Macho nne: Kenyans wore thick, black bifocals

Back in the day, eyeglasses were for Kenyans with real eye problems, that earned them the nickname, macho nne Photo: Courtesy

Eyeglasses have come a long way. While it has become fashionable for people with even ‘small eye problems’ to sport trendy eyeglasses that make them look more intelligent than they really are, back in the day, eyeglasses were for Kenyans with real eye problems, that earned them the nickname, macho nne.

The assumption that eyeglasses were for school brain boxes were out of the un-researched fact that most ‘choppies’ in school somehow, wore eyeglasses. And while today there are clinics with free eye check-up all over town, it wasn’t always that way.

Nairobians preferred (and still do) the famous eye unit of the PCEA Kikuyu Hospital. Opened in 1975, it was a collaborative effort between the hospital and Germany’s Christoffel Bliden Mission, an NGO.

The problem with eyeglasses back in the day was that the wearer had to contend with what were then bifocals: “eyeglasses with two distinct optical powers.” Commonly prescribed to people with presbyopia, corrective myopia or hyperopia, these unfashionable bifocals were horn-rimmed and black in colour.

You couldn’t tell whether someone was seeing anything behind what appeared like cut-offs from the bottom of a thick whisky tumbler!