Life begins at 40, but for Janet Wanja, it never did
Volleyball and Handball
By
Sammy Kitula
| Dec 28, 2024
What is life? Today you're happy, tomorrow you're sad.
The words of the good book in Psalm 30:5 (Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning), have been a source of comfort to many a broken soul, but on this black Friday, they were not.
The weeping for our departed volleyball star Janet Wanja has been endless. We were to weep for her illness, hoping that joy will come at day break. It never did. It never will.
More tears, more pain...endless questions; why her, why now, why this way...why Wanja? The sorrows will know no end.
When South African reggae legend Lucky Philip Dube released his blockbuster Crazy World in 1991, little did we know that those lyrics would make so much sense 33 years later.
He sings thus ... We don't know what tomorrow brings, in this crazy world. People dying like flies every day, you read about it in the news, but you don't believe it, you'll only know about it when the man in the long black coat knocks on your door, 'cause you're his next victim...
Wanja was his next victim. Closing her splendid eyes, never to reopen them again.
Life begins at 40, they say, but sadly for Wanja, who was 40, it didn't. It was the beginning of her end. And now she's gone... she's gone.
Wanja honed her volleyball skills at former national secondary schools champions Mukumu Girls. In 2001, she received her first national team call up for the Junior World Championships qualifiers.
From Mukumu, Wanja had a successful career with the national team and her respective clubs. The former long serving national women's volleyball team succumbed to gallbladder cancer while receiving palliative care. Life is quite fickle you know. Wanja's radiating smile at the Paris Olympic Games in July as the Kenyan brigade filed past during the opening ceremony illuminated under the cameras. It was warm as always. Quite disarming.
Behind the smile was a will of steel. A will to subsist, to move on, to thrive in spite of many invisible odds that were stacked against her.
Despite the rain on that night in Paris, her smile remained as cheerful as a sunny day. It was full of positivity, light, and genuine delight. That is Wanja for you. Always smiling, always cheerful. The volleyball courts will be foreign without you.
For her younger brother footballer Kevin Kimani, you've left nothing but fond memories.
"The family of Janet Wanja would like to announce her passing on after a brave battle with gallbladder cancer. Our sincere and deepest gratitude goes out to Kenya Pipeline Company for walking the journey with us from the beginning, and tirelessly providing all she needed in terms of medical support," said Kimani.
But those who have lived a good life do not fear death, but meet it calmly. At times, in the face of great suffering, some even long for it. Wanja didn't fear death.
She lived her life. The hour of departure finally arrived on Thursday night and went her way. Good people must die, but death cannot kill their names. According to Meditation 17 by John Donne, when a good person dies, the chapter of his book is not plucked away, but translated into a better language. We'll sing a new song for our heroine, oh, yes, we shall.
Just like reggae musician Nasion Fontaine, we shall all remember this black Friday...