Vincent Owino

YOU BREATHE FREE OXYGEN, HE DOESN'T!

How much do you pay for the oxygen you breathe? How much does it cost you to stay alive? John Nyakundi’s story is really supposed to bring everyone to the concession of the gift of life that God has bestowed on them. Paying for every last mole of oxygen he breathes, carrying an oxygen tank everywhere, Mr. Nyakundi doesn’t find it so easy staying alive as majority do.

It is shocking how Kenyans have reacted to the story of a man, who carries an oxygen tank to a polling station, to vote, with the hope of making Kenya a better place for him, his family and for every other Kenyan. With a voter turnout of 79%, I am pretty sure there are millions of people who chose not to vote despite being of good health and without any disability. Neigh, blaming them for letting bad leaders take to office won’t do justice to one voter in Dandora Primary School, who despite being dependent on an oxygen tank to breathe, chose to leave his house to choose the leaders who would make this country a better place, for all of us.

Did you know that the only thing Mr. Nyakundi has is hope? Hope that the leaders that his vote elected would change his current situation. Hope that even though he may not really recover, his children would have the best education and secure a brilliant future? Hope that the hospital bills and cost of drugs would become affordable so that people like him can receive the best medication. The hope that through his move, every Kenyan out there, breathing free air, would learn what a privilege they have. It is that hope that got him from his bed, and drove him from his house to go and vote on the 8^th of August 2017. It wasn’t always that way two years ago however. Mr. Nyakundi did fend for himself. He did provide for his family. He took care for every life he brought to this world, and he cared for every other person that God put into his hands. Yea, until he was diagnosed with COPD, that is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Mr. John Nyakundi has six children, five of which are still schooling. One in Kabete Technical Training College, another just finished form four and is soon to join college, another currently in form four, another in class eight and the last in class five. You must be thinking these kids have got sponsors or donors or something. Neigh, they’ve got none of those. They are fully, and I mean fully, dependent on their mother, who earns only from her small business. Who pays the bills in this house? Who pays the rent? Who buys food? Who else would? This is too much on this woman. She has to do all this by herself, since COPD declared her husband bed-ridden. Do you have any idea how much electricity an oxygen cylinder consumes? She has to pay all that bill at the end of the month by herself.

It is Mr. Nyakundi’s first born daughter, Mary Kemunto, that ensures that he stays alive. After finishing her degree in Chuka University last year, she has devoted herself to ensure that her father stays alive. She runs a small business, from which she buys her dad’s drugs and pays for all his medication. Mary realizes the value of her father’s life, and for that, her father has lived to be an inspiration to many, and a living testimony that God is merciful unto men. Kenyans need to ask themselves one question. Do we really think it was an accident that Mr. Nyakundi lived to vote, or that is still alive? No, it is according to God’s divine purpose, so that people like me, and you may realize the value of the oxygen we breathe for free.

Mr. John Nyakundi was such an inspiration to this country, he was such a blessing to this nation, such a direct sermon unto the entire world. I’m not saying he’s the first to walk with an oxygen tank, but I’m saying his determination and hope are unheard of among all who have ever walked with such oxygen tanks. How have Kenyans repaid such a virtue? Sad to say, even after John’s story storming the media, the government hasn’t heard of it yet. The politicians he was so determined to vote for haven’t heard of such a man before. They never read his story on the papers, never even saw it. Every private or public company wishing to give back to the society haven’t heard of this story yet. But I do wonder, how did a ‘githeri man story’ spread so fast, making the man so rich within days? Yet the story of a man in need of help is neglected and seen as less important. No, that is not the Kenya we want. I am not asking for politicians money to satisfy my endless wants, but I am appealing to the masses to have mercy on a patriot, so one day he would say, “How lucky I was to be born a Kenyan”.

Take a minute and think of this for a moment. What if you were to pay for every bit of oxygen you breathe? What if it were you, not John Nyakundi? What would you want others to do for you? How would you want others to view your problem? As less important than the githeriman’s problem? John Nyakundi needs you to do just exactly that; what you would expect others to do for you. We need support, support for John Nyakundi, and for his family. The hashtag is #IStandWithJohnNyakundi. Share and do everything you can to ensure John gets better. M-PESA pay bill number coming soon.