The untold story of how Sauti Sol’s Bien Aime’s flashy childhood turned into abject poverty in a split second (Video)

I guess we never miss the waters till the well runs dry and we never see the storm coming until the strong wind starts to blow. Phrases that remain inked in Sauti Sol’s Bien Aime Baraza’s mind forever after his family suddenly moved from grace to grass.

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Bien Aime Baraza and his siblings grew up with a silver spoon for a better part of their childhood. Living a life that many would term ‘privilege’ in Nairobi’s lush neighborhood of Kilimani, rubbing shoulders with the who’s who, because that was their standard life.

His dad’s home would be mistaken for that of a politician or local chief at the time, because for majority of the underprivileged around their neighborhood, they knew Bien’s dad was the go-to person be it bursaries, be it handouts, their home housed many strangers.

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Not until life hit them from a different angle.

The steep downward slope

Narrating his ordeal through their YouTube channel Engage Talk, Bien recalled how his dad lost his job in 2000 and his mom got retrenched same time. That translated into one thing; life was never going to be the same again.

Bien and his sister had to leave the posh school. The family had to move to a smaller house, change their diet and lifestyle because that was what his dad’s savings could afford them. It got to a point they could no longer afford to pay rent in their new house and had to move out to their unfinished building of a house, for shelter.

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It came from the tasty recipes and dishes to an everyday menu of githeri. That never felt any good for Bien and his siblings. Despite the numerous applications his parents would send out month in, month out, the responses were the same “we regret.”

It became a ritual until they stopped sending applications. His parents had given up. Bien’s once all adorable, breathtaking mother was reduced to a mom who would light the firewood to boil maize and beans for her family every evening. Life completely changed forever.

Despite the major blow, his overturned childhood has taught him lessons for life; to keep his circle small, to save every little coin, to love back those that love him and always to wake up before the sunrise to toil because he never wants to go back there again! Listen to his story;