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Today he is a “hero” among his drinking mates in Mount Hampden area.
Jairos grew up in the family community of Banket and has been a resident in the province all his life.
His childhood friend Miros is viewed in bad light by most in the community as they do not want him near their daughters and wives.
The story of the two men is as old as they are. Both men are aged 30. Their fathers worked on the same farms, in Banket and their mothers were friends too.
As in all farming communities everyone goes to the fields and the two boys have weeded the fields side by side and who ever was faster used to come to the aid of the other. In the farming communities this is known as mugwazo (work partitioned out).
They have even shared clothing and have seen one sleeping over at the other’s house on several occasions as they grew up.
So Miros and Jairos’ friendship can be called watertight, but as they say there are no permanent friends, only common dreams.
Miros fell in love with a compound beauty, Naomi. As one who was not satisfied with the meagre earnings he got from the labourer’s wages, he cast his net wider and got a job at a fishery in Darwendale.
In no time he packed his bags and in the first six months he returned to show off is new-found wealth and spoil the love of his life. As time went on the visits became fewer and fewer and in no time completely stopped.
Miros was now involved with the girls who ticked in Darwendale and soon he forgot about Naomi as he got married to Rusia, who was a mother of two but a hit in the fishing community.
Naomi leaned on her lover’s friend Jairos for support and in no time Jairos became the new man in Naomi’s life. The two got married and now have two minor children.
As would be the demands of Miros’ new wife and his unsatisfied taste, he got himself in the habit of nicking bagfuls of fish which some traders got through the back door.
One day he got into a heated argument with his wife who accused him of spending money on a new-found love.
The wife threatened to report him to his superiors and he laughed it off.
“Ooo that will be the end of the good life which you like so much,” he scoffed.
As he did not mend his ways, the wife reported to the masters that her husband was stealing from them and she had heard him arrange with “clients” that they would pick up their fish from the bush.
A trap was set and Miros was caught red-handed. Hell hath no fury like a scorned wife.
Miros admitted to stealing other missing gadgets at work and these were recovered at his house. He did not waste the police’s time and went to court where he admitted to all the theft charges. As a first offender he was given community service and lost his job.
He thus found himself and wife trekking to Mount Hampden where he had left four years ago.
Miros now in the hood, the two friends got back to their drinking ways. Miros did not like the back-breaking work on the farms so he resorted to fish poaching from the neighbouring dams.
He had ready cash as he lent fish and collected his loot when people get paid. He told all who cared to listen that he was monied and could afford to have all women in the area leave their husbands for his home.
Miros enticed Naomi with the greenback and some fish for the pot which she should pay for at the end of the month.
Naomi’s debt ballooned and now owed over US$20 for fish. The sly Miros pestered Naomi to pay in kind. She flatly refused but as the hunger pangs bit deeper she got back to the fish supplier who agreed to give her some “free” fish on his conditions.
The debt was cancelled and Naomi got more fish and paid in private as agreed.
Meanwhile, Jairos is mocked by his friends at all beer drinks that he was gaining weight from having fish “bought” by the wife.
Jairos’ neighbours told him that his friend Miros was drinking from the same well with him. He set up his surveillance cameras and got some leads.
One day Miros passed through Jairos’ home and asked to take his longtime friend for a beer binge for which the two left laughing.
Miros had ulterior motives, he intended to get his friend drunk and slip off to his wife.
Jairos played to the tune. Everytime he was bought a pint of beer he staggered to the toilet where he poured the contents into the pit. So by the 10th bottle he appeared sloshed and Miros gave Jairos US$3 as he had to go to the next beerhall where a local disc jockey was playing.
In Jairos condition, he was told that he could not make the long way to the next stop. He agreed to remain behind and Miros left the supposed drunkard behind. He went straight to Jairos bedroom where Naomi was told that the coast was clear. The two engaged in unprotected sex and in the heat of the game Jairos stormed and caught the two red-handed. Miros escaped in his birthday suit. Jairos took Miros clothes to the beerhall court as an exhibit. The “prosecutors” and cum “magistrates” there unanimously agreed that Jairos must take Miros wife.
The case was settled and the “messengers of court” escorted their friend to serve justice the kangaroo court way. They call it tit for tat in the compound and now Jairos can walk with is head high after “dignity is restored”. Jairos brings home Rusia as a second wife. Justice is delivered according to them. This does not go down well with Naomi who packs her bags and heads straight to Miros’ home accusing him of having wrecked her marriage.
It appears Rusia is unfazed by the whole episode as she comfortably settles in the new home but occasionally goes back to demand groceries for the little girls she took along with her.
She has Jairos’ blessing to go and turn the household upside down if they do not bow to her demands.
Wife swap has taken place, it appears so easy but difficult to stomach to the normal person.
Rusia laughs off telling Naomi that she should visit the nearest health centre to get tested for HIV.
Today as I write, Rusia is expecting and she says Miros is responsible because she was already pregnant when she left for Jairos’ home.
It becomes comical reading but in the face of HIV and Aids, such happenings in communities show a different level of understanding of the dangers of HIV and Aids. Multiple concurrent partners are the major drivers of HIV and the farming communities seem to engage in wife swap with ease.
There appears to be an information gap and programmers need to visit and map these areas in earnest.
Mr Shadreck Mutinhi, a plot owner in the area, said that wife swaps and early marriages are the order of the day. “Children as young as 12 years are forced into marriage. In fact, it’s not a marriage because they are too young to understand what they are getting into,” said Mr Mutinhi.
“Most of the girls die before they even reach the age of 20 years either during the multiple child births or through HIV-related illnesses, which is unfortunate,” he said.
Mr Mutinhi said it does not make sense to have those involved in early marriages arrested because they do not understand they have broken the law.
“Intense education on all spheres, HIV, reproductive health, education and basic human rights need to be inculcated so that they understand what is a crime and what is not,” he added.
He pointed out that even where a spouse died from an Aids-related disease people still flocked there and it was a shock.
“Disclosure or not, there are cases where one would have lost a wife or husband. In the case of a woman losing a husband and she still looks healthy, men flock and take turns to date her. In most instances they brag that they are using no protection,” he said.
Mr Mutinhi said a lot of community awareness to do with health and disease prevention needs to be done on farms. He also said that condom distribution was limited in the concerned areas.
“We have risky behaviour in farming communities and condoms are not easily available. To me it does not make sense not to deny people these condoms which are cheaper than ARVs,” he added.
He asked the authorities and the stakeholders to take health education to the farming communities on Sundays since during the week they would be busy in the fields.
As of now, life goes on. Naomi is now Miros’ wife and Rusia is “happily married” to Jairos in the script which makes reality stranger than fiction.
As we strive to get zero new infections, many farming communities should be targeted as they are in a world of their own.

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