Patrick’s Story

Patrick is the Kumuka Mechanic and Truck Driver  on our overland journey and is a delightful man who I connected with right away.  Born in a village called Ulawe (Western Kenya) around Lake Victoria he hails from a family of six, 5 boys and 1 girl and is the baby in the bunch. 

His family was poor and his father did small scale farming that just sufficed to feed the family.  His family’s economic situation meant he was only able to complete a primary education but he was determined this would not hold him back from realising his dream of becoming a mechanic.

Patrick lived with his family till he was 19 before one of his older brothers encouraged him to move to Nairobi.  A big city in Africa often offers more prospects and job opportunities but there are inherent risks with making such a move.  Patrick gets lucky and finds work on a construction site where he works for a year and a half before he gets an apprenticeship in a local garage.  Patrick is finally on the road to pursuing and achieving his dream of becoming a mechanic. 

A year and a half passes before his brother persuades him to return home and meet a local girl from his village who his family have picked as his prospective bride.  Patrick is 23 years old and feels he is too young and financially unprepared for the challenge of supporting a wife.  However, his brother is persuasive and he returns home to meet this young lady.  She was just 18 at the time!

Patrick meets Monica and they form a mutual agreement to get marred after she completes her education.  A year later they are married but Patrick is still completing his mechanic apprenticeship and is on a very low wage.  Monica however, is determined to follow him to the big city and they go back to Nairobi together. 

Those first years of marriage couldn’t have been easy but Patrick is a man on a mission with a dream to pursue.  He completes his apprenticeship and find work servicing cars for a car hire company.  He stays with the car hire company for 6 years, gaining invaluable experience before landing a job with Game Trekkers.  He is at Game Trekkers for 9 years before he is hired by Kumuka.  After a stint in their workshop his manager suggests he starts driving the overland trucks. 

Excited by the prospect of a new challenge Patrick agrees.  He starts off doing small 3 day trips in Kenya but his excellent performance sees him promoted to longer and more exciting adventures.  Trips such as 3 weeks exploring Kenya and Tanzania eventually prepare him for his promotion in 2006 to overland truck driver on the long distance 3 month journeys that explore 8 countries!  Patrick has certainly come a long way from his humble beginnings in a little village in Western Kenya. 

Patrick tells me he loves his job because it enables him to interact with people he might otherwise never have an opportunity to meet.  He loves making new friends and cherishes the chance to see and observe how other African countries are faring.  Many of his passengers are Aussies and he wonders if he will be able to visit the country that so many of his overlanders hail from, so he in turn can learn something about a faraway land.  He tells me he is always learning something new on his travels and would be quite happy to continue in this line of work till he retires.  He is 51 years old. 

While the work can be tiring at times Patrick enjoys doing his part on the overland adventure trail.  The longest drive he does covers 700 km, which in Africa can take almost 13 hours including pit stops.  What has surprised many of us is that even on those days when we have started the day at 5 in the morning and not stopped till 5 in the evening, Patrick is still so cheerful with no visible signs of tiredness.  There are compensations on the  month trips such as the long breaks in Victoria Falls which gives him a chance to have a sleep-in and enjoy a good breakfast.  I have on occasion cooked Patrick a good bacon and eggs brekkie which he has definitely enjoyed.  He is appreciative of little things such as this and will often reciprocate the favour when I need a hand with something myself! 

Patrick confesses he was initially worried that his lack of education would prevent him from advancing in life.  He was determined to overcome the trap of poverty he was born in and ensure his own children would be given a good education, ensuring they would never be faced with the hardships of poverty he himself experienced.  His face lights up as he tells me about his first born, a daughter who has already completed her University Degree and is currently teaching High School.  She plans to apply for her Masters Degree in the near future which for him is a dream come true!  He hopes this daughter will be an example to her younger siblings as well as her cousins, ensuring they too pursue an education which in Kenya is a guarantee to a secure future and a meal on the table.

Patrick tells me his dream in life was to be a role mode to his extended family and his community.  He wanted to demonstrate that one is able to pull oneself out of poverty and provide a secure future for your children.  He is proud of what he has achieved given his humble beginnings and lack of education and hopes the future generations in his family will go on to achieve bigger and better things.

I am truly astounded by the people I have met on this journey and the stories they have shared.  People who began with so little and yet were determined that would not hold them back.  I think back to the generation of kids growing up in the city I have left behind and wonder if these kids who have been given everything in life will find such determination to achieve their own goals.  I wonder if they will ever realise how hard it is for the rest of the world and realise how truly fortunate they are.  I think a gap year for kids completing high school should be a compulsory part of their education, enabling them to experience the world before buckling down for more study.

Patrick tells me that while he has shared parts of his life with other passengers before, this is the first time he has sat down with someone who has wished to document his story.  He is overjoyed and touched and tells me to carry on with my ‘spirit’ and continue my dream of writing stories.  He says he has appreciated having me on the trip, the little chats we’ve had at dinner and the laughter along the way.  So have I Patrick…keep trucking mate and thanks for sitting behind the wheel and bringing us safely across Africa on all those long distance journeys!!

 There is deep wisdom within our very flesh, if we can only come to our senses and feel it.  ~Elizabeth A. Behnke