THINGS THAT I NEVER LEARNT

      

In my entire life I have learnt, discovered and done a lot of things. I have met a lot of people, gone places and made friends. I appreciate that in life one gains a lot as dictated by the environment. For example we went to school and learnt a lot of things – how to read and write, how to count numbers, art and music, and also many other complex things like calculus, laplace transforms and Fourier series. This was all in the name of education.

Then came in a whole new angle in the name of technology. We were introduced to the computers, mobile telephony and the dotcom era. We were told that ICT, or simply put new technology, is the way to do business. We went to industry and got firsthand experience of all this as we shaped our skills in the process. We also learnt new habits and interacted with different cultures.

Back in the day we were also taught to cook, till the farm and plant crops. We learnt how to look after livestock, and care for our younger siblings. We learnt sheng and Kiswahili alongside vernacular languages and became fluent in it with time. We played many games in the hood and made friends from neighboring hoods. These were the so called extra-curricular or informal education. It helped us discover ourselves and shape our individual character to become who we are now.

In short I have learnt many things and the list is endless. I have impacted upon others and them upon me.

However there are a few things that I never learnt or got used to in life. I remember I used to have problems with my mother regarding not making my bed first thing in the morning – that has not changed. I still walk out of my bed and start doing other things without caring to make it. I have problems up to now remembering that one uses a nail cutter to cut their nails and not biting them off. I also don’t have a liking for brooms and mops. I have never known how to tie my tie or cook a meal of chapatti the same way even if I try it one hundred times.

There are a couple of two other not very desirable habits that I cannot mention here and which have refused to go away no matter what.

From my honest point of view I can simply say that this is just who I am. I believe all of us have something to tell about who they are.