Pregnant drama on the way to Western Kenya

Jacinta decided to make an impromptu trip to her rural home, where she hoped to deliver her baby.
It was an old family tradition, where an experienced family midwife attended to members of her family whenever a newborn was to join the family.

She was at the famous Machakos ‘Airport’—the country bus terminus in Nairobi—bright and early, at 7:oo am, in time to board an equally colorful bus, bound for Western Kenya. Shortly after, full-to-capacity bus set off. ‘Phew, I’m glad we didn’t have to wait for long before take-off,’ she thought to herself.

Being a city-girl and used to driving herself around, her patience was severely tested and tried by the very slow pace of the bus. For one, this vehicle was like a lift in a high rise city office building which stops at every floor. The driver would not skip a single bus stop. These stops became frustrating and terribly annoying to Jacinta and other passengers headed to the ultimate destination more than 300km away. At this rate, she estimated, they would arrive at midnight.

One stop in particular took a whole half hour—or at least it seemed so to Jacinta — as the alighting passenger had furniture for luggage which had been tightly fastened atop the bus carrier.

When one woman vocalized her impatience, the man shouted, ‘Kama una haraka, piga ripoti kwa Hague (if you’re in a hurry, report to The Hague).

Knowing no human would come to her aid, Jacinta got out her daily spiritual devotional guide book and tried as hard as she could to plug into a divine mindset in search of comfort and reassurance.

But then there was her seatmate who was carrying a cockerel that made irritating low clucking noises. Jacinta stared at the cockerel menacingly, to no effect. She could not tell the chicken to shut up, could she? She had to persevere. She got herself back to the devotional book. She was uncomfortable and could use some fresh air, especially because she held her breath as much as possible to avoid inhaling flu or come other virus from the poultry passenger next to her. Occasionally this passenger would sneeze and cough and she was worried that bird flu could be the cause.

It would have been bearable if the bus had air conditioning or if her fellow passengers who sat by windows would have them open.

She wondered why passengers who did not need fresh air sat next to windows but insisted on having them shut.

Then there was the loud music which the conductor seemed to be really enjoying. He gyrated to the beats even as he collected the fare, thoroughly immersing himself in fun.

Looking at her watch, she calculated that they still had about five more hours of travel; or six, if they continued stopping everywhere. Whenever the bus stopped, passengers would buy every edible thing presented to them by hawkers through the windows—sausages, roast maize, oranges, cakes, soda, you name it. The smell of the food, mixed with that of diesel made Jacinta’s stomach turn. In her heart she prayed, ‘Lord, please see me through this, don’t let me throw up!’

When she could not take it anymore, she decided it was time for some drama. Standing up, she held her stomach and bellowed, ‘woi Nyasaye, mtoto wangu… (Oh God, my baby..,).

It was a scene straight from Afrocinema. Her neighbors screamed so loud that the driver stopped the bus. ‘Anazaa!’ (she’s giving birth!) one man exclaimed, his tone tinged with panic.

You would have thought there was a bomb, with some passengers scampering as far from her as possible, probably fearing being called upon to perform some midwifery tasks.

The women around Jacinta helped get her out of the bus, lay her on some grass by the roadside and gave her tips on how to relax. Fifteen minutes later, they cautiously helped her back into the bus.

‘Please, the radio,’ she said in a groan. No sooner had she mentioned the radio than all passengers demanded that the driver replaces the loud assault with soft and low hymnal lyrics or shuts it down altogether. The bus conductor, now noticing the cockerel, said “Ondoa huyo kuku karibu na yeye” (remove the cockerel from her neighborhood); and he proceeded to get the poultry passenger another seat away from Jacinta.

Now she had a whole seat to herself and direct access to the window.  She opened it and drew a breath of fresh air as the bus journeyed again. For the rest of the journey, the driver seemed to be in a hurry —maybe fearing she could still deliver in his bus. She experienced moments of bliss with no unnecessary bus stops made. The drama was worth it after all.

END:PG39/28