A day like today (Sunday), journalist Enock Mkate sat behind a microphone in the studio and went on air.
“I was so happy to the extent that I skipped my dinner that day,” Mkate recalls.
Mkate had trained as a broadcast journalist, his dream career.
He went on to work for various Fm stations in Nairobi and Kisii before he switched to television.
For the past one year, Mkate has been hosting talkshows and presenting news at Getembe TV in Kisii Town.
The station is among a handful of others that broadcast in Ekegusii.
To mark his 14th ‘birthday’ in broadcasting, Mkate as he is popularly known mobilized friends for a charity initiative in Itibo village, Bonchari Constituency.
The event entailed bringing together children and elderly people ravaged by jiggers.
The victims were washed and disinfected and dewormed before they were issued with clothes, shoes, blankets, refreshments, pencils, pens among other items.
They shared a meal too and the beneficiaries could not hide their joy.
“I’m very happy. I now have two pairs of shoes, new clothes, a pencil and I have eaten well,” a six year old girl said.
At the height of the event, a cake labelled Mkate at 14 was shared.
This seemed rather symbolic, considering the fact that mkate (a loaf of bread) is a consumable just like a cake.
“God has been good to me and I saw it wise to thank him by sharing with these children,” Mkate said.
He said the over a decade long journey in media has been exciting and challenging.
“I pray that God gives me more years in the profession,” he said.
Kisii Scribes chairman Joshua Araka who graced the event lauded his colleague for doing something that is worth to be emulated.
“This is a good way of mingling with your audience. I hope that more of us in the profession will also do something that touches on the people directly,” he said.
The journalists and other speakers at the function urged the beneficiaries to observe good hygiene to deter jiggers manifestation.
