00:00Now, towards the end of last year, we had this young girl who did this challenge where she hugged the tree.
00:07I think it was for 36 hours?
00:0936.
00:10Or 72 hours.
00:10It was 72 hours, yes.
00:12Yes, 72 hours hugging a tree.
00:15No small feet because you're not taking breaks, you're not going to the bathroom.
00:21You know, people are just over there singing and dancing with you.
00:25And remember, after she completed it, it was such a thing.
00:28She was able to bring attention to the cause that she was fighting for, which was the environment.
00:33And after that, doors did open for her.
00:35She got to have a meeting with the president.
00:38She got to share what she wanted done.
00:42She got a position so that she can continue her work towards helping or aiding the environment.
00:48And that worked out great for her.
00:50Now, it would seem in 2026, I am mine.
00:52Everybody's hugging a tree.
00:55Everybody's hugging a tree.
00:56Yes.
00:56This pastor, James Irungu, decided, I too will hug a tree.
01:02And his cause was different.
01:04He was bringing attention towards cancer awareness was the main agenda behind his challenge.
01:14And he wanted to break the record and actually do 80 hours of hugging a tree.
01:22And while some of us felt like, why are you copying somebody?
01:25Why not come up with something more original?
01:28You know, it's like I see my friend has bought, you know, a car.
01:32And then I'm like, you know what?
01:34I'm also going to buy a car but slightly bigger than hers.
01:37It's a very, very weird energy.
01:39But other people did come out and support him.
01:44And they were rallying behind him.
01:45We saw content creators pull up, friends, family.
01:49People dance with him.
01:51At some point, he was even dancing.
01:52And he managed to do 79 hours out of the 80 hours that he had intended to do.
01:59But this was not because he didn't want to.
02:01It is because towards the 79th hour, he unfortunately collapsed and had to be rushed to hospital.
02:08There's also, you know, dehydration.
02:10Apparently, he had also suffered, I think it was like a kidney infection or something like that.
02:17Oh, wow.
02:17Really?
02:18Yeah.
02:19And after a while in hospital, he did make his way back to his hometown in Moranga.
02:25And he was well received by the people.
02:28And we do hope that the intention that he started this challenge with was met.
02:33If you were able to gather funds, if you were able to bring attention to whatever you wanted,
02:38which was cancer awareness, we do hope that Pastor James Irungu, you were able to achieve that.
02:43Girl, yesterday there was someone else who was hugging a tree.
02:46Did you know that?
02:46A 14-year-old who goes by the name of Stephen Gashanja was hugging a tree yesterday on the 8th of January, 2026.
02:53And he continued to do this for upwards of 50 hours.
02:57It was happening at Jivanji Gardens.
03:00And for him, it was to raise $3 million for his brother's medical care.
03:05So this is another clear, it's become almost like a thing for people to raise awareness for other people,
03:14to raise money quick.
03:16And it seems to work for others.
03:18Therefore, even he decided to do it.
03:20He was a 14-year-old young man.
03:22And yeah, he managed to do it.
03:24I think he managed to do it as well.
03:26He had tried the 50-hour tree hugging challenge, which was really cool.
03:31We love this for everyone who's trying to hug a tree.
03:35And I heard Malima Rachel also speaking about another gig.
03:40You know, in this gig economy, everything is a job.
03:42Everything is a hassle, right?
03:44And the guy who does, just on this road, I think it's, what's this road called?
03:48The one, not James Bishuru.
03:51The one towards the Total Petrol Station and the Oledume Roundabout and Coton Avenue.
03:56Along that road, there's usually a guy who's usually, you know, shouting out people with their big cars, right?
04:01And apparently, a lot of times, people do come back with, like, envelopes of money and give it to him.
04:08So Malima Rachel was talking about this and saying that, hey, it's a job.
04:11Imagine someone else had also started doing the same thing, where they're shouting out people with big cars and also getting a little bit of money here and there.
04:19And to be honest, it seems if something is working for one person, someone is going to replicate it.
04:24We call ourselves the quail, the quail economy.
04:28Because one person sells quail eggs, they make a ton of money, everybody's selling quail eggs.
04:34Remember when it used to be those coffee shops, those coffee, I remember those one where you used to sell coffee, like marketing.
04:42What do you call it?
04:43What do you call that business?
04:45Something marketing.
04:46I forget what it's called, where it's you buy the thing.
04:52There was Tianshi, there was Oriflame, there were so many other forms of, I forget what it's called, something marketing,
04:59where you buy a big stock of something and then you sell it to other people.
05:03And then their selling will give you a commission, but they also sell your stuff.
05:08And then it just keeps going and going and going, almost like a pyramid scheme.
05:12But, yeah, these things seem to be quite a big thing in our country.
05:16Every time one person does something, succeeds, makes some money, there's rumor of any money being made, other people are on top of that.
05:23However, for medical care, that's a huge one.
05:27We hope that the healthcare system does start working because this is not what you want a 14-year-old to be doing and worrying about.
05:34Can you imagine 14?
05:35What are you supposed to be doing?
05:36You're a teenager.
05:37You literally just got into teenage, you know.
05:41You need to be out there living your life as a teenager.
05:43But, hey, these are just our opinions.
05:45Let us know yours on the number down on your screen.
