Tragic End To New Year Celebration
The imbibing of intoxicating liquor for pleasure, is a pastime that has opened the door to many sad events and ruined lives. Holidays are a favourite excuse for inebriation and it was the New Year that occasioned the events laid out below, when a late night reveller, his judgement impaired by local brew, came to an untimely end when a large truck hit him and left him dead at the scene.
Death is never a pleasant sight, but when we see it on a dark road in the small hours it takes on a new meaning. The ugly horror of the wages of sin lies unmasked. The tragedy of drunkenness cannot be denied.
The stark reality of how insignificant and powerless we are, and how easily reduced to a lifeless tangle of broken limbs, speaks to us as no sermon ever could. The following is a report I was asked to make to the local police post, me being the one who reported the matter. I thought it might interest the reader, being as it were, just a small part of life on the field.
On Thursday 02/01/03 at around 3.20 am I was called by my watchman to go and pick a seriously ill man. I immediately went to the assistance of the sick person and found him on the road to the clinic with his wife accompanying him. The man was another of my askaris, Mr. Stephen Mutisya. I then proceeded to Mwingi hospital with the patient, accompanied by his neighbour, and another of my watchmen, Mr. Philip Musyoki.
At around 3.55 am I had reached the bridge just before Mwania on the tarmac road. Upon coming round the left hand bend onto the bridge, I noticed a dark shape on the road, on my side. Thinking at first it was a large animal, I swerved to avoid it. As I proceeded on my way I kept thinking that the colour and texture of what I saw was not that of an animal and the opinion that it was a body fastened itself upon my mind. My watchman did not recognise it as a body but said he thought he saw something black as we passed. I was delayed in Mwingi for around one hour and on my return journey I determined to identify the form on the road. By the time I reached the bridge again it was around 5.45am, perhaps a little more. Approaching slowly I came to what I now could see was the body of a man. Stopping close to the body, by the lights of my vehicle I could see it was lying stomach down, facing toward Nguni and the head turned to the left. The left arm came up to partly cover the face as in a sleeping position. The right arm was either very close to the body or else underneath it. The upper legs were drawn up almost at right angles to the torso with the lower part of the limbs bent downward from the knees. I could see no visible injury.
He was clothed in shirt and trousers of a blue colour as far as I could see with the sandals lying a few metres away. I did not leave my vehicle to make a detailed examination but I noted from the open eyes that the person was almost certainly dead.
I proceeded to Nguni police post to report the matter and I invited the constable to examine my vehicle for damage. I was very well received and was told that there was no problem and that the police vehicle would go and pick the body. This is my recollection of the events of that morning, described as accurately as I recall.
Over the past months, Irene has mastered the laptop. This has brought a tremendous change in my work. I can now prepare a magazine from day to day, and have copy ready before I come home, or alternatively send it home if needs be, ready for the printer.
Circulars, letters etc. for F.A.M.E. work in Kenya, can now be sent out in readable format, which surely must be a big improvement to those who receive them!!!
Sincerely Yours,
Alan Dunlop, (Director, Fame)