Kenyan kogo

The elderly people of Kenya never cease to amaze me. Many I have met in the community of Mlango have exceeded the average life expectancy of 60 years. They are always quick to smile broadly when we meet. Their faces light up with gratitude for another day of life as we exchange a handshake and the common Kalenjin word of greeting – chamgei.

Our outreach team from the Open Arms village church visited an interesting 100 year old woman recently. She is the kogo (grandmother) to one of our church members. Her mind was very sharp as she told us the history of her house, which she had lived in her entire life, and family. Her parents took up residence in the small round building during the colonial times when the area was occupied by the British. The unusual roof was our first clue of the house’s age. It was made from the metal of oil drums. An addition had been built onto the main structure when the family grew. The unattached traditional kitchen was near the addition. A fresh coat of mud plaster and paint on the exterior disguised the true age of the building.

We had visited an old man (mzee) a few weeks prior in the area, and quickly learned that he was the kogo’s brother. Many of the people we visited in that neighborhood were family members. The mzee had four wives and 35 children. His first wife was still alive at the age of 104!

The old woman occupied most of her day by keeping her hands busy with a local craft of decorating gourds for storing milk. We were impressed with her ability to string the small beads and attach them to the sides of the hollowed gourds. She told us her eyesight was failing, but it was evidently keen enough to continue a craft she had learned in her youth.

The kogo freely gave advice to Paul when he accompanied me on a return visit. Paul speaks the local dialect of the Kalenjin people. He told me later that she told him to be careful when making decisions. She explained her words of advice with a personal story of selling a parcel of land to a man several years ago. The land had a very special (ritual) tree on it that was used by the local community for important gatherings. It served as the Roman Catholic church as well as the place where many disputes were settled.  One day the new owner decided to clear the land for planting crops. He did not consult anyone before cutting down the sacred tree, and was chastised heavily for removing it. When he died, the wood from that tree was used to cook food for the guests at his funeral.

I encouraged the kogo to have someone write down her stories. The history in her memory needed to be recorded. We were delighted to learn that her daughter was already compiling a book for the family.