After a busy and exhausting day at the office, I made my way to the bus stop to catch my bus home. After waiting a few minutes, I spotted my bus and made my way to it relieved that I didn’t have to wait too long to get home. I stood at the door of the bus having given way for a woman carrying a baby. From where I stood, she seemed to be having a discussion with the conductor about the destination of the bus as she was vigorously gesturing and pointing. Satisfied with the conductor’s response, she entered the bus and took her seat. I remember she smiled at me and truth be told, I didn’t respond. I had had a long day and I didn’t see what there was to smile about.
I took my seat and lost myself in thoughts of a hot bath, a cap of tea and an early night. I didn’t even read the book I had been carting around for two days, I was that tired. It wasn’t until I was half way home where buses going to their various destinations part that suddenly the bus was filled with noise. Worried that perhaps something was amiss on the road ahead, we all craned our necks to see what was up. The woman with the baby was almost on her feet obviously agitated and violently gesturing, all this directed at said conductor. It took us all a minute to realize that this lady was trying to say something, except she was deaf!
That was when I realized that the gesturing she had been doing at the door of the bus was in fact her way of asking which why the bus was going. The thing about public transport in Nairobi is that buses using the same numbers sometimes ply two different routes and for you to know which way they are going the conductor, while hanging precariously out the door or window, points in the general direction he is going for the passenger to know.
In this case however, when the lady pointed in the general direction of her destination, the conductor either out of ignorance or malice, nodded so she assumed he understood.
On hearing the noise that had engulfed the bus the driver stopped the bus assuming that someone wanted to get off. In a country that is still ethnically polarized after the disputed general election, almost every one on that bus came together in one voice for her and scolded the conductor for his mistake and before long he looked like a little boy who had been caught stealing. The poor lady was so agitated that it took three women to calm her down and somehow explain to her that the conductor would take her back and make sure that she got onto the right bus without charging her again.
I was amazed at how quick we all were to come to her aid and the aid of those who are unable to do so for themselves. It was also a harsh reminder of how unfriendly our society is to those living with challenges. I thought of all those people out there who didn’t have anyone to help them. I thought of how many buildings and establishments are there are out there that are not ‘handicap-friendly’ or those that try to be and do a bad job. Haven’t you ever seen those buildings that have ramps that are so steep you don’t know how anyone in a wheel chair is expected to use it.
In retrospect, I was sick with guilt over how I responded, or really not, to her smile. I realized that that is the only message that she can ever share that anyone anywhere in the world would understand without needing further explanation. And so as my stop neared, I made my way to the front of the bus and before I got off, I looked her in the eye and I smiled at her. The thing is she understood me immediately.
