Happy Birthday Baba! Barrack B.G.O. OMBOGO OStJ

Last year Baba celebrated 80 years of age.  Growing up, he was always passionate about celebrating our birthdays and as he approached 80, my siblings & I decided to give him a big celebration in Kisumu for the big milestone. We decided to invite not only our extended family members but his peers and friends as well. We worked with him to get an invite list which included his friends, relatives and colleagues. Rony, Mona & I represented our siblings Linda, Tony & Emma who are out of the country. Noteworthy, a few years back he was appointed as an Officer Brother of St. John Ambulance Priory by Queen Elizabeth II but due to several reasons, the investiture ceremony didn’t take place until last year April. By that time, he was recovering from a recent surgery and could not attend. My sisters and I attended the ceremony and received the medal on his behalf, now presented at the pleasure of King Charles III.

Therefore, as a part of this 80^th we decided to invite the St. John’s Ambulance management to present it to him in person. Our friend Charles, who is the Chairman of the Nairobi chapter connected us to the senior Officers of the Kisumu chapter who were willing to conduct the ceremony. We requested them to attend the ceremony in their uniform, and they did not disappoint. They presented The Order of Officer of St. John’s Ambulance to Baba, hence OStJ added to his name. That formed the first part of the birthday celebrations.

The second half was filled with speeches and tributes from family and friends. It was such a blessing listening to his peers appreciate him and share what they valued and remembered from their former days. For me, having him hear these sentiments was valuable. His grandchildren shared their tributes as well and prayed for him to have more years to come. It was so special. My siblings & I put together a video that had tributes from his sisters, children and grandchildren that went down memory lane so beautifully. We played the video at the end of the beautiful day.

One year later, he turns 81 today and we continue to thank God for giving him a long life and pray for many more to come.  Happy Birthday Baba!