Meet Mama Night
Where does one begin to describe a life well lived and condense it into a neat paragraph without doing injustice to it. Our mum or as she was popularly known among her friends and peers "Mama Night" was an industrious and generous woman. She touched many lives when she was alive and taking care of her family was her number one priority.
Since her first shop in Homa-Bay town "Mama Night Boutique" her door was always open to anyone who needed food, shelter and a place to get their lives together. She never hesitated in bringing anyone home who she thought could have a better chance under her care despite her own struggle to see her own children get the life she had always dreamed for them. Giving came so naturally for her, almost effortlessly. In that shop she transformed many lives by teaching them tailoring and dressmaking. She would often repeat phrases like “if ever we part ways in good or bad terms I would still want you to be able to take care of yourself”.
She did not get the highest education she would have loved to, but she vowed to put all her children through school - Education mattered to her! And boy did she have many children, she took in as many orphans at any given time as she could and would ask our dad to help put them through school or help in getting them jobs while he was still working as an Accountant and treasurer at the local town and municipal council. Mum was known for the love of her livestock and domestic animals, she loved them so much that it was not uncommon for her to give them names such as Apala, Diboo, Jessica, and lately Nan. She raised school fees and money for her urgent needs from the products of these beloved animals.
When her last born was done with high school and she was ready to leave the city and retire to the farm, she said good bye to her many friends and that was the last that she would see some of them alive. But her nature was such that when she herself was unable to attend their memorial she would send an emissary and instill in us the importance of building relationships and their value. This has overwhelmed the family as people have turned up in great numbers to show their support and their appreciation.
She was loving, compassionate, kind, generous, brave, and strong. She fought the good fight, and that is how we will remember her.