Kibera Love Potions

In a section of the noisy slum was an open booth that displayed many bottles of dried plants. It was a herb store. The storekeeper claimed that these dried plants would cure any sickness from stomachache to malaria. One of the bottles was a curious medicine: love potion. It is supposed to work as follows: the first person to whom someone who takes this medicine talks will fall in love with him or her. Whether or not this claimed utility is true, the medicine was sold alongside other, more normal medications.

Now I wondered how one could possibly use this love potion. Maybe one would approach his or her love interest, take a drink of this medicine, and say “Good morning, sweetheart”? Or ask him or her out and take it before greeting? I could not help but chuckle picturing all that. In another case, let’s say if you take this medicine before saying “Good morning” or “Hi” to your love interest, and are about to greet him or her, a middle-aged lady in the neighborhood approaches you and says “How are you?” and you reply, “Oh, couldn’t be better”, then that lady will fall for you? Practical applications of this medicine require much caution, I laughed thinking.

A few days after my visit to Kibera, I finished work, went home and had Kenyan beer, with a few things on my mind. I recalled the love potion. Even today that herb store is selling it. Slightly under the influence of the beer, I pictured people in the slum who would come to buy the medicine.

In the slum, it is hard just to make a living. Many are occupied with living day to day. To live today leads to living tomorrow. In such circumstances, I was somehow happy that the love potion was sold. In the slum that seemingly has no room for fun, there are love stories and people who want their love interest to respond in kind. People want others to love them and come to the store to buy the medicine with their hard-earned money. For some reason, such thoughts raised my spirits. And I had another drink of beer.


Does the Medicine Really Work?

Does the love potion actually work? That question also went through my mind. Maybe it does really work. But the most important effect is mental. A shy person who is unable to convey his or her feelings to his or her love interest takes this medicine as a morale booster, and talks to the love interest emboldened. If the medicine works, then the other person will return the feelings. That may be the idea that one who takes the medicine has.

The love potion is a nice medicine. A humane and interesting medicine. I feel even more so because it was sold in the slum. If I were ever allowed under different circumstances, I might consider giving it a try someday. But I would have to be really careful with the timing of taking it and a greeting from a neighborhood lady.

Note: If you would like to learn more about the Kibera slum, I recommend the film The Constant Gardener. Based on the John le Carré novel of the same title, the film features many scenes in the slum. It is an absorbing and socially conscious film that won Rachel Weisz, its main actress, the 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
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