A Night to Remember
Apr 28, 2022
First story
I grew up in a village in Kenya. I didn't have many amenitiessuch as indoor plumbing, electricity, a fridge or paved roads. My village was really dusty and when it rained all the roads turned to muddy slosh. Many times I read and did my homework by candlelight. One rainy night I was reading by candle light and fell asleep. I suddenly woke up and my bedside table was on fire with flames shooting high. In a panic, I grabbed my blanket, and attempted to put the flames out. I was successful, and that was when the writer in me was born. I started dreaming of a different life and what I could do to achieve it.
My story A Night to Remember is about an unfortunate experience when I got to America.
Even though I lacked electricity and didn't have entertainment such as music or television, I had access to books and I read and read. I improved my English and grammar and in high school was selected to be an exchange student to Oregon, USA, where I now live.
In 2015, a team of volunteers and I went to my village and distributed 30,000 books to 30+ local schools so they could start their own school libraries. This was a collaboration with my local Rotary Club.
I now give back to my village by setting up a community center (www.VillageCommunityDevelopment.org) where community members can gather, a community library, a community kitchen and a sewing project. We will be building a pre-school this year when I go in March 2018.
I believe books, reading and writing can change the world- They changed my life!
Wambui Machua
Chef/Owner
Spice of Africa
