Francis Oundo Guy-Never-Die-Lumbe –Born –For Trouble

In 1990 we moved to our home in Westlands, on church road, for those of you who are familiar with area. This was the home that my father had bought in the late sixties. He told us years later that the home was originally owned by the colonialist settlers and this guy (let’s call him Frank because I do not remember his name) had taken a liking to my father and really wanted dad to buy the house. So dad had two options, to either purchase the home in westlands or a home in Lavington. Needless to say, dad settled for the home in Westlands at the price of Kshs. 160,000 (can you believe it!)and in 1990 we moved in. I understand that Kshs. 160,000 was a lot of money those days. I loved the place and that is where I grew up. I was 7/8 at the time and this was every child’s dream. There were trees to climb, fruit trees to pick fruit from, and just green land to play on.

Enter: Francis Oundo Guy-Never-Die-Lumbe –Born –For Trouble. Francis was originally hired as our gardener. He was 24 when he was hired. Turns out that Francis was more than a gardener. For those of you who know me, you know that my first 8 years of primary education was in the Kenyan 8-4-4 system. The 8-4-4- system was something else… (That story is for another day)… Anyway, Francis ended up being my “bestest” friend. He taught me how to ride a bike, did my woodwork and metalwork homework (8-4-4!), cried with me when I fell down from the trees, taught me how to make homemade firecrackers and light them when people were passing by to scare the hell out of them! So much fun!

He was our “gardener”, (and I put gardener in quotes because he became part of our family) for 11 years. He was quite a character. He is a Luhya but raised in the Luo region of Kenya. He was very particular about everything he did. He had a bicycle(black mamba) that had a Mercedes emblem on it and he would occasionally wear a suit to work even though he was a gardener. Francis had pride, or rather a self confidence fitting for him. Francis Oundo Guy-Never-Die-Lumbe –Born –For Trouble was his self attributed nickname. I thought and still think it was hilarious because it gave him character.

I chose to write this article because Francis was a significant part of my early childhood years. His sincerity and kindness overwhelm me in a good way and through the years I have learnt that people like him are very rare.

So, to all my “shamba boys”, gardeners, helpers, workers, drivers, Mingi Luv. I also want to acknowledge akina Ruth’s helper, Ndegwa, and akina Marions driver, Wanyoike.

Take care folks,
Mboone.