A Braver New World for children

By Aurelie Journo

Bravely conquering the cold and damp Nairobi weather, and making their way to the lush green gardens of the Lower Kabete Junior Academy, over 40 school children, joined by their parents, teachers, writers and volunteers, spent a colourful and inspiring afternoon combining work and play.

The kiswahili translation of ‘The Unlikely Burden‘, sponsored by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) was launched by award winning author Stanley Gazemba, reading the title story of the book written by him. The launch was an opportunity for children, parents and teachers alike to remember the importance of animal welfare in their daily lives.

This was followed by the launch of author John Sibi Okumu’s latest book ‘Tom Mboya, Master of Mass Management‘ (A Sasa Sema/Longhorn Publication). After reading a short passage from the book, John talked poignantly about the importance of documenting Kenyan political history. Generations met and exchanged ideas, as Mr Wamalwa, a protagonist in the book and permanent secretary to Tom Mboya, shared with the audience his early days by his side.

But the day would not have been complete if books were the only focus. One look around the garden, with the colourful faces, adorned with flowers, butterflies or animals, one look at the joyful gait of children stepping out of the bouncy castle and heading for the swings, were the perfect illustration of the proverbial saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. No dull boys or girls at the children’s day indeed.

Storytelling has various facets that should not be limited to their written form. Simiyu Barasa led the audience into the world of animated stories. From words highlighted in the Kenyan school curriculum, he created a story that was then turned into an animation film, proving that stories don’t only entertain but also teach. Mediae presented the workings of the transformation of a text into a storyboard and then an animation picture, conjuring images from words, and movement from images. The animation, The hyena and the ostrich, was then shown, as a première, the children being the first viewers of a cartoon that will be featured in the TV show ‘The Know Zone’, and the film itself being the first cartoon written, drawn and created in Kenya.

The exciting day ended on a thought provocating workshop by Storymoja, around the story of ‘In the land of the kitchen’. The adults were asked to sit back and observe while the discussion went on between the children. After a lively and highly entertaining storyteller told the story of antagonism and destruction in the kitchen community, the children were led to reflect on the meaning of key terms such as community, stereotypes, conflict, and eventually peace. In the light of the post election turmoil, the workshop showed that stories are not only an end in themselves but also the beginning of other stories that seek to question the ideas and terms we take for granted.

The day was long and full, but as they walked towards the school buses that were to take them home, the children were certainly not only tired, but also inspired to become, who knows, the future great storytellers of Kenya.

The in-between world of a hornbill

Sipping over a cup of coffee and smoking far too many cigarettes, Binyavanga said to me, “Now more than any other moment in time, this makes sense.” I desperately needed the reassurance about helping to keep Wajibu going despite the magazine being completely broke. Like everyone else, it was almost impossible at the time to get on with life given the nation’s landscape was continuously being trodden upon by that ubiquitous monster: the post-election crises.

A couple of months and countless cigarettes later, I was running around town like a child wanting to share his new new toy with everyone. We had not only managed to publish Wajibu - we had undertaken the desperate rebranding the magazine needed after twenty odd years of wearing the same clothes. Despite a cover page of cliches, the magazine, filled with refreshing analysis generated by a load of concerned Kenya writers, was embraced by the post-election paradigm.

And whilst most of us were still obsessing about Kenya’s crises status quo, a handful of beautiful minds were busy reclaiming the right to live and express life beyond the grasp of the elections. The Kwani Literary Festival was scheduled for August 2008 but like so many other events had taken a severe beating. Of course there was no intention to ignore the stupidity of our politicians but it was quickly becoming obvious that regardless of the fact that there was a nationwide consensus that writers played a critical role in Revisioning Kenya, nobody was willing to put any money to it. As Shalini was busy picking up the rusted nuts and bolts of the hugely successful 2006 Literary Festival, I could not help but keep reminding her of what she was also thinking: can we do this?

As I sat on our balcony sipping on coffee inhaling toxic fumes from my cigarette and the back end of a 1001 cars, my sister came rushing out to point at the hornbills feasting on the ficus fruits in front of me. Here was a tree sandwiched between a block of apartments, a construction site, and a tarmac road dripping with fruit in a bid to keep reinventing itself. Just beyond the reach of its roots, I pictured the handful of politicians marching over to the Grand Regency in a desperate attempt to convince a few stoned street dwellers that they were in fact, human and they did in fact, care.

Meanwhile, these remarkably clumsy looking top heavy birds filled their bellies with fruit oblivious to the construction men banging away on top of the roofs and my smoke filled presence. They paused for a second when my phone rang but obviously they recognised the ringtone and were not in the least disturbed. There was a feast to be had.

You are right Binyavanga: “Now more than any other moment in time, this makes sense.“