Twenty Years of Leaving

Rafael met Zacharia while sourcing for inspiring stories to blog about. Zach as we will call him can sing and really dance. But what is it about him that is inspiring? He has lived for twenty of his thirty years independently, despite having both parents alive. His journey started twenty years ago when his dad brought home a step mother who proved to be unkind to him and just like that he vanished from home never to be seen again! Today he is a dad of two living his and singing his way into the future with a strong will and a dedicated poise. Though here and there he makes for jokes and comedy.

Zach, entered into the streets a posh cultured boy, with manners and boundaries. He was only running away from a cruel strange woman but little did he know it was a transition from the pan into the fire. He met the cruel world; where sleeping was usually under drainage trenches and hunger was the norm. "At least the cruel woman his dad had brought home, would feed him..." he would often recall, as hunger ate his inner man. He joined street gangs and learnt survival mechanisms like selling discarded scrap metal, thanks to his will to survive. Within no time he was employed as an errand boy in the nearby market where he would hawk stuff for other traders in exchange for a small fee. Things seemed to have worked out, ...as in Mrs. step mother from hell was no longer on his neck and he was his own man getting his own money. But he would occasionally fight in street fights as he learned the hard way to build own empire.

Fast forward to eight years later and he was able to rent his own cheap room. He says, "I was so excited to rent that I wasn't even able to wait until I could buy household items! I moved in as soon as I was sure I could pay rent every consecutive month. With time though I upgraded from sleeping on carton box to a mattress and eventually the room stopped appearing like and looked like an actual home!" It was at this point that he decided to hit the dating scene. He could pay rent and was rich enough to buy house hold items so he decided, a woman to warm the sheets would be the next step. One fine afternoon while enjoying sports competition organized for the neighborhood schoolkids, he spotted his soulmate; a young damsel in mid teenage years. He chased her down like any man could and she left school for him. They co-habited for a whole four years and even managed a baby girl without the authorities poking noses into their humble abode. But nothing lasts forever. They parted ways! He led a single life for another six years putting his things in place having learnt a lot from the first marriage.

One day having been lucky to get a single mother to send him to an errand, he met and introduced himself to the woman's daughter and they just kinda kicked. She liked him as a reflex to her mother's trust in him and he used this as lee way to charm his way up her skirt. She is pregnant today and he is hopeful that it would be a boy, though he wouldn't mind if he gets a girl or even twins. He is just grateful that he is still fertile and luck still sends fertile ladies his way.

He however insisted that I do not miss to mention his musical talent, as it is all that he channels his energies into. His journey in music hasn't been a rosy one. Cons have fled with his money, others have produced content for him that he isn't proud of while the rest gave him fake promises. He is not demoralized. In fact he is more motivated than ever. I had him launch his YouTube channel Zacharia Ochieng before this blog and with the help of a cyber café manager I know, he got to upload his first YouTube video which was phone recorded. Due to his financial and social background he is not very literate but he knows a few moves as concerns computers and YouTubing, but that is a s far as he can go.

His advice to kids living with horrible horrible Lady Tremaine from hell is "Please, Don't you dare give up!" His word of encouragement to street families, "Start small! You too can make it because I did!" He also has message for budding musicians and it is, "Sacrifice in self is key to success!