Written by Clifton Gachagua

Sitawa Namwalie and Yusef Kumunyakaa at the American Embassy tent, Storymoja Hay Festival, 2011

The session was moderated by Njeri Wangari of ‘Mines and Mind Fields’. The discussion focused on the meanings of slam poetry, spoken word and poetry in general. Njeri asked whether slam poetry is necessary at all, and what competitions do to the psyche of the poets who don’t win. Beth Lisick started writing poetry by reading it out to people in bars and cafes in San Francisco just when the slam movement was beginning in the 90s. She said that performance was a great way to meet other writers and hear voices from across America. Slam poets are restricted to three minutes on stage so they end up with perfectly honed poems like pop songs. There are great poets who slam and are fine if they loose. Marc Smith, the man who started slam poetry in Chicago, said the point is the poetry not the poet.

Yusef’s thought on written versus spoken poetry; he took a class from Indiana University and the young poets there came back to class with the question ‘why doesn’t the best poem win?’ Yusef said “Perhaps it takes us back to the oral tradition where poetry comes from, but I do think that the poem has to live on the page as well, it has to deal with that silence. And in living on the page the poem beckons, it invites the reader to experience the poem in a different way. The reader is also co-creator of meaning; the poem isn’t an ad for an emotion but the poem can live in different ways again and again, and there is a kind of passion and trust in language. The image is also important. I don’t think the image is as important in slam poetry as statement. The statement can evaporate with time. The image is rather subversive, and that way, perhaps, the poem that lives on the page may be more political; we are talking about time and endurance.”

Wamathai who runs Wamathai.com, an online platform for poets, started blogging by accident. He had been writing for a long time when facebook came and he decided to share a short story. He got overwhelming response and shared more poetry and stories until facebook became a limiting platform. He decided to open his own site. “The internet is amazing,” he said. “You can be unpublished offline but published online.”  People from all over the world can come to your blog or website and read your work. He gets 500,000 hits per month.

Wamathai reading a poem off his phone

Tony Mochama shared different thoughts on publishing. There are still unsold copies his first book of poetry while there are no copies of his second book of fiction ‘The Road To Eldoret’. People approach poetry as if it is an easy thing, he said. “I always feel so fiercely defensive of poetry because I feel like it is that beautiful lastborn child, the one you feel protective about, as opposed to the big bully novel.” Mochama said. He admits that there are many charlatans in the Kenyan open mic scene, people who go there to pour out their souls and get laid.

Ngwatilo Mawiyoo of ‘Blue Mothertongue’ said that the open mic space prefers a certain kind of performance, which is limiting when you want to experiment with different forms. She started her own projects.

Samo Bryton also insisted on it being about the poem rather than the poet. The numerous blogs, open mic sessions in the city offer spaces to be competitive which takes the attention to the poet rather than the poem. So the question is, are you really growing as a poet? “Poetry has to be interactive. Like when Beth Lisick performed with a band behind her,” Samo added.

The session was punctuated with amazing performances from all the poets and it was amazing to see how their diverse cultures and experiences all spoke with the same intended and unintended meanings.

From left; a member of the audience, Tony Mochama, Wamathai, Samo Bryton and Njeri Wangari

Written by Linda Musita

Freedom of expression on the Internet was the topic of discussion at the US Embassy tent on Sunday, the 18^th of September 2011. Ahmed Salim, Jonathan Ledgard, Susan Pointer, Basil Ibrahim and Njeri Rionge were the panelists.

Pointer who works at Google was quick and happy; to rightly say that the best thing about the internet is that one does not have to seek permission to put their views online. Social media has democratized access to information and that is a good thing. However this freedom makes governments and politicians nervous and sometimes they go as far as shutting down websites or user generated content on You Tube, for instance and even blocking access to various sites. She acknowledged that some people take the freedom too far. However it falls back on personal responsibility not to abuse the freedom

Ledgard gave an example of Ethiopia where internet access is so expensive making it less of a priority for the majority. This is a clever way of restricting the peoples’ access to information and protecting the government from the possible revolutions that can be sparked by social media. Also in Ethiopia, the person in charge of the ministry that deals with information and communication is also the boss of the national intelligence service. That cannot be a coincidence.

What the politicians do not understand according to Pointer is that the internet is not a threat to them; it is an opportunity for them as well. An opportunity to connect with their people and find out what is working and what is not working. That in away makes it a tool that can counter or prevent and make revolutions such as the one witnessed in Egypt unnecessary.  Being active online will also help governments create practical regulations on internet use because they will be doing it from an informed position. Presently, the laws and regulations are made by the wrong people who keep forgetting that the internet is global and not national.

Basil Ibrahim, on regulations, insisted that as much as Parliament makes the laws, the citizens also have an open responsibility to read that legislation and give feedback to the legislature before the bills are passed. It beats logic to complain about laws that you had an opportunity to rectify but chose not to.

Rionge asked the panelists to talk about online experiences that changed the world. Salim mentioned the Egyptian revolution. It did inspire many Africans; Kenyans included who wanted to copy and paste the concept. His argument however was, that was an Egyptian idea that worked for them, in the same way that the Walk to Work campaign was a Ugandan thing that at the time was relevant and applicable in Uganda. Kenyans then, if they wanted a ‘revolution’ had to come up with their own original idea that matches their situation and was likely to solve their problems.

Ahmed Salim speaking at a previous event

Salim is the brain behind two initiatives that were born, so to speak, on the internet, moved to the mainstream media and by default to the wider population of Kenyans that are not online. The first one was the United Kenya Campaign that started during the Constitution Referendum period which carried the message of peace during the voting process. The second initiative was Feed Kenya. He used the internet to urge people to skip a meal and send Kshs.250 directly to the Red Cross number t help feed the hungry in Northern Kenya. His target then was10, 000 Kenyans.

Ibrahim put a wet blanket on the rampant nationalism online. The internet is a global entity and revolutions should go beyond one nation; just like they did before. Ledgard, pointed out that tribalism is also driven on the internet. There are instances where a Kalenjin will decline a friend request from a kikuyu or a Luo will decline a friend request from a Kalenjin or a kikuyu. There are also groups that are more or less tribal exclusive clubs and they may be ignored now but they have the potential of going out of control. The same thing with religion ; Muslims against Christians and Christians against Muslims.

Lucy from the audience took the conversation to the dangerous type of socialization that social media represents. For instance people only interact with people who think like them or behave like them. They will not follow or make friends with people who have different opinions or come from different cultures. How then do they learn new things or develop independent opinions? She grew up in a different socialization. People talked, travelled, got out of their houses and saw things differently almost on a daily basis. It was not a ‘my world’ society.

She also noted that the internet and its constant interruptions in the form of messages and notifications interfere with work. It has made people move away from ‘silence’ when in fact “Great work and good creativity are created in silence”. Here Rionge agreed that the society is moving away from the original community based thinking to a more selfish individual way of living. The mind has shifted gears to “Everything I need to know is online. What do I need human interaction for? “

Another discussion was on privacy. What if the information that a person puts online, while exercising that freedom of expression is used negatively? Pointer said that people will intrude into the cozy ‘my world’ and challenge the comfort and complacency. However we should not be naïve to the various ways of protecting privacy, one of them being the Google Privacy Dashboard.

Most importantly the internet is a good thing but we should not take it for granted that it is here to stay. We have to work hard to ensure that it grows and remains a permanent aspect of world history.

Written by Elizabeth Ombati

Dayan Masinde had a lovely session with kids from Kibera Mpira Mtaani at the Publish your Own Book tent.

Excitement rent the air as the children took to their sitting positions readying themselves to publish their own books. “So far we have just written compositions in the classroom setting,” some could be heard whispering.

A Publish Your Own Book session led by Dayan Masinde

When Dayan asked if they loved to read, all hands were held up as they listed books they loved. They mentioned The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiongo, Kifo Kisimani by Kithaka wa Mberia, The Magic Calabash as among those they had enjoyed to read.

“What makes a good story?” The children felt that a good story should be captivating by having good drama. They listed Machachari on Citizen TV, XYZ on Kiss TV, Tahidi High and Papa Shirandula as among stories with a good drama going on. The Daily Nation’s cartoon by Gado, Tingatinga tales were also said to be good illustrations.

Dayan said a nice story also has to have a good title and cover. He introduced illustrators who would help the children to make good covers for their stories. They were Melitas Ogallo, Joel Siaga and Ndinda as the writer to help the kids to give colour to the stories.

The children were then engaged in a lively discussion to come up with ideas on a fictitious story. The title of the story was to be ‘The Most Embarrassing Toment…’

Before suggesting story ideas the children gave accounts of their most embarrassing moments.

“When I was in Form 1, I joined a group of girls who were noisemakers. Once the teacher found us making noise, took us to the staffroom and gagged our mouths with cello tape. We were lined up and other students were told ‘Socialize with them at your own risk’” said one of the children as the others laughed.

The children then came up with fictitious characters for a common start to a story. Afterwards each of the children was to give their own endings.

The children decided to write a story about Akulu. Her father was presenting a gift during her brother’s wedding ceremony aired in all TV channels only for Akulu to realize that his zip was open. What happened next?

The children’s common beginning went…

MY MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT!

One day, my father and I were attending a wedding at Uhuru Park. My brother Otongolo was getting married. The wedding was being broadcast live on many TV channels; even in the very famous Magoti TV. My brother is a very famous man, so many people had attended this wedding. His bride, Nyaboke looked very spectacular in her white gown.

When people started giving the newlyweds gifts, my father Mr. Odhiek stood in haste to gift the couple some dried fish he had travelled with from Ugenya.

I was sitting next to Maria, a friend of mine from Katumbo Primary School. When my father was just about to speak, Maria nudged me with her elbow, telling me that my father’s zip was wide open.

I was in dismay. I didn’t know what to do, or what to say. The camera men were focusing on my father, unaware of his zip situation. I tried to signal him, but I was too hidden in the crowd to get his attention.

I was still trying to compose myself as fast as I could. I quickly strode to the dais despite the dense atmosphere.

“EXCUSE ME BABA, YOUR ZIP IS WIDE OPEN,” the speakers blared all over Uhuru Park! I had forgotten that the microphone was on.

The whole crowd went silent. Everyone stopped murmuring, staring at my dad……………

Written by Clifton Gachagua

The session was moderated by Keguro Macharia. “It’s rare that I get to introduce living poets because my academic work focuses on the late 19^th and 20^th century,” Macharia jested. “It’s wonderful to be in the presence of live poets.”

Sitawa Namwalie and Yusef Kumunyakaa at the American Embassy tent, Storymoja Hay Festival, 2011

From the late 1970s through the present Yusef has in many ways redefined poetry in the US and indeed in the world. One of the things he is most noted form is giving a form, a voice, and a language to Vietnam; a war about which much is still not known and less is said. In many poems he has written over the years he has given us names, voices, scenes, intimacies; he has taught us to think about Vietnam in terms of love and lust, in terms of real bodies and emotions; he has given us memories and histories that we did not have access to, for which is an immeasurable, uncountable gift. But he has also taught to listen to poetry, he is renowned as one of the foremost jazz poets, someone who works in the blues…which has meant for many of us about the form of poetry, what we hear and where we hear it; thinking about scenes and sets of making and unmaking, of becoming and unbecoming.”

Sitawa Namwalie has helped to change the scene of Kenyan poetry, perhaps by public and visible, by having the courage to speak about the post-election violence in ways that many of us wanted to avoid to speak, by giving voice to rage, by giving voice to anger, but also by giving voice to tenderness.    When I first read ‘Cut Off My Tongue’ I though to myself about the juxtaposition of immense violence in that collection and immense love. In her more recent work ‘Homecoming’ Sitawa continues to explore questions of identity spanning beyond Kenya.

Keguro continues the introduction: “In one of the poems called unnatural state of the unicorn Yusef writes:

Introduce me first as a man.

Don’t mention superficial laurels

The dead heap up on the living.

I want to introduce them as people, and perhaps I have done a bad job so I will let the poets introduce themselves.”

Yusef read from Requiem, which tries to capture from a distance, in a way, a kind of embedded experience in his psyche pertaining to hurricane Katrina.

One of Sitawa’s original awakenings was meeting an African-American girl from Louisiana called Patrice when she was 12. To her Louisiana became a fairytale; a mythical, beautiful place and she can never quite accept the devastations and what Yusef writes about in Requiem. She started writing poetry in 2007. Sitawa reminisced on the good times during 2002 when Kenyans were the most optimistic people in the world. She read we thought we had arrived written this year but which talks about 2007.

Keguro asked about sound in poetry -the sound of now and the spaces we inhabit, seeing that Yusef is associated with jazz and the blues and Sitawa so often incorporates music in her performance.

Yusef believes that a person hears the voice and his body is the resonator. “Music has always been important to me. Just the fact that one breathes has a lot to do with music,” he said. “I grew up with music in the background and we sort of internalized sound, we remember sound. For me, also, silence is a part of sound. We do not have music without silence, so there is a kind of merged relation that takes place. The body sorts of keeps us harnessed to sound. I don’t think of myself as a jazz poet, I do know that there are some jazz poets out there… I just happen to write a few related jazz-blues poems. A poem that tends to capture a certain element of sound maybe a poem such as The Performance.

the knee gotta be

so deep words can’t

answer simple questions

all night long notes

stumble off the tongue

& color the air indigo

so deep fragments of gut

& flesh cling to the song…

Sitawa’s poetry makes use of rhythm and music in a way that she is not entirely aware of. It is sort of an unknown undercurrent that takes over her poems. She read the poem Would you?

Concerning the risk that poets take to write emotionally difficult poems, Yusef talked about the different kinds of music in poetry, and especially that of meditation in Sitawa’s Would you? There is a kind of music that challenges one in a different way. “I think of the longer line as the line that, in a way, challenges the reader for a moment of meditation, and the shorter line as a kind of vertical plunge; this music of contemporary confrontation.” To underscore the meaning of the music of meditation Yusef read a prose poem called Warhorses.

Sitawa feels honored to be able to express some feelings in the poem, not just for herself but for others. When the poem resonates with other people they find an avenue to express the difficult emotions they carry, so it is a kind of relief.  Sitawa’s Carcass of the House is an example of a difficult poem. Written in September 2009, it is about the peculiar feelings she felt driving through a highway and seeing half-burnt, broken down houses in a place that is still of the most incredible beauty in the world.

Thinking about memory and the place of memory in monument Yusef read Facing It, a poem that returns to that idea of what one see, what one remembers and how one remembers. Yusef never planned to write about his experience and observations in Vietnam but once when he was renovating a house he found himself writing about Vietnam. It took him about 14 years to write about these experiences. What one experiences, often silence, is part of that emotional, psychological equation.

Written by Clifton Gachagua

Jane Bussmann probed the world of self –development. The guests, Beth Lisick, Ross Van Horn and Neil Shah, wanted to know if the audience understood what self-help means. Neil Shah: “What does self-help mean? What is personal development, this multi-billion dollar industry where people are trying to sell you training programs, books, CDs? What was your expectation of self-help and personal development before you walked into this tent? The better we understand that the better we are able to help you do something with that.”

Beth Lisick, Ross Van Horn and Neil Shah

The session was very interactive. There were different views all coming back to the realization of the individual and improving the self; make yourself be the best that you can be as an individual to achieve what you are capable of achieving; a journey through life, never accepting a status quo; taking incredible risks; a question of thinking outside the box; self-discovery and acceptance of the authentic YOU. If we are able to understand our passions and try to follow them instead of conforming to the pressures around us that don’t make us happy, then that’s the meaning of self-help.

One person from the audience nearly got killed climbing Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro because he wanted to challenge himself, to be a better person and drown out the voices that kept telling him that he could not do it.

Coach Ross Van Horn had this to say about self –development: “We have many stories inside us. There is no one trajectory that is right for all of us. I, for one, spent ten years in the fine arts before I moved into the self-help business. We have this idea that the best thing to do is make a bee line towards wealth and success and the perfect family, but I think there is a lot more going on and that there are different stories that we can choose to have in different phases in our lives.  I focus on the relationships we have and developing quality relationships that help us move forward and also understanding that there is not just one story; there are many.”

If we ask ten different people what self-help is, we get ten different answers.  So we cannot have a single answer that will solve all the ten problems. Neil Shay said: “if we look at the diet industry, for example, you’ve got the…low carb, low fat, low protein. If I create this new diet book and I say that this is the one that will help you all to loose weight, and I use it and loose weight, but Ross follows it and it doesn’t work out well for him, Beth follows it and it kills her… the point I’m making it that we are all unique. There isn’t a one size fits all solution. It’s important that you find your own path and your own way of doing things.

Beth was initially skeptical and cynical about interdependence and looking at people around her, she grew up thinking that it was not meant for her, that she was meant to do things on her own. People’s ideas around her concerning self-help were not the best, they mostly discouraged her. Not everyone will salute you for being such a maverick and trying to better your life. So we have to try and transcend above this; to find new supportive circles; to re-invent and reframe the way we look at friends and situations and the challenges they bring.

The process of helping others, as Neil Shah put it, begins with helping yourself first. Before you set out to change and influence your family, friends or partners you have to address your needs first, because that’s where it all begins.

One of the best perspectives from the audience was self-help as the idea of positive thinking and an abundance of mentality.

Up to what point can you consider yourself self-helped? Is it when you have amassed enough wealth and fit into a social definition of success and can finally sit on a throne and write your own book on how to succeed? Or is more of a personal victory over the small but monumental challenges of life? The questions we ask determine the directions our lives take.

Neil Shay said: “I hate the term self-help; I hate the term personal development; I despite the term guru with a passion. For me it’s about growth and growing. As far as I’m concerned if you are not growing you are dying. For me it’s about spiritual, mental, physical, emotional growth. It’s not a destination; it’s a journey, one that does not end, because when you die there are still tonnes that you haven’t done. It’s not possible to learn everything, but its just about learning how best to experience, how you can achieve your potential, how you can drive yourself towards your destiny, how you can contribute and add value to your families, societies, communities, and how you can fill fulfilled.”

Beth Lisick said that she bought 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People and sat alone at home reading it. The idea of interdependence and being proactive resonated with her. And this moment at home by herself was the most important at the time. The cost of self-help can be very prohibitive. There are seminars and workshops and numerous books to choose from, but you can do a lot more by yourself by reading one single book that resonates with you.

Knowledge is power, IF APPLIED, Neil insisted. There are people who have spent a lot of money on self-help programs but they are not where they intended to be.

Written by Elizabeth Ombati

On the third day of the festival, students from Precious Blood Riruta and Kibera Mpira Mtaani interacted with Moroccan-Dutch writer, journalist and long-distance runner Abdelkader Benali, who has been described as one of Netherlands’ leading writers with 20 books to his name.

Having travelled to many African countries including Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Egypt, Tunis, Tanzania and of course Kenyas, he shared his thoughts toward football in the continent and beyond.

Love football first…

Mpira Mtaani

“The love of football has to surpass that of winning or losing,” he told the children. “To make a decision about football, there is need to love it first. Then good decisions will be made to benefit footballers, managers and the country at large.”

The rivalry between Netherlands and Germany…

The children wished to know the history of the football rivalry existing between Netherlands and Germany. Benali said that it all started with the occupation of Netherlands by Germans in the Second World War and the fact that Netherlands lost to Germany in 1974 World Cup. “In the Netherlands, it does not matter who you play for as long as you win against Germany,” he said to the children.

Football is about surprises…

Benali did not have a ready answer to a child who asked if he could predict the winner of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He however spoke of his love for Lionel Messi who he said makes football look like a child’s game. “Even Kenya can make it to the finals,” he said to the smiling audience.

Taking the blame…

“Who is to blame when a game is lost?” the question was posed. Benali said that it is hard to lay entire blame on either the players or the coach as football is unpredictable. He added that there should exist team spirit in the team.

Football and showbiz…

Benali mentioned that it is important for football players to be humble and disciplined. “There are those who will spend time clubbing instead of practicing; others will go to the car dealers to look for the latest cars.” He said that money and fame should not blind the footballers’ souls but rather they should maintain balance and discipline in their work.

African players I admire…

Roger Milla and Didier Drogba. Drogba is a good professional and also disciplined while Roger Milla, apart from leading his team into the World Cup quarter finals in 1990, he is a good dancer!

Give footballers an education…

Benali said that footballers should learn languages, get an education because there is life before and after football. “Life is actually longer after football,” he quipped. Benali said that education is important so as to avoid vulnerabilities like not being able to make decisions as far as contracts and managing money is concerned.

I would go crazy…

“If I ever stopped running I would go crazy as it keeps me sane and healthy,’ Benali said. He told a young girl who sought to find out if he always finishes his races that at one point in time even kids finished a running race before him and he felt humbled.

If my favourite team is beaten…

“I used to be depressed for three days,” Benali said. “I would send them emails asking, why did you lose, would even throw away the jersey, only to buy another after a day!.” Benali made the kids laugh at this comment. However he said that with time he handles loses in a less drastic manner.

Memories from Kenya

“Running in Uhuru park,” Benali said. However Benali found it amusing that people actually stopped to stare at him as he ran! “But Kenyans are great people,” he said.

Written by Elizabeth Ombati

Members of Kuruka Maisha juggling at the Storyhippo village

The Storyhippo Village was a beehive of activity as more children kept trooping in to sample events specially meant for them.

The weather was been warm since the Festival started. This, coupled with the lively atmosphere at the Storyhippo Village and the colorful decorations donning every tent, transformed the the Village into one big party. Activities lined for the second day included a storytelling session, funky science experiments, reading, drawing, a musical puppet show and an awards ceremony for the schools that participated in the Reading Revolution.

At the Kenya National Library Services pupils continued with reading sessions, loosing themselves to the magic world of words. Sarah Otieno, a manager at KNLS said “The children are slowly finding it hard to stop reading.” Agnes and Daniella, both from Embakasi Secondary school in Nairobi, said that the Hay Festival had not only given them a chance to meet renowned authors but that it had given them a chance to learn writing skills in addition to building on their vocabulary through reading sessions at the KNLS.

Ogutu Muraya, performer, writer, playwright and storyteller kept the storytelling fire burning with a powerful narration to pupils aged 9 and 10 years from Kilimani Primary School. “Seeing these kids’ happy faces and their youthful energy motivates me to keep telling these stories; and the fact that they have so much to learn,” he said.

At the BIC tent, children both in primary and secondary schools spent the day drawing and writing as the final day for the winning piece drew near. Already more than 500 kids have passed through the tent to draw and paint. The drawings hang near the entrance to the tent and it is amazing the talent exhibited in the pieces.

Participating students at the BIC tent, Storymoja Hay Festival, 2011

Among drawings of interest was a portrait of Ben Okri, a Nigerian poet and author present at the Festival who must have impressed the kids so much as to warrant their drawing him!

Master of Mine, a pencil portrait of Nigerian writer Ben Okri drawn by a primary school pupil in Nairobi

“I didn’t know I could draw this beautifully,” said Everline Awour, of Embakasi Girls Sec School flanked by Whitney Daniels who exclaimed, “We didn’t expect this. We don’t even want to leave.”

At the Scotland Yard, funky science experiments to instill the love of sciences in the kids also hit their second day with the kids being shown how a volcano erupts, making a windmill and the science behind the telephone.

Fun with Science tent

Utawala it is…

On June 16^th this year, Kenya set a National record in reading.  84,300 children from across Kenya read a story titled ‘Lydia’s Gift’ aloud to commemorate the Day of the African child. Pupils were also required to provide their own endings to the story.

Utawala Academy emerged winner as the school with the highest number of submissions. As Florence Odhiambo, the headmistress walked to the podium to pick the trophy from Emily Gumba, the Programme and Business Development manager at British Council, the packed tent broke into song and dance.

“We are privileged to have emerged tops,” said Florence, and indeed, it is evident to see why the school took home the trophy. Mrs. Florence brought together 380 pupils in Classes 6,7 and 8 and encouraged them to send their pieces.

“For 40 minutes during their preps time I watched over them as they wrote the stories. I’m glad the effort has paid off,” she said. Ms Gumba told the pupils in attendance that as inspiration to write come from reading, they should read as many books as possible. “If you have an idea, let it flourish,” she told them.

Dorothy Amayo, an English teacher at Utawala Academy, noted that the Storymoja program is motivating and inspiring to Kenyan children. “It has helped them to love to write and their composition writing has greatly improved.”

Ms Gumba said that over 100 schools participated in the Reading Revolution and added that commitment and dedication shown from individual schools will keep the event running. She said, “Children used to make journeys to administrative offices like the District Commissioner’s offices to celebrate the Day of the African Child. However the reading revolution has brought a new dimension to the children and has given them an opportunity to look at education in a different way… and not walk all the way to the chief’s office to celebrate!”

In the same event, 19 year old Mikha’elah Zeigler launched her book, To steal a Mummy and encouraged more children to write.

Music Puppet Show

Acrobatic dancers from the Kuruka Maisha Foundation spent the afternoon entertaining kids and parents with well-coordinated and eye-catching acrobatic dancing moves, skipping rope and juggling. As the dances went on, voices of children reading from Gamba the Gecko wants to Drum could be heard in the background.

Members of Kuruka Maisha juggling at the Storyhippo village

The jugglers were dressed in white fitting T-shirts and black sporty trousers while the girls had pink skin tights and white wrap-arounds and white T-shirts.

Kaboge, the team leader and in charge of the drums gave a brief history of the drums. The Baboombombo drums are played in the Giriama community and they represent the ocean. They are used for bass and rhythm.

Drummer Kaboge doing what he does best, drumming

The Bunde are from the Luo community and also shared with the Kamba and Luhya. The Jembe drum is from West Africa while the Isikuti drums are from the Western province. Another drum, a long one is from Meru and Chuka. All the drums produced different sounds that guided the acrobatics in their dances.

Kuruka Maisha Foundation consists of former street children taken off the streets and given different skills in acrobatic dance, music, drumming, poetry and fine arts by the Foundation.

Abram Ochieng, the youngest and tiniest of them at 16 says that initially he used to be idle in the streets but since he was taken in by Kuruka Maisha, life has more meaning. Being the tiniest in the group, he could be seen balancing high up on the air lifted by the heavier boys. “Performing for kids in such a festival gives me stage confidence and am excited to see small children have expressions of awe when they see us perform,” he said.

Their take

As the clock ticked to 5pm, children could be seen trooping out of the Festival grounds, animated voices, new friends on tag and faces that said, “I had the time of my life.” We caught up with teachers and pupils from Baba Dogo Primary School in Nairobi who had so much to say about the day.

“Some of these children have never been to Nairobi city centre, it was amazing the look on their faces as they saw the tall buildings in the city centre,” said Teacher Hellen Kasyi who had brought a group of 50 to the festival. “Today they have been exposed to different ways of learning like publishing their own stories and they have made new friends too,” she said.

“I feel encouraged to pursue my interest in writing,” said Erick who had just attended a writing workshop, “Through interaction with different pupils I have been encouraged to work especially hard as I am in my final year of primary school.

Michael said he had played a lot and even painted a house, while Lavender who wants to be a doctor enjoyed reading In the land of the Kitchen, a children’s book published under Storymoja Africa.

Dayan Masinde, a well known illustrator and hosting Publish Your Own Book in Two Hours for the second year was inspired by the good work the group of 32 students did. “By these exercises we want to foster creativity and inspire future writers,” he said.

Dayan Masinde, standing, a well known illustrator and host of Publish Your Own Book, PYOB

The theme for the day was ‘The Most Embarrassing Moment’. It was a story about Mr. Makuti who was addressing a children’s assembly in the presence of the head of the Ministry of Education. Suddenly Mr.Makuti farts! From this embarrassing moment the children came up with own a personalized endings.

“Children should know that it is not when they are all grown up that they should start to write. They can do it in their young age,” noted Dayan.

Written by Salem Lorot 

When Storymoja offered me a free Saturday pass to Storymoja Hay Festival 2011 because of my participation in the activities of the Storymoja Writers’ Blog, I had no idea of how much I stood to benefit. I remember being excited at the prospect of mingling with established writers and hearing them speak. But it was more of a sketchy, hazy, far-fetched idea of how it will turn out to be.

At 11 a.m, I was seated at the Storymoja tent ready to listen to Abdelkader Benali, a soft-spoken, humorous writer, and Peter Moore, the writer of Swahili for the Broken Hearted. Benali talks about traversing the cities of Africa. He tells us about the story of Didier Drogba and of his role in shaping the politics of Ivory Coast. Didier had played in the war-torn Bouaké which is located centrally in Ivory Coast. He had wanted to promote peace and send a powerful message of unity. I listened intently to the football story and its ability to connect people and promote unity. “Football story is important for self-empowerment”, said Benali.

It was a journey to Mali, Ivory Coast, South Africa. Abdelkader reminds us of Michael booth, the only white in the soccer team of South Africa who was always cheered and loved.  The question was thus whether football bridged colour lines especially when he had witnessed Bafana Bafana play with Jamaica and listening to commentaries being done in English, Zulu and Xhosa.

But as the conversation drew to the end, Abdelkader recounted the tale of a 28 year old Ghanaian man who had passion for football and dreamed to go to Europe but couldn’t play much. I found the story of the young man intriguing. Here was man who loved something and could do anything that it would have taken to accomplish his dream to the point of having all the travelling documents set. But ironically, he had no talent and couldn’t make it anyway. But as Benali thought, he would have done well in other fields because he had the drive and the right mental attitude.

At some point, Benali gave me something to think about. He was in Macedonia in a boat and all of a sudden his strange host a bit far screams, “…Beirut…India…Pakistan…Poof poof (gesticulating a gunshot)…problem…no problem”. What do you do in such circumstances? More importantly, what is the message? That is a food for thought. But Benali found those kinds of dialogue most interesting and memorable.

What I captured from Peter Moore was the labyrinth of his travel chronicles. But what I had to record was what he said about travel writing. He said that it must have a theme and angle which were the keys to hang on the story. As to the carefully laid out travel outcome most travel writers suffer from, he advised people to “let things happen”. Sometimes great stories are born out of twists and turns and not patterned processes.

The first session was over.

In the second session, seated a metre away from the British High Commissioner, Rob Macaire, Abdelkader Benali and Paralympic champion Mary Nakhumitsa, I drank from the words of these great people. The highlight of the interview was the inspiration that Nakhumitcha drew in her story of having won 12 gold medals, 11 silver medals and 6 bronze medals, despite her disability. Through her story, she helps us look at persons with disabilities from a different light—that of strength and not weakness, that of champions and not losers. Further commenting on the perceived ‘weaknesses’ of persons with disabilities, Benali stated that ‘nobody is able’ and that ‘we have talents and weaknesses. We get closer to talents and further from weaknesses’. Further, he stated that ‘the more disadvantaged one is, the further one goes”. I found that to be profound.

From left, Mary Nakhumitsa, British High Commissioner to Kenya Rob Macaire and Abdelkader Benali, marathoner

On his running career, Benali describes ‘second breath’ as the defining moment in one’s victory, a point when one sprints to victory in the last 50 or so metres away from the finishing line. I thought about second breath we need in our various spheres of life. May be a second breath in our writing life? A second breath in our relationships? A second breath in our careers?

But even more inspiring and a bit confusing is what he had observed among great athletes who ‘ran well and rested better’ which enable their bodies to recover. This, according to Benali, set apart a professional athlete from an amateur—professionals knew when to train hard when they were supposed to train hard and trained easy when needed.

On what inspired him to write, Benali was hard put to explain this. He had been raised in a Moroccan village where in their home they only had two books: a Qur’an and a telephone book. When he moved to Rotterdam Netherlands, he was awed by life there and wrote to ‘surprise people’. He could write well to catch the attention of his teachers of him as this ‘Moroccan boy’. He said that language is like law and that it can change somebody’s life. His phrase ‘dictatorship of modern life’ that calls for one to exercise wisdom in picking one thing to do in life is something worth pondering about.;

In the evening, I listen to Sitawa Namwalie and Yusef Komunyakaa after a glowing introduction delivered by Keguro Macharia. And it doesn’t disappoint. Sitawa reads us her poem ‘We Thought We Had Arrived’, an emotionally difficult poem that revisits the 2007/2008 Post-Poll Violence. She also reads a similar piece ‘Would You?’ which asks the most fundamental questions of our existence. Yusef, referred to as a “Jazz/blues poet’ by Keguro, speaks of a type of poetry known as ‘music of meditation’ as one that challenges one’s emotions. This, he adds, are the ones with longer lines. He also views poetry as a ‘celebration and confrontation’. Sitawa sees poetry as both whimsical and dry-eyed technical; whimsical in the sense that it puts down random thoughts without regard to form and structure and technical in the sense that a poem would be then crafted to better structure and form.

As both of these great living poets continue to read and recite their poetry, I am seated there amazed at their sizzling talents. They entertain as well as challenge me. I see myself seated there reading my own poetry from my own book. I see myself grappling with my life’s questions that I can’t answer.

When the events of the day climax with R-rated story-telling from Nick Hennessey, Mugambi, Muraya, Anne Moraa, the presenters of East FM, amongst other talented writers, I could not help but think about the talent exhibited by these souls. In a span of a day, I had acquired so much, had fun and mingled with the stars!

Written by Kenne Mwikya

Something very peculiar happened during the “Human Rights and Sexual Minorities” panel at the Storymoja Tent on Saturday afternoon. Five minutes before the event, the tent was virtually empty apart from the presence of David Kuria, the panel moderator, Monica Kareithi, a panel participant and sexual minorities’ law expert and I. A minute into the event, the tent was full.

The discussion panel consisted of David Kuria of Gay Kenya, Monica Kareithi of the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Norwegian Ambassador, H.E. Per Ludvig Magnus. Later on, an openly gay member of the United States Embassy and Elphas Naivasha, Chairman of the Gay Kenya Trust, joined in to say a few words.

The Norwegian Ambassador started off by giving a brief history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights as seen through human rights, beginning from the drafting and adoption of the United Nations Declarations of Human Rights and subsequent ratifications by states, to the resolutions and challenges more than sixty years, and the Norwegian government’s history of recognising LGBTI Rights. The ambassador noted that LGBTI rights were not “western impositions” but ideals which nations imposed on themselves.

Ms. Monica narrated to the audience her own experiences in doing a Masters Degree in Law with a specification of sexual orientation and gender identity. She also pointed out the initial marginalisation of LGBTI rights within the human rights community. She stressed on the difference between sodomy and homosexuality, and emphasised on the fact that it was sodomy – or male same gender sex – that was criminalised and not homosexuality. On the new Kenyan constitution, she made a reference to Section 43 that guarantees access to health for all Kenyans hence, the inclusion of LGBTI folk into access to health. On whether homosexuality was un-African, a much emphasised argument among anti-LGBTI discourses, she gave examples of the Kikuyu and Kamba as communities in which there existed persons who lived and “coupled” with same sex partners.

I got to ask how effective the human rights language was when it came to addressing the question of LGBTI rights. Monica answered that public knowledge of human rights was an integral part of understanding their importance and the need to include everyone into the human rights framework, part of the “social awareness” campaign in the increasingly globalised world.

Monica also talked about the multi-pronged strategies in place to facilitate the decriminalisation of sodomy and related laws in Kenya, ranging from training of lawyers and judges on sexual minorities and gender identity to public litigation and change of legislation.

She ended her talk by stating that the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) in partnership with the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) was working towards decriminalisation of anti-LGBTI laws present in the Kenyan Penal Code.

A book, “My Way, Your Way and the Rights Way”, a Kenyan publication on LGBTI rights, was also on sale.

About the attendance and the quality of the questions asked during the event, David Kuria replied, “It was really good. A lot of people asked really good questions unlike last year where people were asking who the man and woman in a gay relationship were. That’s what high school kids are asking this year.”

Written by Linda Musita

From left: Mary Nakhumitsa, record holder in javelin, short put and discus, British High Commissioner to Kenya Rob Macaire and Abdelkader Benali, marathoner and one of Netherlands' leading writers.

Two athletes, Mary Nakhumitsa and Abdelkader Benali sat with the British High Commissioner to Kenya and discussed their triumphs on and off the track. Nakhumitsa is a paralympics champion. The twenty year record holder in javelin, short put and throwing the discus is very proud of her achievements and on Saturday, she wore her 30 medals around her neck. She has won 12 gold medals, 11 silver medals and 6 bronze medals. She also received an OGW Award from former president Moi and she prides herself in being the only paralympic champion in East Africa. Nakhumitsa got into sports when she was ten years old, with the help and encouragement of her father who is her trainer/coach to date.

She talked about disabled people and how sports makes them stronger. However, she conveyed her worries about the others who cannot do sport. They are educated, they have good grades and good papers, but no one will hire them. This, according to Mary, affects them emotionally and she sees it as a form of discrimination that should be snipped at its base.

Benali pointed out that in the athletics world there is no such thing as ‘abled’ or ‘disabled’. All of them have respect for each other and as human beings they are aware that they all have weaknesses. They all strive and struggle to fight and overcome these weaknesses. They all train rigorously and share the same ‘setbacks and problems’ experiences. “The more disadvantages you have, the further you go in life because you know that you have no choice but to overcome them,” he added.

Abdelkader Benali was born in a remote village in Morocco, a place where electricity and the luxuries of the city were non existent. When he was four years old, his family moved to Netherlands. It was a different world where everyone seemed perfect. He did not feel at home at first. Fitting in was a problem. He spoke of a time in school when the students in his class ‘reminded’ him that he was from Morocco and asked if he was going back home soon. “I told them, no, I am here to stay.”  One day he was watching Tv, still in that state of feeling out of place and without purpose, on screen an athletics race was about to start. “Skinny, almost half naked men” were lined up and the commentator mentioned that one of the runners, a Moroccan, was definitely going to win the race. He, Benali, thought that that could be him as well and as the running began he felt like he was running with the other Moroccan and his connection to Africa was resurrected. For the first time in his life, he had a hero. Later he went and bought running shoes, that did  not fit and his reaction to the pinch of the shoes was, “Oh wow! Running shoes hurt!”

The marathoner said that over the years he has developed great respect for Kenyan runners. His sense of humor kicks in again when he explains how Kenyan runners are either training or sleeping. It is always one or the other. If they are not training they are sleeping, even on a twenty minute bus ride. The sleeping, it turns out, rejuvinates and rests the body. He also commended them on their attitude. “With Kenyan athletes, it doesn’t matter how hot or cold the waether is, they will run,” Benali said, “They refer to the tracks in Europe as Persian tapestry compared to the terrain they run in Kenya.” Nakhumitsa chipped in that the success of the Kenyan athletete is atrributed to discipline, training and rest. “They wake up at 5am and start training, rest and then go back to train “.

When Mary is not training, she is relaxing in bed. Benali loves to cook, read and watch football when he is not training or writing. His advice to athletes, “Work hard, rest hard.” Benali is a leadning novelist whose recent work incluses The Museum of Loved Ones.

“Learn how to sleep like an  African.”
–ABDELKADER BENALI