Wives, village life isn’t bad, it’s just different

By NIKKO TANUI

KENYA: Once a woman has tasted urban life, she would rather die a pauper in town than a queen in the village.  Woe unto a man who lives in a town and for one reason or another decides to relocate to the village with his family. Most wives often insist that the man goes to the village alone.

By now, I bet that some friends and readers are rolling their eyes thinking that once again in 2014, I’m making unnecessary noise. But hold on a minute! Did you hear or read about the woman who committed suicide in Kisumu County just because her husband wanted to take her to his rural home?

Reports indicated that while her husband was waiting for her to board a boda boda to the bus stage, the deceased woman from Chiga Estate on the outskirts of Kisumu town, jumped into a 100-foot borehole to avoid travelling to the village.

Neighbours claimed the deceased did not want to go upcountry claiming that being the man’s young wife, she was meant to live and enjoy life in town. However, when her husband insisted that she had to attend a family meeting in the village, she opted to take her own life.

How tragic! Women love urban life to a point they cannot stomach going to the village — even for a day. Jeez!

The aforementioned woman is not alone. There are other thousands who grumbled all the way to the village for Christmas festivities.

 “Watu wanaenda Mombasa Kujienjoy, wewe unataka twende mashambani pahali  hata hakuna stima au maji ya mfereji. Unataka kinitesa tu (people are going to Mombasa to enjoy themselves, and you want us to go to the countryside where there isn’t electricity or tap water. You just want to punish me),” that was one of my friends wife whining as  he was taking them to his rural home in Kericho County.  And that is the difference between a man and a woman. To a man the village life is not a prison sentence. The village is a serene place to relax and gather one’s wits away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

And this is something someone has to tell our women that village life is not as bad as it sounds.

Let me tell you something, dear sisters; a woman who can easily adopt to both urban and rural life will have a ring slipped on her finger ahead of any other gorgeous ‘peacock’ around town. He will love her for the rest of his life. 

Simply put, no loving woman should make it a big deal to accompany her man to the village.

For one, it would be good experience, especially for the children to have a chance to meet their kin in the village. And learn one or two things from their grandparents, uncles, aunts and the lot. Village life is not that bad, it’s just different.