Tenets

When the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary in charge of Health Mutahi Kagwe introduced Dr Myriam Sidibe who has a PhD in Public Health focused on hand washing to demonstrate to Kenyans how one should wash their hands, mouths were left open.

How did someone do a full PhD that is focused on hand washing? Worse, it was not from a backstreet University in the dark allies of Nairobi, but the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 The shock and surprise expressed on social media is a pointer that washing hands is something that is never taken seriously. Many times, you see people walk into public restroom and walk out without touching any water, while those who do, most of them simply sprinkle as little water as possible – perhaps a ceremonial washing.

But times have changed.

Covid-19 is reintroducing the world to hand washing, a practice that has been slowly dying. Even for people with means, washing hands is never taken seriously, especially when you consider the immense benefits it would have.

It is estimated that if people were washing hands with running water and soap, infant mortality would possibly be reduced by half. That’s no mean number, for today 800 children die every day due to diseases that have to do with washing hands.

It is said that one factor that saved the world and greatly improved life expectancy is when people learnt to wash their hands. It did not come easy, especially when humans were not aware of the germ theory of disease. One physician and scientist by the name Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis discovered that lives could be saved through washing of hands, but his discovery led to him being rejected by the medical community and his eventual death. Medics couldn’t stand one of their own who said that the reason women were dying after child delivery was because their hands were dirty.

Even current actions betray our little faith in water and soap when it comes to washing hands. People are fighting to get hand sanitizers, when running water and soap could do a better job. We feel like a sanitizer is a superior product.

It is surprising that while for many years, people died of preventable diseases because they did not wash their hands properly. Yet, the secret of handwashing is very open even in the Bible, when people with bodily discharge are advised to “wash his clothes and bathe his body in running water and will become clean.”

I hope that after this pandemic is over, we shall sustain the passion and continue washing hands.

Watch Dr Myriam Sidibe TED talk On Washing Hands

How are we to live in the times of the Corona Virus?

The same way we have lived in the age of road accidents, landslides, mercury in sugar, aflatoxins, HIV, malaria, collapsing classrooms and other day to day disasters that faced us in 2019 and prior.

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the Covid-19 jumped from bats to humans in Wuhan, was manufactured in the lab, or whichever theory of its origin you chose to believe: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways.

If we have had all these other threats over years, why should we be worried of Corona Virus? We already knew that cancer will kill 0.06% of all Kenyans this year, and at worst, Corona would do a similar thing. What I am trying to say here is that your death is certain, only a matter of when.

Therefore, let Corona Virus disease find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. Covid-19 may break our bodies, but it need not dominate our minds.

Adapted from C.S Lewis “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948)

As Kenyans, we have a propensity of solving many things by running. We run to school, run from hunger, run for money and run from responsibilities. We run for offices, run campaigns, run programs and activities at work, and even have national season of running noses. This could explain why running is such an economic activity in Kenya.

But there is a section of Kenya that never runs. There are Kenyans who simply refuse to run for anything. They will leisurely jaywalk across a highway as an 18-wheeler approaches. They confidently walk in the rain without an umbrella because they do not want to break the do-not-run code.

I suspect these are the people who have hidden only one verse in their hearts. Actually, half a verse, Proverbs 28: 1a which says that the wicked run when no one is chasing them. They refuse to run because there is no one chasing them and they are not wicked people.

But I am here not to talk about the running Kenyans and the runless Kenyans, but about running for the Bibleless. On 14^th March 2020, Bible Translation and Literacy has organized the 2020 Run for the Bibleless to support BTL’s work and creating awareness about BTL’s mission of facilitating Bible translation and sustainable literacy among small language groups in Kenya and beyond.

Why it Matters

Why do we need the Bible translated into all the different languages that exist in Kenya? Why can’t all the people just learn some Swahili and the problem will be solved?

The truth is that people need literature in their heart language. It is the language that speaks to their heart, not jut to their mind. This is the reason why people think in one language and speak in another, because their thoughts process better in a certain language.

The language we use also informs other factors. In my home village, speaking Swahili would mark you as a stranger or an outsider, even if you belong. It does not matter that everyone understands Swahili. English would make it worse. People have a language for each context.

This is why we need to ensure that people get the Bible in a language that they are comfortable with. BTL is working to achieve this, and Run for the Bibleless 2020 is aimed at raising money for this course.

Why the Bibleful Should Run

I am urging the Bibleful to run for the Bibleless because it is important, but also because it is good for the Bibleful to run.

As I sit in the office this morning, I am reminded of the million dangers of a sedentary lifestyle that I have been forced to adopt by economic forces. I have daily watched my weight go to undesirable levels as some fats accumulate and the 6 pack disappear into one glorious pack. My weekly walk of 2.15 km carrying a 10 kg kid is becoming unsustainable. My 1.5 km run every day has slowed down to a walk.

But I know that I am not alone. I walk around in Nairobi and see that men lost interest in keeping fit as soon as we stopped relying on hunting and gathering. Even the threat of lifestyle diseases does not move many to action, maybe because there is no set date when the disease will strike.

Perhaps, you can start by planning to participate in the Run for the Bibleless and you will have a reason to run not because someone is chasing after you, but because you are running for your life, and for the eternal life of other people. Let the Bibleful run; for self and for the Bibleless.

How to participate

1. If you can run, register and run.
2. If you can walk, register and walk.
3. If you do not run, register and watch.
4. If you do not want to run, support the course.

We are all on the run.

“You and I hear of sudden deaths and yet we imagine we shall not die suddenly.” – C.H. Spurgeon.

Death by Many Names

There are many euphemisms for death:

To pass away, pass on, lose one’s life, breathe one’s last, meet one’s end, meet one’s death, lay down one’s life, go the way of all flesh, go to one’s last resting place, go to meet one’s maker, cross the great divide, slip away, depart this life, give up the ghost, kick the bucket, croak, buy it, turn up one’s toes, cash in one’s chips, bite the big one, check out, buy the farm, blink for an exceptionally long period…..

Death by Fear of Death

It is ironic that we live life as if death is too far away, yet it is the most certain thing that we are sure will come to us; just a matter of time. It could be tomorrow or 67 years from tomorrow, but death is more certain than taxes.

And the fear of death paralyzes. Although young people may not be worried about dying a slow painful death due to multiple organ failure at the age of 97 years, they are very conscious of the fact that they can die at any moment in a way that they may not anticipate.

It could be a terrorist attack, a blood clot, a road accident, a violent robbery, or even an attack by wild animals. I have seen great people meet their sudden deaths in such incidences. My college classmate was stabbed to death. Two high school classmates have died in the hands of Al Shabaab.  Two primary schoolmates died in an air crash. A close friend in campus perished in a road accident while another dear friend suffered a blood clot and was gone in a short time. I have heard of somebody who was stung to death by bees.

Why we Fear Sudden Death

Even non-sudden death is not amusing. If someone dies at 102 years, we still mourn them and feel the emptiness that comes with it if we were close to them. But a sudden death has zero warnings and hits harder.

We are afraid of what will become of our families. We are worried about how death will occur. We are afraid of so many things. I do not think anybody gets worried about what they will miss once they are gone, but just the emptiness and nothingness of being no more.

As human beings, we are usually not ready for death.

We are also afraid of death because we rarely see death in life. A few years ago, life expectancy was very short and anybody who lived to be 40 years old had witnessed so many deaths. It is estimated that the life expectancy was around 30 years in the year 1800. Today, modern medicine and other factors have made death rare.

Now that You will eventually Die…

You need to make sense of the life that you are living so that when death comes, you will be set. Ask yourself these questions, because tomorrow it might be you.

1. What’s your origin? Understanding how we got here will help us put our life in a way that is consistent with our origin. Were you created by a divine being? Are you a product of a random thoughtless gathering of atoms? Are you a former goat that got a second chance in life?
2. The meaning of life. Where do you derive this from? What’s your purpose here on earth? Are you here to accomplish something, or simply exist with no objective? Do toys, education, and money you acquire in life all work together towards a certain end?
3. What informs your moral values? Is evil, stealing, murder, corruption, and all vices acceptable, or there is a fixed code of conduct that we must adhere to?
4. What is your destiny? When you die, will something follow after that, or you will rot and that will mark a cold end, brutal end?

A thousand Deaths

As Shakespeare said, ‘Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.’ Be brave and ask yourself those questions.

P.S

Do you think chickens have a fear of sudden death?