Br. John

               Br. Leonard tells great stories about this man and I entirely agree with him, “usimuone John hivi hivi tu, jamaa anafanya mambo makubwa”. It is true that more often than not, what is contained in a book is hardly reflected on the cover!   During one of a short stayed at St. Bridget centre, I was fascinated by his disguised knowledge about vehicles – our poverty.  In fact it leaves me wondering how much more brain power is not yet exploited. There used to be a Toyota land cruiser at the centre that boasted antiquity. Its fatigued metals creakingly made a perfect choir as it moved. As I sat there with Br. John, I made a mechanical layman’s comment, “ah, hii gari ni nzee sana” and John couldn’t stand that empty talk. He went ahead to explain in a detailed manner how and why that vehicle should not be classified as an old and worthless thing. I was surprised at his knowledge of cars and I couldn’t help asking how it is that he knows so much. He simply says, “hii gari ninaijua, engine yake nanaibomoa yote”. Here I am standing by a man who intensely knows that engine of a car while I personally can’t change a tyre. Looking at him, the deepest your eyes can go is the cloths and perhaps the skin colour yet beneath lies a great deal of brain power.