Road of love on the path to development

Eight years after its inauguration, "China Road" is still the best road in Kenya. After driving over countless bumps, and around potholes, roadblocks around Nairobi, it is a balm to the nerves and salvation to suspensions and tires. The 150-km-long stretch of black asphalt is smooth, its shoulders are wide and lanes divisions well marked. I hardly notice my Land Rover has reached a speed of 140 km an hour.

"Chinese engineers working here were eating snails," laughs Musa Mwandima, a Kenyan employed during the construction of the road that was inaugurated in August 2001. "And one foreman who always talked to me explained that here in Africa we have too many children. He explained to me the one-child policy in China. He said we should not have many children in such a poor country. Otherwise, how could they be fed and educated? At that time I had two kids. I wanted to have eight, but I decided to strike a compromise - after the Chinese left, I settled for only three."

Mwandima's smile is warm. He pauses, lost in memories, remembering much better days when his dusty humble village - Kasarani Voi - came suddenly to life. Heavy equipment were raising dust, powerful lights were penetrating the night, and he felt like being part of a team building a better future for his country.