Monday, December 22, 2014 Peter and Winnie met on Facebook

Peter and Winnie Craig in their Kahawa Estate home, Nairobi. They met on Facebook after Craig had been involved in a serious motorcycle accident back home in Australia. COURTESY | DAILY NATION  

In Summary

• Winnie Thuku is Kenyan, while Peter Craig is Australian. Theirs is a love story like no other. It was woven on Facebook and four years later, has blossomed into a happy marriage, blessed with two children.
• Peter, who was in Australia, was having struggles of his own. His life had almost been cut short by a terrible motorcycle accident that left him with serious injuries to the spine. He was bedridden for two years. As a result, he quit his job and moved back to his parents’ house.
• Peter says coming to Kenya to marry a woman he had never met was the greatest leap of faith he has ever made.

When we meet the Craigs at their home in Kiamumbi in Kahawa West, we are immediately reminded of an old saying, “Love knows no reason, no boundaries, no distance”.

Winnie Thuku is Kenyan, while Peter Craig is Australian. Theirs is a love story like no other. It was woven on Facebook and four years later, has blossomed into a happy marriage, blessed with two children.

It began in 2009 when Peter sent Winnie a friend request on Facebook. Winnie accepted the request, assuming that Peter was just one of her many fans. Her first book, Broken To Be Made Whole, telling her story of pain and triumph, had made a big impact and she had many online fans.

Peter, who was in Australia, was having struggles of his own. His life had almost been cut short by a terrible motorcycle accident that left him with serious injuries to the spine. He was bedridden for two years. As a result, he quit his job and moved back to his parents’ house.
“Our friendship began when I started ministering and encouraging him because he was constantly in pain. A few months later, he began expressing interest in me, though I really wasn’t interested,” Winnie says.

But Peter convinced Winnie that he was serious. He introduced her to his parents and family by asking them to send Winnie friend requests on Facebook.

Shortly after, the two began an online relationship until Peter visited Kenya in June 2011. A week later, they had a civil wedding.
Peter says coming to Kenya to marry a woman he had never met was the greatest leap of faith he has ever made.

“It was a long journey coming to a country and a people that I knew nothing about. I, however, felt that I knew Winnie. Her core values matched mine and that was all that mattered,” he says.

Winnie’s family did not understand how she was getting married to a man she met on Facebook though that did not bother her. What did was the stigma that followed.

The society generally perceives black Kenyan women in relationships with white men as two-timing gold diggers. Society thinks the women are simply looking for money and a free ticket to a better life abroad.

Winnie bore the brunt of this misconception whenever she was with her husband on Nairobi streets.

“People assumed I was a prostitute yet I couldn’t defend myself. I was treated with suspicion but once we had our first child, they began appreciating that we were a family. Only then did I start enjoying my marriage,” she says.

Peter also says he has been a victim of the perception that a mzungu man is superior to his black counterpart and therefore more moneyed.
He says he has been approached on several occasions by women who probably thought he was not committed to his wife.

What many don’t know is that Craig has not yet been cleared to work by his doctors.

FOOT THE BILLS

This means Winnie has to take care of the family and foot all the bills.

“I do it out of love for my family. When I got married to Peter, people thought I would move to Karen, Runda or other posh estates. I have disappointed a lot of people, and many wonder what I am doing with him,” she says.

Peter’s health is getting better and he is looking forward to taking his family to Australia next year.

“I am yet to meet a man who is comfortable to sit back as his wife does all the work and pays the bills. I am eager to begin working,” he says.

The couple believes that it is possible to have a successful inter-racial marriage, because all it takes is understanding the other person’s culture and personal preferences. Winnie adds that it is possible for an African woman to truly love a white man without strings attached.

“I look at where he was when we met, and I usually tell him that I don’t think there is a Kenyan girl who would have loved him the way I loved him, given how money-minded many Kenyan women are,” says Winnie
Says Peter,

“You have to be loving and caring and willing to work with each other towards a common ground because what could be normal to one person could be abnormal to the other person - you also have to put each other first and be patient and understanding,” says Peter.
Oh, and it is true, Winnie confirms, that White men treat their women better, if her experience with Peter is anything to go by.

“I would never think of dating an African man, now that I am married to a white man. To a white man, there are no specific chores for men and women. My husband helps out in the house with the cooking and with the children, especially when I was on bed rest during my two pregnancies. He is always taking care of me,” she says.