Celebrating Kiambu heroes JEREMY DAMARIS (MC wa Nguvu) For a young Jeremy, growing up in a poor single mother led household in Ngegu, Kiambu County, life didn’t offer much promise beyond completing primary school and working in coffee plantations where his mom, aunties, uncles and grandfather worked as labourers. That environment made a young Jeremy lose interest in studying while in primary school but not out of stupidity. He never aspired to be anything in future after school, but one thing he told her mom was he wanted to be a pastor. After completing primary school, Jeremy never imagined enrolling for high school but his mom surprised him by getting him a place at Kiambu Township Secondary School. This terrified him as he could barely construct an English sentence and he had heard people spoke in English in high school. Still he did get admitted in 2000 and with that, broke a family tradition of never getting to high school. Though the school was able to provide uniform, Jeremy’s mom could not afford proper shoes for him. The shoes available to him were high heeled ladies shoes that made him a laughing stock by other students. “I didn’t know they were ladies shoes, so it didn’t bother me” Jeremy remembers, as he never wore any in primary school. He wore them in Form 1 and partly Form 2. Even then studies were of little interest to Jeremy until one day it rained so heavily. As he watched rains pound, he remembered his mom who worked in coffee plantations and wept bitterly at her agony. In those plantations workers were not allowed to have umbrellas or shelter from rain or you would lose your job. His mom’s sacrifices made Jeremy purpose to commit himself to studies. He realized the reason why his mom worked in those plantations to get fees was so, he would not have to work in them. By studying hard he was able to improve on his from number 20 in previous term to 3. His desire to pastor in ACK or PCEA came alive. Teachers took notice of his improvement and in Form 2 towards the end he was made the head boy second only to the school captain. That required he get proper men’s shoes a Swahili teacher Mrs. Obiero summoned him and asked why he wore them. Jeremy explained he had no other pair but sports shoes that the school never allows to be won. “It was then I realized it was ladies shoes,” Jeremy told Kikuyu Musicians. By then the heel was won out and shoe twisted. To polish it, black Jeremy crushed old torch batteries and mixed the black with paraffin and applied it. Out of compassion Mrs Obiero bought him a new pair of shoes. However lack of school fees meant Jeremy was constantly being expelled. But the headmaster always explained to him first that he didn’t expel him because he desired it but due to regulations. He encouraged Jeremy and tell him he would be a great man in future in vein of other church leaders then like prominent persons who had difficult starts in life. This spurred Jeremy to an extent that in 2003 he led in KCSE results at the school by scoring a B+. The grade was a first even for the high school. Completing high school was bitter sweet experience for him as his prospects in life darkened. His mom could only afford to pay for him a driving course or a computer packages but not college and neither appealed to Jeremy. He had wanted to study to be a teacher. She gave up convincing him and told him to fend for himself. As 4 brothers they lived in a single room with his mom and as he never wished to be a burden, he moved out in 2004 to fend for himself. Jeremy got a job hawking cakes in paper bags and walking long distances. He hired a bicycle for Sh40 to make his work easier in distributing. One day he cycled from Kiambu town to Ngomongo, Githurai, Kahawa West and back to Kiambu in a bid to sell. Of all that effort, he sold only one cake for sh25 which meant he had earned a commission of sh2. When he got back home with remaining 24 untouched packets he was so emotionally broken he never went back to the cake company. He also had a debt of the guy who hired the bicycle to him. His mother borrowed money and he bought him a bicycle. With that he got another job in another company, facilitated by GP husband to Shiro wa GP of agiginyani fame who also sold cakes from a bicycle. In the new company commissions were better and he got Sh5 per cake. He also desired to record an album so he did a fundraising in his village for that. But the person he appointed as treasurer was a Pastor who after receiving the money disappeared never to be seen again. This caused the whole village to perceive Jeremy as a con as he never recorded or proceeded to college. In the process of selling cakes he met a lady who offered to fund his recording out of pity. He released his first album “aruto a Jesus” (Jesus disciples). It only sold 50 cassettes and in frustration Jeremy burnt all the 1000 album sleeves he had printed. Then as selling the cakes had low returns of around sh50 in a day Jeremy quit and got another job of selling sodas from a rickshaw (mkokoteni). There was a sure salary of Sh4000 monthly and this appealed to him. However, pulling mkokoteni with 20 crates of sodas while selling them around Kiambu town proved even more taxing. First he had to eat breakfast worth Sh50 to be ready yet by 11am he would be starving to death. In a month he found he at times spent Sh3000 food or more than he earned. “It was a loss making job and was penniless,” said Jeremy. The insults he suffered while pulling mkokoteni on the road from motorists and touts inspired a song “nikuri mwihoko” there is hope. “I cried as I sang the song,” remembers Jeremy. He got money to record and planned the album launch in 2008. From the launch he got Sh20, 000 and quit the soda job to focus on hawking the album. At any day he would never give the impression he was selling CDs to avoid first time rejection. Instead he would wear a suit and stash 10CDs in the pocket and knock around homes or approach strangers. That way, when approaching a potential buyer he engaged them in a conversation first not giving the impression he sold anything. As he remembers that was when his MC skills began to develop due to his convincing nature. In 3 months, he sold 1000 CDs. Yet they were never promoted or played on any Kikuyu radio station. He hawked them in Ikinu, Githunguri, Ndumberi and Kiambu town. In one of the CD selling jaunts in 2008 he met a man who asked him to sing at his wedding. Jeremy insisted he be invited as an MC as he was the better than the one who had been asked. “Yet I had never been an MC but I was convinced I’d do it,” said Jeremy. He was invited to a pre-wedding for raising funds where he did an exemplary job. For the job he charged 2500 half of what the other MC charged and he got the job and other 3 people took his contacts. The wedding was attended by prominent personalities including Joseph Kamaru’s wife who was so impressed with Jeremy’s clean language MC style that later that evening she got him another job. That got him other wedding MC gigs that paid Sh2000 to 3000. “But they were scarce and I lacked money,” said Jeremy. To supplement his income he was forced to get a job at the coffee plantation in 2008 as the CDs were selling slowly and he had exhausted his market. He was also catering as well for his siblings. At the plantation he worked from 6am to 2pm. The work entailed uprooting coffee stumps, spraying, irrigating and weeding. He hated the job and constantly prayed to God to get him out of there after few months. The work was so difficult that he asked for a job as a watchman as he deemed it less torturous because watchman at times slept and he got it. The pay was sh4000 and it was then that he prayed to God to get him out of the dust. He used to tell his fellow workers who scorned him, that one day they will see him in his car driving and testify of God’s goodness. Then in those plantations he got a song “ Mwaka uyu Ngai niekudathima” in 2009. Fellow watchman got jealous of him and he was shifted back to working in the coffee plantations. His job now entailed uprooting coffee stumps and his arms developed boils due to that. The coffee plantation was sold to another company and Jeremy was among those affected by downsizing in April 2010. “I lifted my arms and thanked God,” he said. Shortly after he got a teaching job due to his good KCSE grades teaching a small private academy. He was to teach English from Class 4 to 8 yet he had no clue on teaching or where to start but God gave him wisdom. His arms still with boils he kept concealed when interacting with kids as he felt embarrassed. On his 3rd day on the job he got promoted as the headmaster and was given an office. “Yet a week earlier I was uprooting coffee stumps,” said Jeremy. People who had scorned him in the coffee plantation started hearing he was now a headmaster and began to see the hand of God in Jeremy’s life. He worked for 2 terms but by 3rd term the school owner began to develop romantic interest in Jeremy. When he failed to reciprocate her advances he was fired under other pretences and he went back to hawking his CDs and being an MC in late 2011. From savings he had, in 2012, he started a small hotel in Ngegu where he sold Chapatis, fries Tea and Mandazis early last year (2012). He also sold charcoal which he did during the week when he wasn’t MCing. The hotel flourished and shortly after, 4 women started selling charcoal next to him at lower prices. Others also began selling fries he was left without customers. However from July 2012 floodgates of MCing jobs began coming in a way he had never experienced before. So much so that he was able to earn enough to get a car worth over Sh600,000 and move his wife to a better home. He afterwards bought land in Juja and built a 4 room house for his mom and for the first time she never had to live in a rented home. With more opportunities his fee rose from Sh5000 to Sh20,000. “I forgot to sing and concentrated on MCing. From making Sh4000 in the coffee plantations he now made Sh20, 000 a weekend. In one of those events he MCeed, he caught the eye of one of Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign strategist who invited him for a meeting. “Here I was thinking I was stuck MCing weddings and album launches,” said Jeremy. He was so head over heels; he didn’t ask how much he would earn in advance. The whole of January, Jeremy was part of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign in Central Kenya and daily earned Sh40,000 and his accommodation and food were catered for. The great lesson he has learned is to never compromise on his love for GOD and thank Him regardless of the circumstances. Sufferings Jeremy has gone through have inspired him to start Jeremy Damaris foundation that educates children of poor single moms. So far it had 10 kids and he aims to have 300 in five years time. “I want to be a ladder to someone else achieving his dreams to the glory of God,” said Jeremy. Jeremy and his wife have since relocated to Birmingham Alabama where he continues with his MC work and spreading the gospel. His songs are available in music shops in the country. https://m.facebook/jeremy.damaris
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 08:24:07 +0000
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