I love this song, so much that it kept playing on my mind that wee hour of the morning . 3.30a.m to be more specific as I lay in bed.

Well maybe I had been listening to it too much or maybe my mind was trying to tell me something.

I could not sleep, not after all that stimulation. So I left my bed and headed to my computer. If I could not sleep at least I could put my time into good use and write about my experience.

Just an hour or so ago I had momentarily gone "bananas" or so I thought. 

I remember my childhood friend asking me mbona haukupiga nduru? Swahili for why din't you scream?

Well I have no answer for that. All I know is that  my Kenyan legs were on fire that morning as I frantically ran from one neighbors gate to the other knocking, ringing and occassionally shouting "Kuna Emergency!"-There's an Emergency!.

A stone I clenched so tightly would be my voice that early morning, as I knocked on gates and rang bells getting more and more nervous to speak let alone scream.

My friend's Dad was in the process of calling the cops when I called and told her what was going on. They thought there were thieves outside their house. I guess with all that noise at 2a.m  no one can blame them.

I woke up some minutes to 2a.m after I heard my Mum say Kuna moto! - There's a fire! and my sister replying Ati Moto! Wapi? - What Fire! where is it? I don't remember hearing my Mum respond.

Confused and very frightened I ran down the stairs and found the door leading to our compound open and there it was. That monster of a fire that seemed to be growing into a fiercer version of  itself by the minute.

It was right there in our neighbors compound almost engulfing their fence and spreading fast. It kept on growing taller creeping closer and closer towards the electricity lines. The thought of those wires set ablaze frightening the hell out of me.

So there we were in our nighties pacing up and down trying to figure out what next. My Mum sent my sister to the neighborhood watchman and I followed behind. Something stopped me along the way and told me to start knocking on our other neighbors gates.

Within no time almost all the neighbors on our lane were outside. We tried to wake the victims of the fire but they were fast asleep. They must be very deep sleepers because we made a lot of noise and I mean  A LOT!.

Our neighborhood watchman had to climb their gate in order to open for us from the inside. I don't know if he knocked on their door or not but I later saw the Father and son of the house out with us trying to salvage the situation.

It was so impressive how we all somehow organized ourselves and started pouring water on that monster easing its fierce flames.

So there we were a bunch of half asleep neighbors helping our dear neighbor and ultimately ourselves because who knows what would have happened if those flames had gotten to the electricity lines. This young Monster would have graduated into a disaster considering the fact that the electricity transformer was just three houses away.

When everything eased down I noticed I was sweaty. Sweaty in the cold of the morning. Later during the week I would also notice  the effect of my early morning sprints  on my legs.

I remember certain incidences that might have been the reason why my mind was singing Africa on replay.

When we killed that monster and wished each other a good morning we all dispersed to our respective homes. At ours, we started recounting the experience and my sister who I believe can be a great actress made us laugh.

She was telling us how in the heat of the moment one of our neighbours had climbed on top of a water tank and aping his movements (his bum protruding outward) told us the way he would say Aki na ujirani ni muhimu- truly the spirit of neighbourhood is important with almost every bucket of water he fetched handing it over to us one by one.

His message was similar to what is conveyed in the song Africa thus my subconscious mind must have picked that up.

There were a couple of lessons learnt that day. The most important being the need to be in good terms with neighbors. Kweli ujirani ni muhimu. The oneness that was portrayed that morning was impeccable. Truly anywhere you go, no where be like Africa no where be like home.