If Mary were to give birth in Kenya today,
There would be no star to guide her
Only corridors of hunger and forms to be filled.
They would ask her to register with SHA and to pay for the whole year
Only to send her away to buy cotton wool,
JIK, gloves, saline
As if life waits politely for receipts.
When pain deepened and blood whispered danger,
They would ask for more:
Spinal anaesthesia, gauze, iodine
And when her body cried for blood,
They would offer silence.
Joseph would plead, pockets empty, faith trembling.
They would lie gently and say,
“SHA will cover everything.”
Then detain mother and child
Until hope itself learns the price of freedom.
In a private hospital,
They would cut her open for profit,
Turn birth into business,
Invent suffering so they could invoice it,
By a system that forgot its soul.
There would be no Christmas in Kenya today.
No carols.
No star.
Only a country that crucifies life
Before it learns how to breath
~ Madina wa Chege
