WORLD TOILET DAY, THE MFECANE & THE PHILOSOPHY OF KUJITUMA: WHY MEN MUST DIG DEEPER
Same Forest. Different Monkeys. (International Men’s Month Edition)
There’s something beautifully chaotic about 19th November.
The universe cooks up strange things, but this one takes the mkate mayai:
World Toilet Day
and
International Men’s Day
Same date.
Same square.
Same vibe.
And if you look closely, the metaphor isn’t even shy.
Life has been handing men pressure, waste, expectations, quiet panic, battles, unexpected leaks, and broken pipes — and still expecting everything to flush smoothly.
But here’s the thing:
nobody ever checks the drainage until it starts smelling.
Suddenly, the same pipes that carry the family’s emotional waste, financial waste, social waste — all the things nobody wants to deal with — urgently need repair.
And when they burst, people act shocked.
Don’t get me wrong.
I love what’s happening lately — this brotherhood forming online.
Top CEOs, stoic men, polished men, broken men, healed men — all on TikTok, podcasts, Instagram — telling the rest of us:
“Dig deep bro….. Jitume.
Maisha ni game
We must honour our fixtures…
Fixture ni fixture…
Game ni game
And honestly?
That’s mentorship.
That’s leadership.
That’s something we probably learned from the best — our womenfolk.
They’ve been talking openly about their issues since the days of Dear Abby.
We just stole the playbook and rebranded it.
We were nudged into vulnerability by the artists formerly known as the fairer sex.
(The day I saw women online saying “fairer sex” is misogynistic, I just closed the app. Why would anyone not want to be called fair, beautiful, soft?
That species is complicated. Rather than drown in that rabbit hole,
let me talk about a something I think I have some authority on.)
Sales — Kujituma Until the Wall Moves
There’s a Zig Ziglar line that belongs in the Sales Hall of Fame:
“If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.”
Grandfather stuff.
And that’s the heart of sales.
Service.
Skill.
Craft.
Kujituma — the Gen Z remix of “Mwanaume ni effort.”
“Kujituma” literally means sending yourself.
(Kuji = pronoun, Tuma = applying, clenching your teeth, grit.)
But translation always insults the soul of a phrase.
This is not DHL.
This is the art of applying yourself so thoroughly and so consistently that the universe takes notice.
Kujituma is waking up and deciding:
“No one is coming. So I will.”
It’s digging deeper even when the year is tired and the emails are dry.
It’s sharpening your sales muscle one hour a day because January 5th is waiting, and January has no respect for sluggish people.
There are about 17 working days left this year.
That’s not a threat.
That’s an opportunity.
For example:
Not everyone with WiFi and ChatGPT becomes a coder.
Same way not everyone with a job title becomes a salesperson.
Coders sharpen logic.
Sales guys sharpen courage.
And this is the week to sharpen.
Life — 8–0 and Still Showing Up
Harambee Stars took an 8–0 thrashing from Senegal……. that felt personal. Burukengeish… :(
My WhatsApp groups were on fire.
Someone said:
“At least we kept it below the T-bill rate.”
Pain, but make it comedy.
But on the same weekend, our U17 boys humbled DRC 2–1.
That’s life in one weekend.
The senior team is licking wounds.
The babies are shocking giants.
Life will embarrass you then bless you.
Rock bottom is not death — it’s a foundation.
Sometimes salvation comes from the ones too young to know they should fear.
(Or those who know how to walk alone… 😉)
In Rugby this week—
The Mfecane ….The Clean Sweep…..Kabuti (If you played drafts not checkers)
Now here’s where “digging deeper” becomes violent poetry.
To understand what the Springboks did on their Northern Tour, you have to travel back to 1820.
Southern Africa was being shaken by uMfecane — “the crushing.”
Shaka Zulu, spurned child of KaSenzangakhona, reorganized the entire region through warfare, strategy, migration, absorption, pressure and raw dominance.
It wasn’t just war.
It was redefinition.
Fast forward to 2025.
Rassie Erasmus walks into Europe with 45 Springboks — the largest pool of active capped players any Test nation has ever carried on one tour.*
Critics said he was mad.
My Sufferer boys said he was:
“Dishing out caps like boerewors at a Blue Bulls braai.”
They said he was breaking tradition.
Diluting prestige.
They didn’t understand the Sangoma.
Rassie wasn’t diluting.
He was multiplying weapons.
Shaka built impis.
Rassie built depth charts.
Shaka won through numbers, fitness, shock-and-awe.
Rassie wins through data, depth, and controlled chaos called the Bomb Squad.
And in the middle of this storm stands:
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu — the Son of Zulu.
A child of two worlds.
A rugby prince with jazz in his chest and KwaZulu steel in his bones.
Mentored by the White Sangoma.
And on this tour, the prophecy matured.
France were handled.
Ireland were dismantled.
Italy felt the weight of a people who travel with purpose.
Bielle Biarrey — aka Billy Whizz — danced.
Kaylan Gourges, that Gen Z fresh from U20s, arrived with flames.
Or in the words of my fellow Laibon:
“Fire si fire… moto si moto… nitamvua.” 😉
Ireland threw Clan Berne, Clan Doris, Clan Ringrose to defend the King in the North —
but the umuthi (Zulu for medicine) was too strong.
Notice how these Bantus have similar words…
Kamuti is our local variant.
(Story for another day.)
The Rose harvested Kiwi last week and became the remaining Northern hope.
Now they face a muted Puma.
Will the paw swing one last time?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
But the truth stands:
The Bokke already sit where the prophecy placed them.
On top of the world.
Wee ni wee ndzovu !!
(The undisputed giant.)
Men — The Toilet Metaphor Is Not an Insult
Men absorb pressure the way drainage absorbs waste — quietly and efficiently, until it breaks.
And when it breaks, everyone panics.
But something is shifting. Men are talking. Posting. Opening up.
Mentoring each other.
Kujituma in public.
That’s not weakness — that’s infrastructure repair.
Prevention. Preparation. Courage.
Dig deeper now…...
Before the smell hits the room.
Fanya Kitu (Do Something)
Unclog something in your life this week.
Ask first — “broken pipe or broken person?”
Sharpen your craft.
Protect your peace.
And when clutter piles up:
Replace, Relearn, Reinvent,
Jitume…..
Need help fixing a sales pipe (or more story za jaba)?
👉 https://salesresourceafrica.co.ke/contact-us/
Stoic
Insightful.