Command the rich people of this world not to be arrogant nor put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.[1]Thank you so much St. Paul for those wonderful and life-nourishing words of wisdom. Now let me take it from there.
When I think of living examples of those lines I have quoted above, the first people who pop up in my mind are Mr. & Mrs. Moore - a wonderful couple who hail from the bountiful U.S. state of Indiana. I got to know and meet them during my high school years at Starehe Boys' Centre where they taught me in junior high school. Mr. Moore taught me History while Mrs. Moore taught me English.
Although I was never a star student in their classes, the Moores inspired me to learn more with their dedication and creativity. They went out of their way to give us files for arranging our papers and expanded our knowledge beyond what was required of us in the curriculum. Mr. Moore, for instance, had us know that Guglielmo Marconi was the inventor of the radio. And that 50% of the world's wealth is in the United States. (I am not sure if that's still the case given the recent rise of India, Brazil and China as world powers.) If my memory serves me well, I also recall hearing that Mr. Moore was a schoolmate of Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon.
That the Moores cared deeply about our education was revealed in the way they invited a senior staff member of Starehe called Mr. Kennedy Hongo to one of their classes to lecture us on the dangers and spread of HIV/AIDS. I enjoyed listening to Mr. Hongo; his lecture probably explains why I have refrained from engaging in pre-marital sex. And going by the HIV test I took last year, I am thankfully glad to report that I am negative in so far as having that deadly virus is concerned.
Not only did I appreciate the Moores for the dedication in teaching but also for their unending generosity. They used to lend me newspapers when I was in Form 2. The newspapers made me stay abreast of what was happening in Iraq during the Gulf War 2 that was engendered by the Bush administration following the infamous 9/11 attacks. And my education at Starehe, as I have pointed out in the caption of the photo above, was sponsored by the Moore Foundation. Actually, it's their son - Mr. Mark Moore - who sponsored me under the umbrella of the foundation.
We, the Moore Foundation fellows, were always treated to special dinners and trips. We feasted on sumptuous dishes at the school canteen on special occasions, went golfing at 5-star hotels and toured the Nairobi National Museum. A generous couple the Moores were.
I will never forget the Saturday afternoon in 2003 or 2004 when the Moores took us to an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi called Village Market where we played bowling, a game I never knew about before. That afternoon, I found bowling to be fun. Unhappily, I have never had another opportunity to play bowling since then.
By taking us to such plush places, the Moores must have been trying to show us that there was another side of life besides the poverty we were used to. But that's a lesson that never hit home in me in those days.
I have kept in touch with the Moores over the years, including at one time when I begged fees for my university education from them, a request they turned down. And I was a bit saddened when Mrs. Moore informed me that Mr. Moore passed away on 22nd May of 2016.
For some reasons, Mrs. Moore has tactfully refused to share with me the contacts of Mr. Mark Moore, her step-son who I have already told you sponsored my education at Starehe. Maybe she fears I might pester him with pleas for financial help. But I want to let her know, if she's reading this story of mine, that I have matured up; I no longer nag people for help and I nowadays don't dish out contacts of important people in my life to friends and strangers alike.
All told, the Moores were a truly generous couple, willing to share their wealth and knowledge with children of humble backgrounds. They were the kind of people St. Paul would describe to have taken hold of the life that is truly life. I thank God for having let them cross my life. And I have resolved that should I ever get a chance to visit the United States, the most successful nation in history and the land of my heroes, I will have to drop by their home in Indiana to catch up. So help me God.
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[1] Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society. All rights reserved worldwide.