Wanyoike

The year is 2009.I needed to learn how to drive with confidence and I need to learn fast. The last time I had touched the steering of a car was about 6 months earlier, the day I did my driving test. That was quiet a stressful day for me. I was eight months pregnant and I had decided to take the BCE license. I left a record at that driving school. They had not seen a student so advanced in pregnancy get up a lorry. But again they did not know me and the determination I had.

Let’s just say learning to drive at that point in my life was an emergency. I needed to know how to drive and get a driving license before I become a mother. And so there I was. The cops who were carrying out the test kept asking me “Mama haungegoja?” I didn’t care one bit. So I passed the test and  got the license and then later the following month delivered beautiful baby Wanja.

Then the car was brought home by my good friend Muchai a few months later. I couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Moreover the roads in our neighborhood were quiet narrow. I did not have the courage to drive on my own, I needed help. Then I had to travel to Nyeri to see my folks and attend an old friend’s wedding and I didn’t know what to do. I called ‘someone” for their outlook on my quagmire and they come up with a brilliant solution- hire his driver.

And so we called Wanyoike who was available for the road trip to Nyeri.  Wanyoike is a lanky Kikuyu fellow. The fast talking type. He has been a driver for several years and so he knew roads and stories to keep us entertained. My nephew was amused with him. Wanyoike had driven me on occasions before and though he was a good driver I couldn’t stand one unfortunate trait he had “stinking feet”. Gee they stunk enough to turn the dead in their graves”. So I told his employer to kindly take care of that. And hooray he came with open shoes.

So off to Nyeri, we got there safely. With my young daughter in the arms of my mother, I was determined to learn how to drive .Off we went. In the meandering and steep hills of Nyeri I learnt the difference between manual and power steering. I learnt how to listen to the car changing gears and what different sounds meant. And that it made no sense at all to accelerate when driving down hill or negotiating a corner. He taught me the importance of looking at the fuel gauge before I went anywhere.

And no, I have never understood the intricacies of wiring, of shock absorbers, brake pads, gear oil, springs blah blah blah. That’s not my thing. I let the experts deal with that. My interest was to learn how to drive safely and able to get myself from point A to B. To take care of emergencies, work, visiting and all. I did learn and though I have had my small share of accidents which have been due to my negligence or lack of it, I will always be eternally grateful to Wanyoike. For him it was a job to earn an extra coin for me it was a do or die situation.

Thank you Wanyoike, you have no idea how important those lessons were.  Am sure you forgot ever teaching anyone how to drive. I will never forget learning how to drive.

Sojourner,

Everyone you meet in your life has a purpose, look for it.