The Village of Simbi

Long ago, there was a small village called Simbi in Kenya. It was home to the Luo people, who were farmers and fishermen. They grew crops, kept farm animals, and raised their children in peace. They had an elder and a chief who helped solve problems when people disagreed.

The men of the village had built a fence all around their home using tree branches. They put a gate in the fence so people could come and go.

One evening, all the villagers were having a big party to celebrate their first harvest of the year. The women were dancing, the children were playing games, and the men were drinking homemade beer. Everyone was happy because they had grown plenty of food that season.

As the sun went down and the party was ending, a strange old woman came to the village. She looked very thin and hungry. Her clothes were dirty and torn. Some villagers who were still outside stared at her. They wondered who this strange old woman was. Some even looked at her with disgust.

The old woman walked to the first house she saw and knocked on the door. She said her name was Ajwang, which means “abandoned” in their language. She begged for a place to sleep and some food to eat. But the people inside turned her away.

By now it was completely dark, and everyone had gone inside their homes. The old woman kept knocking on doors, asking for help. She went to ten different houses, but everyone said no. At the eleventh house, she was turned away again.

The old woman felt hopeless. She was too tired to try any more houses. Just then, a young woman named Amuola saw her sitting by the road. Amuola lived with her husband and three children. She felt sorry for the old woman and invited her to stay in their home.

After the old woman had eaten some food and was comfortable, she spoke quietly to Amuola. She told her to take her husband and children and leave the village right away. Something terrible was going to happen because the villagers had been so unkind to her.

Amuola believed the old woman’s warning. The next morning, she packed quickly and left the village with her family.

That same day, heavy rain began to fall on the village. The water kept rising, and soon the whole village started to flood. The people began to panic. They hoped and prayed that the rain would stop.

But then something much worse happened. The ground began to shake with a powerful earthquake. Cracks appeared in the earth as the villagers tried to run away. Parents grabbed their children and tried to help their elderly relatives escape.

People were screaming as they ran toward the village gate, hoping to reach safety. But the ground started to sink beneath their feet. The earth opened up like a giant mouth and swallowed the entire village. Everyone and everything fell into the hole, which immediately filled with water.

In just a few minutes, there was no sign that a village had ever been there. Only a deep lake remained.

Amuola and her family were safe because they had listened to the old woman’s warning. They lived to tell this story, and it has been passed down from parents to children for many generations.

Today, that place is called Simbi Nyaima, which means “Simbi Lake.” It is now a popular place for tourists to visit. People come from far away to see the lake and hear the story of the village that disappeared because its people were not kind to a stranger in need.