Then we had to attend the school assembly every Friday and that meant we hoisted the flag and sang our beautiful national anthem in Swahili. Lord help us all, but we sang our hearts out:
The National Anthem in Swahili:
Ee Mungu nguvu yetu Ilete baraka kwetu Haki iwe ngao na mlinzi Natukae na undugu Amani na uhuru Raha tupate na ustawi.
Our National Anthem in 1970 something OlKalou Swahili:
Ee Mugu guvu yetu, Irete mbalaka kwetu, Haki iwe gao na mrinzi, natukae na udugu amani na uhulu, laha tupate na ustawi.
The National Anthem in English:
O God of all creation Bless this our land and nation Justice be our shield and defender May we dwell in unity Peace and liberty Plenty be found within our borders.
Our National Anthem in 1970 something OlKalou English:
O Gond of arr cleation, bress this our rand and nation, justice mbe our shierd and ndefeder, may we ndwerr in unity peace and rimberty, prenty mbe foud within our mbonders
I do not mean any disrespect to our beautiful national anthem or the teachers who taught us, but that was our reality back in the day. English was just being introduced to us and we had not heard it spoken anywhere else. There was no radio or TV in most of our homes and there were no English speakers in our midst.
That is why I applaud the teachers, with their limited English exposure themselves, taking raw Kikuyu speakers and training them in two foreign languages. It is a miracle that we learnt any of those languages at all, with all the odds that were stacked against us.
But, here we are today. I am one of those wide eyed kids of the 1970s, singing our hearts out during school parade, the cold OlKalou breeze turning our breath misty, making us appear like we were smoking, as we Kikuyunized our National Anthem to its very last word.
