In response to Samuel’s post informing us of the passing on of KBW member, Kachumabri (author of the blog Kenyan Villager) and on behalf of the Kenyan Blog Webring (KBW) we extend our heartfelt condolences to Kachumbari’s family and friends.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Samuel, Kachumbari’s ‘cousin, best friend and confidant’ for informing the blogging community of Kachumbari’s demise. We recognise that writing a post of this nature is no easy feat and we are extremely grateful that in spite of the difficulties Samuel was able to piece together a highly informative post.
Kachumbari joined KBW in February 2006 but his blog had been in existence for at least a month before. His entry of January 13, 2006 entitled Karibuni Shaggs (trans. Welcome to the Village) aside from giving some insight into the man behind the blog, established Kachumbari as one of the few bloggers blogging from a Kenyan village. His unique perspective did not go unnoticed and in March 2006 his blog was featured in a Daily Nation article on Kenyan Bloggers. In his inimitable style, Kachumbari cited the frequent use of newspapers ‘to wrap meat at the butchers’ and the fact that ‘some villages see only the Sunday paper, the Kiswahili one- Taifa Jumapili’ as part of the reason why it took him almost two months to obtain a copy of the article.
Along with snippets of life in rural Kenya, Kachumbari’s positive outlook is perhaps what drew people to his blog. In his own words:
I love the village and I have no intention of leaving….Life here is great- full of adventure…… You are welcome to shere [sic] in the fun…
And we did share in the fun.
Initially it was just Kenyans, but after the BBC quoted his expression of gratitude and joy at being able to buy a colour TV in time for the World Cup, villagers and city dwellers from all over the world ‘joined the adventure’
We feel that in the seven months that Kachumbari was a blogger he achieved a lot He educated us on issues such as the sale of goats, he reminded us that despite the hardships of day-to-day life we should remain positive, through his sudden departure he highlighted the importance of having what one blogger referred to as a blog-contingency plan and life insurance. Most importantly he accomplished what he set out to do and that was to ensure that the people of Ol-Joro O’rok village remain relevant in this fast moving world.
Samuel has announced plans to delete the blog within a month’s time and we urge those who have not yet done so to visit Kenyan Villager and read his posts and to also leave words of encouragement for his family and friends.
Gone for now but forever a member of the KBW family, Kachumbari’s presence shall be missed.
yeah came in as a shoker to all of us and for real his presence is arleady been felt.
soldier on, though we must as we are just going through this place.
This is indeed sad. I really enjoyed reading his blog and Kachumbari will surely be missed.
Rest in Peace and may God put your family at ease during this difficult time.
Thank you for the memoriam. I am sure it was very hard for your to write.
We pray that Kachumbari will be remembered for all the positve things he did and that his family will regain a measure of peace soon.
May God rest him in peace.
Such an insightful blogger. His is gone but his words remain, they live on to inform our collective experience.
He gave us incredible insight into his part of the world and treated his readers with utmost respect. Until I read this post today, I was still hoping that the first was not true. Rest In Peace Kachumbari.
[...] First and foremost, my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Kenyan Villager who passed away just recently. Rest in Peace. [...]
I would just like to add my own message of sympathy for the family and friends of a very talented and most likeable young man. I enjoyed reading his blog and was constantly amazed at the freshness of his ideas.
It is really sad that he is no more. It is also a pity that the blog will be removed in a month’s time and forever locked away somewhere out there. I guess that this is the way things are done. Works of art should be preserved.
They say that the good die young…..my bald patch shines brightest when I hear this….. The gifted and enterprising Kachumbari leaves a huge gap in blog-city. Perhaps we must call upon fresh young bloggers with interesting and entertaining ideas to come forth and take on this mantle of a fine young man.
Your ideas will live on boss!
[...] This is probably the second time the African blogosphere loses one of its own. Last August, Kachumbari, a Kenyan village blogger, was killed in a car accident in Nairobi, Kenya. Kachumbari started to blog in January 2006 and quickly added a rare voice in the African blogosphere, that of an African villager. According to a post in his memory on Kenya Unlimited site, his work did not go unnoticed. His blog was featured in the Daily Nation of Kenya in March, 2006 and on BBC in June, 2006: Kachumbari joined KBW in February 2006 but his blog had been in existence for at least a month before. His entry of January 13, 2006 entitled Karibuni Shaggs (trans. Welcome to the Village) aside from giving some insight into the man behind the blog, established Kachumbari as one of the few bloggers blogging from a Kenyan village. His unique perspective did not go unnoticed and in March 2006 his blog was featured in a Daily Nation article on Kenyan Bloggers. In his inimitable style, Kachumbari cited the frequent use of newspapers ‘to wrap meat at the butchers’ and the fact that ‘some villages see only the Sunday paper, the Kiswahili one- Taifa Jumapili’ as part of the reason why it took him almost two months to obtain a copy of the article. steve sharra [...]
[...] Huzuni. Mwanablogu Mangaliso Jere wa Malawi ametutoka kama Kachumbari, mwanakijiji aliyekuwa akiblogu nchini Kenya, alivyotutoka mwaka jana. Ni huzuni. Bonyeza hapa usome habari hii. [...]
[...] some sad times, in August we learnt that Kachumbari author of Kenyan Villager had passed on. As the tribute to Kachumbari on KenyaUnlimited reads, “Gone for now but forever a member of the KBW family, Kachumbari’s presence shall be [...]
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