Fortune Favors the Brave

For those of you who know me well, this probably sounds like the last thing I would ever do, but it happened (I have video proof), and I’d do it again.

Pre-Slaughter

There I was, standing with blood spattered on my feet, laughing hysterically at myself. I had just slaughtered my first chicken, with the help of my brother, Maina. Earlier in the day, when my brothers had told me a chicken would be slaughtered for dinner, I quickly declared that I was interested in helping. As an animal lover and former vegetarian, I didn’t know if I would be able to follow through, but I knew it was a Kenyan encounter I needed to experience. As the slaughter drew nearer, I grew more nervous by the minute. I made Maina promise to help me since I wanted to cause the chicken as little pain as possible. Shaking, I held the knife to the chicken’s throat and began to saw. After the head was removed, I screamed a little as the chicken continued to move – I didn’t know it could do that! My family laughed along with me as Maina and I began to pluck the feathers. As soon as the chicken was clean we took it inside to cut it before cooking it. For some reason I hadn’t thought about removing the insides, but my stomach held strong. That night I feasted on the first chicken I had ever slaughtered.

Turns out slaughtering a chicken is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It was a time of bonding and mutual understanding with my family, an experience I’ll never forget. I slaughtered a chicken – and I did it while wearing a skirt.