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The Tyre Gang

(All photos courtesy of google)



If you were to ask me what I remember about my childhood, I would draw a blank. There was so much that happened in my childhood I would not know where to start from; my first crush, my love for video games, the games I played, the people I disturbed, the friends I had, the places we lived, how we lived, how I performed in class, my dreams…I mean I can go on and on and on. We all had or have a childhood (Some are still sweet 16) and we all had our moments of joy, pain and tantrums (I have not heard any good reports from my mom) but one thing I loved was pushing tires across the estate.

As a group of friends we would find old tires that used to be thrown away without the rims. If it was muddy or dirty, we would wash it and push them outside the house. It might sound silly, but we would push them in line like a motorcade. The person upfront would have the smallest tire, while the person at the back would have the largest (Preferably a tractor tire).

Our estate, Msaponi Court, Sector One-Komarock Nairobi, was divided into five. The major road leading in the estate with four corners leading to more houses. Two after the front gate and two at the back gate. We would start in the middle and make sure we covered all the four corners. At times people would stop, marvel and look at us pushing the tires with great enthusiasm and happiness. We would then ‘park’ our tires and engage in other games. Later we would all ‘drive’ home and meet the following day for another ‘road trip’. Of course because of the dust we would always get dirty around our hands and abdominal area, but we always had fun. Whenever we got home from school, we would change our clothes and be on the ‘road’.



I would actually still push a tire today, but it would be so lonely. Back then we were a ‘Tire Gang’. It was comforting to know there some crazy people like you pushing tires together. I miss that.

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