. Kamuntu, Bashasha Senior and Kekuruuso these are old lads. anyone in our community would know them.
And so we burried Mzee Kyonyo on Sunday and had community with childhood people. We reminded ourselves of all. I met Joseph call him Namanya and Katabaazi.
I prayed for the Soul of a good man and drove my small car back to Kitendde at night.
