The Shearers worked all day long, for a week or two until all the sheep of our Settlement Scheme had had their annual haircut. Like I mentioned earlier, these young men had amazing skill and speed, they sheared one sheep in a matter of minutes without ever clipping the sheep’s skin. You never saw a sheep bleeding from an injury caused by the shearers. That is how skillful they were.
They also had un-explainable stamina. Consider this for a moment: The Shearers had to hold down each animal with their leg and one arm while the other arm was shearing off the thick matted wool at lightening speed. The animals were struggling to get away the whole time, bleating in the Shearers’ faces and deafening their ears in the process. They also had to flip the animals to gain access to the sheep’s back. They did that all day long for a whole week or two non stop. My entire body aches just thinking about it. But not these young men. They came, they did their perfect job and when they finished, they packed up and left, to come back the next year.
I often wonder about those hardworking young men. Where did they come from? Who taught them their craft? What did they do the rest of the year? It warms my heart when I think of such young talent whose services were so vital to the growth and development of Nyandarua. They may not own huge chunks of land like the landowners they served so diligently, but the advancement of Nyandarua could not have happened without their valuable contribution. Whoever you are, and wherever you are, I salute you because you are my hero.
