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Amaziahs diary


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August 13th 1895Dear diary,

Im Amaziah and Im from Kenya. Today the Mzungu have arrived on our land. At first the elders saw somethingapproaching our lands from the ocean. Everyone then started gathering around the dock to see what it was about. I am

only ten so I sat on my papas shoulder to see pass the others. As they approached us, the elders said that they were white

men, who we call the Mzungu. I asked papa who the white men were but he just simply shook his head and told me to goinside our small house. I came into the house and saw mama cooking. I asked her who the white men were but she told

me to be quiet and go into my room. I looked at my baby sister as she stared worriedly at me. She asked me what washappening and I just shrugged and went to sleep.

I woke up to the sound of noises outside my room. Mama and papa were fighting. I pressed my ear to the old woodendoor. I heard them talking about whether or not to trust the Mzungus. I walked outside of the bedroom while they werearguing. When they saw me approaching they told me to get changed for a tribe meeting.

I wore the traditional clothing that mama has set while I slept. Since I am a boy, I sat in the front with the other boyswhilst the girls sat at the back. This is because the elders believed that boys were stronger than girls and had to protect

the opposite gender.

The Mazungu talked in a weird language and I didnt understand a thing. They seemed nice though.


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August 17th 1896Dear diary,

Today the Mzungus were planning to build a railway from Kenya to Uganda. Papa said that the only reason theybuilt a railway for us is because they wanted to exploit our resources and protect the source of the river Nile a life line ofEgypt. They even brought the Indian slaves to build the railway. I felt really bad for the Indians but I didnt really

know what to do. I was just 11 years old! They would kill me for sure! I wonder why the Mzungus came here. They were

cruel to some people but they were never cruel to me, mainly because papa forbade me to go outside. Hopefully thisrailway will help improve Kenya in some way.

March 2nd 1920Dear diary,

Today our Kenya has changed into Kenya colony by the British. I am not proud of this name that they named our

country. I am a married man with a wife and 2 daughters. I took over papas job being a merchant. After the Mzungus

took over, our economy has improved. This is because they brought new things for us merchants to trade. I stillstrongly dislike them because they took over the farmers land and banned the farmers from growing profitable crops so

its hard to sell anything cultural anymore. It sickens me of what may happen to my two beautiful daughters if we donot gain our independence back. A few years ago, the British turned cruel and started the abuses to us. They raped

women, castrated men, tortured everyone who tried to go against them and gave us cruel punishments even if we didnt

something slightly wrong. My sister joined a protest group established by Harry Thuku called the East Africa


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Association. Two dozen protesters were killed by the Colonial police. That day my sister did not came home and weknew that she was one in the two dozen that were killed. Mama was crying so hard that night grieving over the loss of

my sister and so was I.

April 26th 1952-1960Dear diary,

Since the East Africa Association, many protesters tried to kick the Mzungus out. This led to a war called the Mau

Mau war. In this war, hundreds ofKikuyu loyalists who refused to take the oath were killed. My family did not getinvolved in this war so we stayed quite safe. Several years ago, while I was walking around to go to my farmer friends

farm land a few Mzungus followed me and asked me about the Mau-Mau rebellion. I refused any knowledge of thembut they still tortured me by clipping my ears. That was the worst day of my life. That was the day when I told myselfto never ever go anywhere far again. Back to the Mau-Mau war, several Mzungus and the members of the police force

were killed while thousands of natives were killed. The head of the Mau Mau group, Dedan Kimathi was executed in

1957. A lot has happened over the years, the abuses increased since they were part of a campaign of torture by theMzungus to suppress the Mau-Mau uprising. Even if we denied that we didnt know anything about the Mau-mau

uprising, they still tortured us anyways. My family and I decided to stay low and keep selling and trading things sothat they didnt torture our family. I really hope that we will gain our independence soon.


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12th December 1963Dear diary,Today must have been the happiest day of my life from the start. We Kenyans have gained our independence back!

Jomo Kenyatta one of the Natives born in the Kikuyu tribe, came back from his studies as the leader of KANU (KenyaAfrican National Union). He led the movement for independence of Kenya. Even though Kenyatta was arrested in1952 on the charges of being a member of a radical anti-colonial movement, he got released in 1961 and got elected asthe first prime minister and president. I respect this man very much.What the Mzungus did shaped Kenya to be a country that it is now, but they were simply too cruel to us which madetheir colonization have a negative impact to us. They improved our economy drastically and I wouldnt probably haveenough money to feed my children if it wasnt for them, but they killed so many innocent natives that everyone lostrespect for them.I am glad that my children and grandchildren do not need to be aware of everything in every seconds of their lifeanymore. I hope that my grandchildren will keep using this diary so this can be our family diary. This may be thelast entry in this diary since my death bed is waiting for me. I hope that Kenya will have a bright future and bestronger from this horrible experience.

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