THIS IS WHO I AM

By Patience Gacheri - is a final year Bachelor of Education English and Literature student at Daystar University.

 “I hate the way I speak, mum.” Makena mumbles despondently while

woundedly staring at the far-off alluring amber horizon, oblivious of the radiant golden hour sun beckoning her to feel its embrace on her adorable face. “Everyone laughed at me when I read a passage in front of the whole class. They keep saying that I have a stupid accent. Why am I the only one who has it? Everyone else speaks good English. No one sounds like me. Mum, am I stupid?” She now turns to her mother as she wipes the tears with the back of her small hands. Nkatha looks at her with soothing eyes, caresses her soft cheeks and lets out a small, sad sigh. She takes her hand and guides her to the edge of the neatly-made panel bed. They sit side by side.

“Who do you know that speaks like you?” Nkatha gently nudges her daughter, who in turn holds out her small fingers to count, “You, Papa, and aunt Nkirote.” Nkatha nods, “Is any of us stupid?” Wide-eyed, as if taken aback by the question, she almost shouts, “No!” “Why would you then think you are stupid?” Nkatha rebukes softly, “You speak like us and not them because that is simply who you are, Makena. Our way of speaking is unique to us because we are part of a community with a unique language. Our accent is a tell-tale that we are Ameru. It reveals your origin, where you are from. To have an accent does not mean you are stupid, Makena. It means that you are adapting to a new language that you were not speaking before. For some of us, it may take some time to speak English the way we are taught in school, and that is okay because learning is an ongoing process, and you are still learning. Don’t be ashamed of it. Embrace your accent proudly like me and Papa, even as you keep practicing your English. You will speak good English someday, you will see. No one should make you feel bad about the way you speak my dear child. We all start somewhere, okay Makena?”

“Will you help me practice speaking good English, mum?” She asks innocently. “However long it takes, Make,” Nkatha promises as she fondly hugs her. “Mum, look! The ice cream has melted.” They both giggle.