For rich and for poor; His empty wallet didn't scare me away

BRIDE: Claire Gazemba Govedi

GROOM: Mark Kiura

DATE: March 5, 2016

GUESTS: 300

VENUE: St Paul’s University Catholic Church, Nairobi

BUDGET: Sh400,000

FIRST DATE

Mark: She sat behind me in class, and of the five girls in that class at East African School of Aviation, she stood out. I suspected she had a boyfriend or many suitors for she kept receiving calls and flowers. It did not help that the girls were few, so the guys had to step up. But I was determined, so I asked her out.

Claire: There were so many boys in class and he was one in the crowd. On our first date, I noticed his reluctance to spend money on me so I playfully took his wallet from him and bought food for both of us at a kibanda.

Mark: I was ready to spend on her and had even taken her on a boat ride at Uhuru Park to prove it. I was hell bent on impressing her, even if it meant borrowing a car.

THE PROPOSAL

Claire: I did not know he could keep a secret from me. Then I saw my sister, Magdalene with a cake and figured it was just a birthday surprise. Before I knew it, he was on bended knee with a ring in his hand.

Mark: I planned to surprise her on her birthday, with assistance from her sister. My birthday gift to her was the engagement ring.

THE DRAMA

Claire: After graduating I went back to school to undertake another course. On the first semester of commencing, I found out that I was pregnant with Ari, our son. I was scared. But I opened up to my parents and they were supportive.

Mark: We were officially an item, and fresh engineering graduates with no jobs. I had hoped to get a job at KQ but that didn’t happen. Determined to provide for my future wife and family, I took up any job available; washing cars, vegetable vending, research assistant. Eventually, I settled on farming as it was paying the bills, though like any start up business we had teething issues. The biggest one being money.

In addition, due to cultural issues, Ari remained nameless for a week because we were not sure how things would play out with both sets of parents. But it worked out eventually.

Mark: The dowry negotiations were the longest ever negotiation I have ever had. On the eve of the dowry negotiations, I was in Sumbawanga, Tanzania on work assignment. My colleagues and I decided to drive all night. On our way we came across a sack of peanuts. The peanuts which we assumed had fallen from a truck became part of the dowry negotiation gifts.

Claire: Planning the wedding was tough. The night before the wedding I realised the cake accompaniment was wine instead of champagne. At midnight on the eve of the wedding we were looking for champagne and got a bottle from one of the grooms men’s office.

At one point, we also felt we should postpone the wedding to June since Ari had been in hospital and had accumulated a bill that we were yet to pay. Our friends however encouraged us to go on with our wedding plans. In the end, the Sh100,000 we owed in hospital bills was waived.

WITH HINDSIGHT

Mark: In life, you must have a driving force. My driving force is Claire. There is also power in faith and trusting in God. Without Him we could not have come this far.

Claire: I would tell my fellow women not to be after money but to look at the heart of the person.

WORDS: ROSE KWAMBOKA & ROCKY ASUTSA

PHOTOS: LEORNARD KAMAU