The Winding Roads of Meru

The sun hadn’t risen, but it lit the back of the mountain, its rays overflowing on either side. The rooster stretched his neck and let out a loud reverberating kukoriko!  

Grandma, an old, round, happy woman stood at the door of her house gazing at the mountain and its dawning beauty, smiling. She always woke up before the sun peeked over Mount Kenya.

Soon all her rambunctious grandchildren would be up.  She had whipped up a breakfast feast for them.  

The table was overflowing with yummy food: bread, jam, margarine, sweet potatoes, arrowroots, bananas, boiled maize, and of course tea and hot chocolate. 

Grandma called out to the kids, “Kimathi, Mutugi, Kendi, and Makena, breakfast is ready!” 

Shortly after, Kimathi was stirring sugar into his cup of tea, Mutugi and Kendi blew into their hot mugs of chocolate, Makena carefully buttered a slice of bread. All this activity put a huge smile on grandma’s face. 

“Grandma, what will you teach us about the Meru people today?” Kendi asked. 

“Well, how about you tell me about the nine constituencies of Meru?” she responded warmly, pouring hot chocolate from one cup to another to cool it. 

“I don’t remember them all, but I can try. Hmmm… Let’s see, Buuri,” Kendi began.  

“Yes,” nodded Grandma.  

“Tigania and Imenti,” Kendi continued.  

“Go on,” said Grandma.  

“And the last one I remember is the Igembe,” laughed Kendi counting on her fingers.  

“Very good. There are more, but that was a good try,” said Grandma, handing her granddaughter the cooled mug of hot chocolate. 

“Your turn Mutugi, do you know where the name ‘Meru’ came from?” Grandmother asked. 

“You told us that the Maasai people gave that name to people who didn’t know how to speak their Maa language,” he said shyly.  

“Exactly. Meru is also the name of the forests around us” Grandma continued, peeling the tough dark dotted skin off an arrowroot.  

“How about me grandma, I have something to say about the Meru,” Kimathi said excitedly. Grandma laughed at his enthusiasm and pointed to him to speak. 

“Before the game parks were established, elephants, rhinos, cheetahs, lions, and zebras roamed freely through the forests. You had to be careful as you walked through the highlands because who knows there might be one of these animals out for a walk too. Incredible right?” Kimathi narrated. 

“I only see zebras sometimes. Where did all the animals go to grandma?” Makena asked. All the grandchildren looked to the head of the table waiting for Grandma’s answer, but she smiled slyly. 

“There is a big conservancy called Lewa. Do you know it?” Grandma asked avoiding the question. 

“Yes, we all went for the “Run in the Wild” marathon last year,” said Kendi.  

“Oh, that’s good because the conservancy raises money to make sure people, animals and the environment live safely together.  

“The animals stay in the parks mostly,” Grandma finally answered.  

A sigh of relief flowed through her grandchildren. Grandma laughed at their reaction.  

“There is nothing to fear in Meru County, children. Only keep an eye out on the curvy, windy roads,” she told them, but Mutugi did not seem convinced.    

Once breakfast was over and the dishes were washed, grandma called the children to look at her photo album from her younger days as a young girl. 

She pointed to a photo and proceeded to explain, “This was the first time we had missionaries here, they wanted to build a school.  The Meru and Maasai elders came to listen and see what the missionaries were planning.”  

“But there are no women in this photo,” Kendi noted. 

“Oh yes. It was the village elders and their apprentices who were in the photo. My father was a village elder and that is why I have this photo,” she said pointing to a man with a very interesting stick. 

“I just remembered a painting I got at the market last week,” Grandma said, reaching out to the drawer next to her and pulling out a parcel wrapped in brown. 

Grandma unwrapped the painting to reveal a group of people in Meru traditional dress, some carrying food, others carrying little children. Behind a bush, a buffalo and its babies graze peacefully in the forest meadow. 

“Mutugi, this is how peacefully animals and people lived together over here. So do not be scared.”  

She continued, “These curvy windy roads in the painting are the same as the road from here to the market. I loved going to the market with my friends,” Grandma said, running her hand over the painting as she remembered her younger days.