Five minutes after the tears dried up and yes, sense finally prevailed- I prayed earnestly. I had been praying the whole night and throughout the morning and with all that was cutting it was inevitable... The time was 11:30AM. A disheveled little matatu appeared out of the corner of my eye and I knew I did not have the luxury to assess its "condition"... I jumped in and sat next to a mother and her child- me and my huge black paperbag and my backpack, relieved I prayed that I would be in town before I knew it...
Five minutes later, the matatu driver pulled up to a stop so the driver would have some 'miwa' (sugarcane) and when he had finally picked the sweetest bunch (apparently he had the time to vet them) we set off again. This is where the story becomes sweetest- pun intended; just a few miles up the road a cop pulled us over- the charge, "Eating and Driving", "Driving under the Influence of sugar", "Being Sugar High", beats me! What was supposed to be a two minute stop turned into five and restless I got off the darned thing hoping to hitch a ride from a private car.
As it turns out, the driver and his conductor were on their way back, on seeing me standing there outside the matatu- the guy had the nerve to engage me in what I can only call a "normal exchange of words"- The Ranting Stranded Commuter and the Arrogant Public Service Vehicle Operator. Whatever happened to civilisation? Anyway, after the insults were hastily exchanged, and the passengers duly came to my defence, we got back on the road. The time was 12noon, the bus to Kigali, Rwanda would leave at 1PM and I was decidedly two hours away, possibly three. What to do?
Fifteen minutes later, as we neared the Airport junction at KAPA, we heard a loud "something". The sound of something coming loose, something banging against the rear of the matatu but strangely we were still going- u can exhale... It was not an accident, thankfully nothing that catastrophic; just a suitcase that had been tied on the rooftop coming off the fastening and falling off and onto the road... U can laugh out loud now.... It turned out that the poor owner of the stuff that now lay strewn on the road for all to see belonged to the mother and child in the seat next to me.At that moment it hit me- that could have easily been me, that could have been my whole collection right there!
Disgruntled and pissed she pushed past me muttering under her breathe that she had to endure the rare dehumanizing event of having to pick up her underwear off the highway!! And at that moment I gladly gave her way, me and my huge luggage, picked my phone and intended to call my mother to let it reep when, what do you know, she called me... She had arranged for a cab to pick me at the South C junction just before we got into town and she would pay the bill. Oh My God, Thank You. And so it was that a difficult day was suddenly made easier by my caring and supportive mother! I love you MUM and by the way, I dedicated this collection to my mother.
The time was 12:30 when I finally got into the cab and made the trip to Campus to pack my bags and leave for the bus stop. It was sooo funny coz I had to stuff clothes into my suitcase right off the lines as other students were coming from class for lunch break and I headed towards the cab in the opposite direction. Some stared quizzically, but those who knew me were like, "just another day on the hustle". In a way, i felt like the poor mother and her child; struggling to maintain a sense of dignity and decorum as things went topsy turvy. As the story goes, I had to endure several other trying events along the journey but I must say that at 1PM, the sympathetic cab driver delivered me safely and in one piece to the bus stop at Kampala Coach where I caught the bus to Kigali that very day, the 17th of May 2011.
After a 24hour road trip during which I crossed two borders and toured three countries; Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, I managed to showcase my Earth and Vanilla collection at the Rwanda Fashion Festival the very next day to a cheering crowd. It was like that proverbial 'Light at the end of the Tunnel'. I must say that this was my first trip out of the country and I hope it will not be the last, in fact I must do it again before the year's end- that is of course minus the drama... However several things stood out for me on this trip.
Had I given up at the bus stop at Athi River, this small town gal with big time goals would never had been featured in an article in the Daily Nation a month later thanks to the trip to Kigali. Had I stopped when the lights went out, I wouldn't have toured three countries and enjoyed the company of some of the most entertaining and warm people I have ever met. Had I gotten off the bus or the matatu (like I had wanted to a million times in the course of that trip) then I wouldn't have anything to write about. I guess the moral of the story is that folks- no matter how hard the ride gets, no matter how trying- picture the success you hope to achieve and keep going... DON"T GET OFF THE BUS.
This is for all those Hustlers out there who like me, come from humble backgrounds and may have more obstacles than they care to count. Use what you have, hang in there, never loose sight of the mission or the vision and yes- laugh in the face of drama- HAHAHA!!!
You may follow this link to view designs I showcased at the Rwanda Fashion Festival 2011;
http://www.facebook.com/pages/EnV-by-Nkatha/157520514288893
