I was enjoying a quiet afternoon on my porch when my grandson came rushing over, phone in hand, laughing. He insisted I watch a video that had gone viral — one featuring a young woman named Alicia Kanini. Out of curiosity, I took the phone. But the moment the video began, my jaw dropped. What I saw cannot be erased from my mind: Alicia had exposed her shipoto to the entire world, without a trace of shame or hesitation.
In my many years, I’ve witnessed all sorts of things — from colonial rule to independence, droughts and floods, but nothing had prepared me for this kind of moral drought. Her shipoto, wide and worn, reminded me instantly of a shimo ya kumbe kumbe — the kind of gaping hole termites leave behind after they’ve chewed through the earth and vanished. It wasn’t just the physical shock, but the symbolic weight of what I was seeing. This wasn’t just one woman’s video; it was a reflection of a society that has lost its values.
Back in our day, such things were private, sacred even. A woman’s dignity was her pride. But today, it seems dignity has been traded for attention, and shame has been buried beneath social media likes. I felt sad — not angry — just deeply sad that our granddaughters now see exposure as empowerment. There is nothing powerful about making your body a public spectacle. Respect, once lost, is difficult to regain.
Let Alicia Kanini’s video be a warning, not entertainment. If this is the direction our youth are heading, then we are truly in trouble. I only hope they realize that not everything should be recorded, and not everything should be shared. Some things — like shipoto — are better left unseen, and sacred. Because once you’ve seen a hole that resembles a shimo ya kumbe kumbe… there is no going back.
