It had been three months since the last time I heard Om Sagda’s screams. I marked those empty days on the calendar.

You grow up in this interior village in Kakamega, and the only time you hear the word coffee is when you’re playing the rope game of tea and coffee. Two girls swing the rope on each side, singing in Swahili: between tea and coffee which one do you choose?And you say tea every time as …

“If I marry, the person must accept that this is part of my bride price.”