#OkoaMombasa Mombasa is my hometown. I spent twelve years of my early life there. Within the 12 year period, we moved residences quite a bit...Changamwe, Port Reitz, Tudor, Bamburi and then Shanzu, by the beach. The one thing that Mombasa was known for then was the unparalleled security and the friendliness of the people. I dont remember my parents asking me to shut the locks at any one time. (not even sure we had any padlock or such, as I think of it now). My two younger brothers attended an exclusively Muslim school for a good number of years. They were the only Christian children in their classes for a while, and no one violated them or made fun of them in any way. They even knew how to say the prayers. My closest friends in primary school were Hindus and Muslims, and we were in a Catholic school and all attended Mass. We also spent a lot of time in each others houses after school and on weekends. I remember, too, my dad inviting his business partners from Germany to come for their annual holidays in Mombasa. They came in a group of about 10 pax one December, and stayed a whole month in one of the beautiful beach hotels. And they kept coming thereafter every year for a long time. When I was about 16, my neighbour, Angela, and I would go down for our morning jog and swim at the beach alone at 6 am. This is the Mombasa I know, but is now no more, and we are all worse for it, whatever religion, race or tribe we come from. If there is any way we will redeem it, we have to remember the unifying factors between us, come together and take a stand to protect this beautiful city that means so much for Kenya in terms of revenue, beauty, culture and history. It wont come easy, but it can be made a lot easier if we support the efforts to restore peace, and if we as individuals begin to play our part in propagating peace and unity in our speech and our actions. And finally, let us pray...all of us, like we used to in the old Mombasa.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 04:52:59 +0000
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