The Hunt

So in being back, I carry with me lessons, not learnt mostly.

But first got to point that running a blog is turning out to be as hard for me as keeping a journal was. Though, when i think about it the blog has been run a little better than the diary. Its true especially since the month of January, 2006 in my Journal half empty. Maybe it is just not my thing!

So, I am done with the crucial part of Law School and now i am on the home stretch. I just need to do my pupillage and i can get that title, Advocate. I wonder if this entry falls under the advertising and touting rule?! Anyway, i got to find out that the plan sounds much easier than it really is.

On my pupillage hunt I have learnt that:
1. who you know matters!
2. Very few, if not none at all, read CVs
3. People fear the untried
4. When desperate, you will be taken advantage of.
5. A title does not make a person any cleverer!
6. I like this profession (yes, it is what i said)
7. Strangers are your best bet
8. Men in a profession are just men in suits

The list continues as i continue searching for the perfect place for me.

Before i forget, the most important thing to learn for all those pupillage hunters is that its not easy, somebody will stuff your CVS in some drawer or maybe use it as the rough copy paper but, there is one curious person somewhere who wants to humour you and call you for that interview!

Oh yes the most important, learning to run the photocopier is just another office management lesson so take it in good stride.

Happy hunting! No matter how bad remember, its only for six months and you are home dry!

mistakes

Are we judged on the good we have done or the mistakes we have made?

You know it is said that a life is really not lived untill there are mistakes on its path.

The one thing i discovered about mistakes is that I can make it with the best of them and even an epiphany of the bad ending is no deterrent.

Here I am not talking about the small mistakes but the huge ones that qualify as the IT, the i am done for the year kind!

Do I now feel like I have truly lived?

It would reduce the headaches if the answer was 'YES' but sadly no!

I have now become one of the haunted, a seeker waiting for what karma decides is my penance.

So does the good we do alleviate the pain we cause to ourselves and others with our mistakes?

My prayer is that it eventually does.

So my penance continues and my promise to do better next time, stands.

Of Martha's walk..

You know, there is only one soap opera on television that will constantly have twists and unexpected turns, Kenyan politics.

So the iron lady of Kenyan politics, Martha Karua, quit the other day, just tendered her resignation and did her press conference ( you know how they do it in politico land) and she was done with the coalition government. I have to admit I am one of those people who are skeptical about the integrity of such actions but I am also an admirer, to an extent, of such a bold action!

We had a lecture by the one Tom Namwamba the other day, and he was telling us of the many people in governments who are frustrated by the inaction on policies and the immense corruption but at the same time, these persons are unwilling to quit because they are unsure of whether they will make it into government again!

So when I look at what Martha Karua has done you have to give her some credit. She got frustrated and left. I mean we might all debate the motives behind her actions or even whether it is an intelligent move or not, but the fact remains she actually quit! She did not stay in government then spent her time lynching it in public. I am so tired of politicians and ministers at that, crying of how the government is doing nothing for the people, it is not respectful of 'mavericks' and it is corrupt; excuse me....YOU ARE THE GOVERNMENT!

If anything Martha just gave Kenyan politics a drop of credibility!

I went for a training programme the other day on sexual and health rights and one of the trainers a PHD holder in sexuality mentioned a headline in one of the Kenyan newspapers in the lines of ' Martha is the only man in politics'. He was of the opinion that that was a demeaning and the most gender insensitive statement to make.

But is it? I mean i get the gender insensitive part, equating the strength to a form of male behavior and not just giving due to a strong woman. I get that! But lets stop reacting for a moment here and just look at what the statement means in the political environment we are in.

So is Martha the only man in politics?

Well there is Mungatana! i am not his biggest fun but I respect loyalty. So Mungatana, thank you for standing up for your political ally,by action.