Slum fire, fires

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Slum fires
(Swahili : moto (singular) mioto (plural))

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

The urban slums of Kenya are highly prone to fires.
This is due to a cumulation of causes.

Each homestead has as its main focus the jiko, the fireplace or brazier, where food is cooked and heat is generated in the cold season. The jiko can be the traditional three stones, with firewood or maize cobs used as fuel. In the urban areas, it will more commonly be a brazier using charcoal, or a small metal cooker using kerosene oil.

Light is produced by hurricane lamps burning kerosene. Most homes keep a small supply of kerosene for their lamps and jiko.



Houses are small, and many combustible materials are kept within close range of any of these open fires. People, possibly with trailing clothes, move around the vicinity, and sometimes children play too near the fireplaces. During the cold season, nights are chilly, and there can be a tendency to leave fires to burn themselves out slowly while people are already falling asleep.

Ironing is done with charcoal irons, using live coals.

Many Kenyans are smokers, and careless handling of cigarettes can also cause fires.

Some small businesses use open fires -- maize roasters, fish fryers and mandazi bakers. These fires are normally well supervised and in any case extinguished as night falls.

Slum homes may also be threatened by external circumstances. These are fires starting in their neighbours' homes, fires due to sparking electricity cables, and (in one terrible incident in September 2011) a fire at the Kenya Pipeline in the Sinai section of Lunga Lunga slum. The huge oil pipeline, which ran through the slum, sprung a leak, and the slum dwellers tried to catch the spilling oil. It caught fire and exploded, killing and burning many. Some people jumped into the burning Ngong River to quench the flames, and many drowned there.

Text and photo © Isabelle Prondzynski


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Some terrible pictures here of the Sinai fire (explosion at the Kenya Pipeline)
source : www.flickr.com

And a video of the scene :
source : http://www.youtube.com

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Written in August 2012

About a month ago, fire broke out in one of the houses in the Tujisaidie community in Soweto (in the Kayole suburb of Nairobi), and everything that the family owned was destroyed. Fortunately, no one was injured and the fire did not spread to neighbouring plots.



The community's youth group, Tumaini, was at that time welcoming a group of British visitors. Abandoning their guests to respond to the call for help, the youth ran to the site of the fire and, together with the neighbours, worked hard to put it out. This involved carrying water over quite a distance, as the pipes were dry at this time. The visitors helped as best they could, carrying jerricans of water in a long chain from the Nursery School water tank, until the flames had been quenched.

For the next day, they had planned a programme of calls to several projects in the community. But the visitors discussed the matter overnight and decided that helping to rebuild the burnt house was much more important. And so, they each contributed whatever funds they could, so that building materials could be bought, and the rest of the day was spent putting up a new corrugated iron house.

The rest of the community also got together. Everyone who could, donated some clothes, some pots and pans, a blanket and other essential items, to give the affected family a new start. Slum families support each other... and each of them had probably been helped by others already, at some other time...

Isabelle Prondzynski


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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

as his fire crackles
there is laughter and chat --
maize roaster

last rays
of the red sunset --
maize roaster’s fire

evening cool --
the fish fryer’s fire
glows from afar

Isabelle Prondzynski


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updates of fire
in Soweto on Facebook --
tears on my face

the fire --
Soweto goes dark
once again

still standing --
burnt electricity poles
telling the story

black smoke
engulfs the Soweto sunset --
a rush of helpers

water water
everyone calls --
flames and smoke

Antony Njoroge



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Fire in Soweto, August 2012

fire outbreak --
a woman cries pleading
for quick help

rescue group --
the watching crowd
moves away

fire outbreak --
black smoke makes its way
to the atmosphere

~ Brian Mulando




singing a song
from a blackened Golden Bells --
smouldering remains

dancing smoke
from a burnt mattress --
village fire

~ James Bundi




On Saturday at dusk, after the fire tragedy that also destroyed a transformer and left a section of Soweto in darkness for three days, while we stood by watching the Kenya Power and Lighting Company staff fixing the transformer:

shooting star--
we mistake its bright streak
for power return

Patrick Wafula, August 22, 2012



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thick smoke --
my eyes are drenched
with tears

she wails
on seeing burnt bodies --
Sinai inferno

oil floats on
sparkling sewage --
Ngong River

an injured boy
is lifted onto a stretcher --
rescue mission

Sinai heat --
flames bubbling in
the smokey sky

Sinai tragedy --
oil fumes linger
in the air

a pastor leads
the bereaved in prayer --
Sinai fire

Tom Mboya Hall --
a pile of burnt mabati
at the entrance

bereaved parade --
a photographer identifies
an impostor

~ Andrew Otinga
(on the Sinai Pipeline tragedy mentioned above)


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



fire tragedy --
a crying child asking
for her mother

Sinai fire --
displaced children
crying for food

Authors unknown


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August cold --
a maize roaster pokes
his smouldering fire

Caleb Mutua

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on a jam
dusty matatus on a stand still -
Nakumatt blaze

Nakumatt blaze was a great supermarket fire in 2009.

Siboko Yamame

. Matatu minibus .


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Related words

***** Jiko (brazier) and makaa (charcoal)


***** WKD : Fire (kaji)
kigo for all winter in Japan


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Mitumba, mtumba second hand goods

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Mitumba (singular : mtumba) -- second-hand goods

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

As in many other African countries, second-hand goods are very popular in Kenya. They enable the wananchi (citizens) to wear high-quality and fashionable clothes and shoes at an affordable price, to drive decent cars and to obtain hifi or computers.

Most of the time, when we talk about mitumba, we mean clothes or shoes. These are sold in huge markets, such as Gikomba, where smaller traders can buy them wholesale in bulk as they arrive, split the contents of the sacks and sell them either in Gikomba itself, in the city centre or in the various residential areas around the city. Huge loads are also carried up-country to the rural areas for sale there.


A load of shoes being taken from Gikomba to up-country markets

Almost every Kenyan, whether rich or poor, owns several items of mitumba. Many of the clothes sold as mitumba are almost brand new and in excellent condition. Some could be remnants from large chains in Europe or the USA sold in bulk to wholesalers for resale in African countries. Many are clothes donated to charitable organisations in the West. These sort the clothes according to their general condition. The poorer quality clothes are given free of charge to refugee camps and as emergency aid. The better quality clothes are sorted according to type (men's / women's, skirts / blouses / socks / trousers / T-shirts / underwear, etc.) and packed into sacks further graded according to the quality of the goods. These sacks are then shipped and sold in Kenya (e.g. in Gikomba) without opening them, according to the goods inside and their quality grade. Most buyers are too small to be able to afford an entire sack, so a group of traders would get together to share the cost and split the contents.

There is a whole debate as to whether charitable organisations should be selling mitumba into African countries at all. These imports could destroy the national market for clothing, it is said. And it is true that during my years in Kenya, as imports of mitumba have increased, many of the smaller dressmaking and tailoring businesses have had to close. Others now specialise in alterations of mitumba clothes so that they fit their new owners. The more high-quality businesses have continued without too much trouble, particularly those specialising in African dress styles, as these are not in competition with foreign imports. School and work uniforms too have not been affected. It is my feeling that the import of mitumba is, on the whole, a good thing, as it enables Kenyans to dress smartly at a reasonable cost, provides many jobs in the informal sector -- and it even enables the original owners in other countries to give away their clothes and shoes in the knowledge that others will be able to benefit from them.


Clothes stall under a tree

Text and photos © Isabelle Prondzynski

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It is mtumba in the singular and mitumba in the plural.
The word literally means second hand and could be used for clothing, shoes, cars, etc. -- it refers to anything that has been used and is being resold. The Government of Kenya recently zero-rated taxation on importation of mitumba ''to ease the high cost of living on the common man you know!''.

Andrew Otinga


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Things found on the way



Read more here :
source : www.seatimesafrica.com



Gikomba Market

gikomba or gikosh
is a second hand clothes market that started in the 1980’s as a result of space in retail market. the lack ofphysical space forced the more that one hundred traders to move to the area between majengo, karikor and kamukunji

The original settlers were allocated plots but with time as the market became more popular settled illegally…today there are more than 4000 traders
source : www.mwakenya.net


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HAIKU


a watchman bargains
for a mtumba jacket --
Muthurwa market

a seller shows
a high-heeled mtumba shoe --
mia mia!

(mia means a hundred in Swahili)

a street child picks at
muddy mtumba trousers --
riverside market

~ Dancan Omoto


a student catwalks
in her mitumba high heels --
beauty contest

a stall with
cheaper mitumba jackets --
I buy three

~ Catherine Njeri Maina


a student tries on
his mtumba shirt --
new smell

~ Andrew Otinga


abrupt rain --
pedestrians scramble for
mitumba raincoats

~ Dennis Wright


Mtumba shoes for sale
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski



mitumba wholesaler --
he presses the sack down
to remove rain

~ John Maina


mitumba display --
she grabs the blue jeans
and quickly pays

~ Stanley Mutinda


sudden rain --
she shelters mitumba clothes
with a red umbrella

~ Synaidah Kalahi


mitumba stall --
a nursing mother sorts out
a shawl from kangas

~ Brian Mulando


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I have worn mitumba clothes and shoes my entire life and one thing I know for sure is that mitumba are not just anything sold as second hand.

Yes mitumba are second hand merchandise resold in the Kenyan Market but there are several attributes that set mitumba apart from new or other second hand goods.

Mitumba mostly come from western countries and are imported in bales which wholesalers buy and then sell to mostly middle-class Kenyans in retail. They include shoes, clothes, bags, curtains, bed sheets.

But even more importantly, mitumba merchandise are of good quality (original) and that, I think, sets them apart from other second hand goods.

Its worth mentioning that there is a myth in Kenya that mitumba are cheap...Well, while most mitumba products are cheap, this is not entirely true. I know a place in Gikomba Market, the biggest mitumba market in Kenya, where a mtumba shoe is far much expensive than a new shoe in the shop. And some people appreciate mitumba so much that they wont wear anything new.

Mitumba goods, unlike other second hand goods, are very unique. What I like about mitumba is that you can get a shirt that very few people have in town. In fact, my friends and I refer to any new merchandise as "Kenya Uniform" because you will find many Kenyans with the same shoe, shirt or jacket.

For instance, early last month I bought a mtumba blazer and I have been to several tailors who've all told me that I cant find a trouser of the same material and colour to match the blazer because its one of its kind.

The word "mtumba" has lately been used loosely to mean anything second hand. Nonetheless, my point is we should not forget what "mtumba" really means.

I am currently an intern with The Daily Nation Newspaper and last week my editor sent me to Kariokor where Gikomba and Ngara mitumba traders had attended a public hearing arranged by Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA).

It emerged that the government of Kenya through KURA plans to demolish almost half of these markets to pave way for construction of roads

Traders openly expressed their anger and distrust on the government plan to compensate them after demolishing their temporary stalls.Please find time to read the whole story on my blog
The Nairobi Digest - http://nairobidigest.wordpress.com


Kariokor--
mitumba traders trickle
in the hall

mitumba traders
clap and whistle in unison--
Kariokor hearing

Caleb Mutua
(http://nairobidigest.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/new-roads-in-nairobi-to-affect-thousands-of-traders-and-squatters/).

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Related words

***** WKD : Reference


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Cocks outing

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Cocks outing - Report

COCKS’ HAIKU CLUB OUTING CITY PARK, NAIROBI
28 JANUARY 2012

The Cocks’ Haiku Club had its first outing and first official meeting at City Park, Nairobi, on 28 January 2012. The outing was the result of a recommendation made by the patron, Caleb Mutua, to the Kenya Saijiki Moderator. Instead of providing an internet fee, available funds should be used towards the group’s outing to a local park or other place the group might deem suitable for an outing.

For the first of such outings-cum-meetings, the group decided to visit City Park. Among other items, the group planned to assess their progress in the Kenya Saijiki forum, play games and pursue other activities that would bring them together and strengthen the mutual bond in the group, and to have a haiku walk later in the afternoon.

The Cocks met at the Tom Mboya Statue near the Kenya National Archives at 9:00 hrs in the morning. A photo session followed for about 20 minutes, while waiting for everyone to arrive.
The group then proceeded to City Park, which they reached at around 10:00 hrs. They looked for some shade, spread a lesso on the ground and settled down for their meeting.


The Cocks arriving at City Park

The following were the group members present :

1. Kelvin Mukoselo
2. Khadija Rajab
3. Catherine Njeri Maina
4. Barack Elung’ata
5. James Bundi
6. Caleb Mutua
7. Martin Kamau (new member)
Absent with apology
1. Winslause Yamame (up-country)
2. Hussein Hadji (working)
3. Beryl Achieng (working)

Introductions
The meeting started with introductions and icebreakers. Each group member told the others their name, when they had started writing haiku, when they had graduated from secondary school, what they are currently doing and what motivates them to write haiku.

Khadija Rajab hit with vitality and enthusiasm. She entertained the group with jokes and energizers she had learnt from her acting group, Mabingwa Production. She told the group that her current job, Cyber Café attendant, really kept her busy. She also confessed that she lacks motivation to write haiku. She said she was happy to be there and she hoped that after today, she would be able to actively participate in Kenya Saijiki and Cock’s activities. After she had finished, she invited Kelvin Mukoselo to introduce himself.

Kelvin Mukoselo was brief. He said that he is currently looking for a job and even though his contribution to Kenya Saijiki is inconsistent, he has always enjoyed reading what other haijin have written.

Barrack Elung’ata was next. First the group sought to know where the name Master Bee came from and after a comical explanation he said that he was currently staying in Kangemi, and that he is learning how to cut keys and repair padlocks. The group appreciated his efforts to remain active in Kenya Saijiki. He invited James Bundi to introduce himself.


Barrack Elung'ata introduces himself

James jokingly said that he was fresh from high school and waiting for his results. He is currently the caretaker in their apartment. The group formally welcomed him and appreciated his efforts to stay active in Kenya Saijiki.

Martin Kamau was next on stage. He is a former Bahati Secondary School student and was a member of the Bamboochas Haiku Club until 2007, when he finished school. He is currently training to be a security guard at a local college in Nairobi. The group welcomed him to the group. He then invited his niece, Catherine Njeri Maina to the stage.

Catherine thanked her uncle and the group in general for the day and said she was so happy that finally the Cocks had managed to meet. She apologised for her tired looks, saying that she had been working all night. The group appreciated her efforts to avail herself in the meeting and her consistent participation in the forum.

Finally, Caleb Mutua took to the stage to introduce himself and to welcome the group to their first meeting. He started by thanking all the group members who were able to make it today and also thanked those members who were absent with apologies. He shared with the Cocks a congratulatory message from the Kenya Saijiki Moderator, Isabelle Prondzynski, who had expressed her appreciation for the Club’s efforts in the forum and her good wishes for the day’s activities.

He also thanked the members for occasionally finding time to write haiku and to respond to what other haijin had written. He then asked the group members if they thought the group was “visible” in Kenya Saijiki. The members agreed that it was time for the Cocks to be recognized in the forum. He then led the group into a discussion on what could be done to revitalise the group and its members. He talked about how haiku had changed his life for the better and motivated the other haijin to always include in their CVs and interviews that they are poets and they are passionate about conserving the environment.

He told the group that haiku has brought them together and they could seize that opportunity to do many things as Cocks. He was happy that each member of the group was doing something and urged the group members to strengthen their friendship bonds with each other. He also shared with the Cocks his idea of founding a Haiku Society of Kenya and promised to keep them updated on progress. He closed the meeting by acknowledging the moral and financial support that Kenya Saijiki had continued to give the Cocks.

Environmental Conservation and Games
The next agenda item was games. The group divided into two halves and started to collect plastic bags in the park. The idea was to use littered plastic bags and sweet wraps to make two balls.

At the end of 30 minutes, the group had two balls. They played among other games, football, volleyball and a game commonly known as “kati.” Playing “kati” is like playing frisbee except that it is played by three people at a time and a ball is thrown instead of a concave plastic disk. Two players stand 20 or 30 meters apart trying to aim a small ball, which is normally the size of a tennis ball, to the player in the middle.

The player in the middle is supposed to catch the ball. If the ball hits him or her and falls down, they give the opportunity to another player. If the middle player manages to catch the ball then he or she earns points. This is regarded as a girls’ game and it was real fun seeing young men play it too.

Lunchbreak
At exactly 13.00 hrs and after their strenuous games, the Cocks were starving. They packed up and went to the big fruit and vegetable market at the entrance of City Park for lunch. Having found a stall selling hot food, most took rice served with beans, sukuma wiki, cabbages and potatoes, while a few decided to have ugali served with beans, sukuma wiki, cabbages and potatoes.


The Hawkers' Market with its mouth-watering offerings


Haiku walk
After lunch, the Cocks returned to the park and enjoyed some ice creams before the ginkoo (haiku walk) began.

Their Patron asked them to remain vigilant and to avoid secluded paths to the interior of the park because this area was notorious for thugs who terrorized people and disappeared in the trees.

Each person was to write at least two haiku and they were all to meet again at exactly 15.00 hrs.
The following are the haiku written during the walk :

lunch break --
a City Park hawker
selling ice cream



Ice cream for all before the ginkoo


lunch break --
a man feeds a monkey
off his shoulder

~ Catherine Njeri Maina


holding tight --
a monkey carries its young one
on the lawn

playing
under a thick tree shadow --
City Park forest

~ James Bundi


City Park Market --
a monkey runs away
with mango pellets

City Park --
a chattering monkey makes others
jump on trees

~ Barrack Elung’ata


January prayers --
they hold hands
in City Park bushes

fun day --
laugher and screams
in City Park bushes

~ Martin Kamau





missing the catch --
a monkey jumping from a tree
falls down

City Park monkeys
scratching one another—
bush life

~ Khadijah Rajab


January --
two monkeys swing
on a loose jacaranda branch

City Park --
a father feeds a monkey
atop his head

~ Caleb Mutua


under a tree….
monkeys scratching
each other’s back

silent park…
a man kneels down
to pray

~ Kelvin Mukoselo


Recommendations and conclusions

1. A few members suggested that the group might change its name to a more gender sensitive one.

2. All members recommended that the group start a Google Group that will allow them keep in touch through instant free SMS notifications and Google Docs that allows group discussions and comments when working on a document

3. The group will also allow members to post job opportunities for the benefit of the others.

4. Members recommended that the group hold many more meetings to motivate and encourage each other

5. The group pledged to do more voluntary work in hospitals and schools in the effort to spread haiku and give back something to society.

6. Members recommended they invite friends with a passion for poetry whom they have met in colleges or in their work places to the group.

7. The group concluded to be more active in Kenya Saijiki.

8. The group concluded to discuss the issue of changing the group’s name with the other members before deciding.


Report written and compiled by
Cocks’ Haiku Club Patron, Caleb Mutua,
University of Nairobi, School of Journalism and Media Studies.

© Cocks Haiku Club

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Related words

***** - The Haiku Clubs of Nairobi -


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Mkokoteni hand cart

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Mkokoteni hand cart

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

The mkokoteni (plural : mikokoteni)
is a hand cart, pulled by a stong man, and usually delivering fruit and vegetables to the smaller traders in the suburbs. Mikokoteni can also be used to deliver furniture and kitchen appliances from the shops and stalls to the new owners, to help people moving their residence from house to house, or any other purpose which involves moving goods within the city of Nairobi or a similar radius up-country. If the weight being moved is very heavy, there may be two people pulling. If the journey is downhill, a second person may be needed to brake the speed of the cart.

If the cart is empty, the second person may sit on it for the ride, and sometimes children too enjoy the same.



. . . CLICK here for large Photo !

Isabelle Prondzynski

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. . . CLICK here for more Photos !


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU



water shortage--
a man pulls a mkokoteni
with empty jerricans

~ Emmanuel Muteti

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move !
a donkey pauses after pulling
an overloaded mkokoteni

mkokoteni --
he strugles to pull it
on the rocky road

~ Isaac Ndirangu



struggling to pull
a mkokoteni up a slope --
punctured tyres

~ Peter Kalivo



a man pulling
a heavy mkokoteni --
sweat droplets

water shortage --
a man pulling a mkokoteni
on the road

~ Stephen Macharia



hooting vehicle --
a mkokoteni crosses
at the junction

~ Antony Onyango


packed mikokoteni
block the market entrance -
furniture shop

~ Mango Junior





heavy breathing--
a tired man pulling
his mkokoteni

~ Douglas Nugi


MORE
. mkokoteni haiku
July 3, 2011


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Related words

***** WKD : Reference


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Sand harvesting

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Sand harvesting, sand mining

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Long Rains
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation


quote
Kenya has no policy on sand harvesting

National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) says despite devastating effects of climate change the country has no guidelines to check sand harvesting especially in arid and semi-arid areas where the practice has compounded the problem of drought.
source : www.ecoearth.info


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quote
NATIONAL SAND HARVESTING GUIDELINES 2007

“Sand” means sedimentary material finer than gravel and coarser than silt with grains between 0.06mm and 2mm in diameter and includes stones, coral, earth and turf but does not include silica sand.

“Sand harvesting”, means the removal, extraction, harvesting or scooping of sand from designated sites.

“Sand dealer” means any person(s) approved to harvest, remove, extract, scoop, transport or sell sand as provided

source : www.nema.go.ke


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Things found on the way



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HAIKU

Sand harvesting comes with the long rain.
The long sand lorries come from Ukambani, when both the seasonal and permanent rivers flood.



meandering stream —
a sweating sand harvester
shovels again and again

Photo and Haiku : Patrick Wafula


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Related words

***** Sand (suna)


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Flame tree Erythrina

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Flame tree

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Erythrina is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, growing up to 30 m (98 ft) in height. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ερυθρóς (erythros), meaning "red," referring to the flower color of certain species.

Particularly in horticulture, the name coral tree is used as a collective term for these plants. "Flame trees" is another vernacular name, but may refer to a number of unrelated plants as well. Many species of Erythrina have bright red flowers, and this may be the origin of the common name. However, the growth of the branches can resemble the shape of sea coral rather than the color of Corallium rubrum specifically, and this is an alternative source for the name.

Other popular names, usually local and particular to distinct species, liken the flowers' red hues to those of a male chicken's wattles, and/or the flower shape to its leg spurs. Commonly seen Spanish names for any local species are bucaré, frejolillo or porotillo, and in Afrikaans some are called kaffirboom. Mullumurikku is a widespread.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Its botanical name is Erythrina abyssinica:
the common name is flame tree or Red Hot Poker Tree.
It is also called Luck Bean Tree.

The Kikuyu name is Muhuti.
The Luhya name is Kumurembe.

It has some traditional values such as the superstitious curing of mumps in Luhya whereby anyone suffering from this disease has to collect a bundle of fagots, run to the tree, throw the fagots at the tree, making sure they hit the trunk. And then say, "There goes my mumps with you to the tree!" and then turn around and run without looking back.

Photo and text by Patrick Wafula



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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


red blossoms on
bare branches of the flame tree--
crunch of dry leaves


Partrick Wafula, Nairobi

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Related words

***** Bombax blossom

***** Flamboyant Tree (Swahili : Mjohoro)


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Fences and hedges

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Fences and hedges

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic and see below
***** Category: Plant / Humanity

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Explanation

Fences and hedges are made by man to protect their property.

A fence or hedge is made from various materials,
some from shrubs and trees that can be kigo.


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Barbed wire fence

Barbed wire is horribly popular in Kenya, and it is often rusty, a veritable tetanus trap and very dangerous indeed. Particularly when used in school compounds, where it is abominably frequent.

Isabelle Prondzynski


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Cactus fence

TBA


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Kayaba fence
kayaba is the local version of kei apple.
Dovyalis caffra Warb.

Its yellow succulent fruits have a definite seasonality. Kei apple is abundant in Nairobi.

Kayaba is a plant that bears seeds and when they are planted close together the branches twin around themselves covering every space that is in between them hence at our home we use it as a fence since it has some thorns that scared away people who have differend motives especially at night.

sunny afternoon -
a coiled spider web sparkles
on a Kayaba fence

Siboko Yamame Winslause



Mukuru Kayaba is a district of Nairobi.


quote 　　
The kei apple, Dovyalis caffra Warb. (syn. Aberia caffra Harv. & Sond.) is also known as umkokolo in Africa and this is abbreviated to umkolo in the Philippines. The generic name has been rendered Doryalis by many writers but botanists now agree that this form was not the original spelling.

The kei apple is native to the Kei River area of southwest Africa and abundant in the wild around the eastern Cape, Kaffraria and Natal. It is cultivated in the Transvaal. In 1838, it was introduced into England.

Generally, the plants bloom in spring and the fruits ripen from August to October. The thorns make harvesting difficult. The top may have to be thinned out in order to facilitate fruit-picking.

Morton, J. 1987.
In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL.
source : www.hort.purdue.edu



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Worldwide use

Japan

. kakine 垣根 hedge, fence
kakoi 囲い, saku さく. hei 塀 .
ishigaki　石垣　stone wall, stone fence
ikegaki 生け垣 "living fence", hedge

With haiku by Basho, Buson and Issa.


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HAIKU


wire fence--
white quarry dust on the
rambling passion fruit

Caleb David Mutua
September 2010


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a photographer hides
behind a kayaba fence-
Kirima saga

Andrew Otinga


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Related words

***** WKD : Reference


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Jeevanjee Gardens

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Jeevanjee Gardens

***** Location: Nairobi, Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Earth, Humanity

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Explanation

Jeevanjee Gardens was founded by Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, an Asian-born entrepreneur in Kenya. It is the only park in the city that is directly owned by the people, having been donated to the poor people of Nairobi as a resting area (the park was private property and it is held in trust for the people of Nairobi).
©　WIKIPEDIA !



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Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee
was born in Pakistan in 1856, and went to East Africa in 1890.

He was a pioneering entrepreneur and philanthropist in Kenya, building the Jeevanje Gardens, and most of Nairobi when the city was a sprawling township. He provided many services to the Colonial Government; but grew to challenge the settler regime in search for greater equity and equality of opportunity, for Indians and eventually all Kenyans. He developed the East Africa Indian National Congress, and so laid the foundations for an organised anti-colonial movement.
source : msupress.msu.edu


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. . . CLICK here for Photos of the park!


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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


Jeevanjee Garden--
blooms of Jacaranda give
the park a purple look

September morning--
first blossoms scatter on
clean Jeevanjee paths

Jeevanjee Garden--
dusty foot print on a flattened
purple blossom


Jeevanjee Garden--
a jacaranda flower
rests on the garbage

Jeevanjee clean up--
gravel and jacaranda
on the wheelbarrow


Jeevanjee garden is maintained by the City council. Each morning, the garden is swept clean, mainly the paths. I used the word 'clean' because in the morning when the paths are clean, the 'first' blossoms to fall after stand out. In the evening or at night when I pass there, there are so many blossoms scattered everywhere and you can hardly notice another one falling ...

Caleb David Mutua
Kenya Saijiki Forum, September 2010




. CLICK HERE
More photos by Caleb David Mutua


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Jeevanjee Gardens --
Queen Victoria looks on
heirs of her subjects

Isabelle Prondzynski


Queen Victoria in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Related words

***** Nairobi City


***** Jacaranda (tropical tree)



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Nairobi City

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Nairobi City

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation




Nairobi
is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi Province. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters".
However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is surrounded by several expanding villa suburbs.

Founded in 1899 as a simple rail depot on the railway linking Mombasa to Uganda, the town quickly grew to become the capital of British East Africa in 1907 and eventually the capital of a free Kenyan republic in 1963. During Kenya's colonial period, the city became a centre for the colony's coffee, tea and sisal industry.
Nairobi is also the capital of the Nairobi Province and of the Nairobi District. The city lies on the Nairobi River, in the south of the nation, and has an elevation of 1795 m above sea-level.

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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From the Kenya Saijiki


***** . Nairobi Bomb Day (8 August 1998)


***** . Nairobi International Trade Fair


***** Jeevanjee Gardens and Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee


***** . Kayole and Patanisho 　


***** . Marikiti Market
Wakulima Market (Farmers' Market)

***** . Mkokoteni hand cart .


***** . Hamza terminus


***** . Langata cemetery


***** . Nairobi Animal Orphanage 　


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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way



Kibera

Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and a province and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa.

The neighbourhood is divided into a number of villages, including Kianda, Soweto East, Gatwekera, Kisumu Ndogo, Lindi, Laini Saba, Siranga, Makina and Mashimoni. Conditions in Kibera are extremely poor, and most of its residents lack access to basic services, including electricity and running water.

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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HAIKU

Haiku from Patrick Wafula


Wakulima Market--
soiled porters offload mangoes
from lorries

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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muddy pick-up trucks
queue to offload tomatoes--
Soweto Market

Soweto stage market --
women buy cabbages
vyondos are full

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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even beggars
line up mangoes for sale--
Haile Selassie Avenue

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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truants swimming
in a seasonal lake--
Jogoo Road

traffic lights
on Jogoo Road--
smell of hot tires

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Last week, some bulldozers and caterpillars cut down all the grevillea tress along Landhies Road in order to expand the road. My goodness, how naked or can I say bare, the road is now! Isabelle Sensei, you will never those beautiful trees again, they are gone forever.



saw-dust scented
air on Landhies road--
fallen grevilleas


a bulldozer bites log
after log to load the lorries--
sliced grevillea


Muthurwa food vendors
filling sacks with saw dust--
whirring power saw


The Muthurwa food vendors are collecting the saw dust to use it as fuel for cooking food on their braziers.


September 22, 2010


. . . CLICK here for Photos of grevillea flowers !

. . . CLICK here for Photos of the Muthurwa district !



. Landhies Road haiku
by Andrew Otinga


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Photo by Patrick Wafula


bare jacaranda branches
adorned in purple blossoms--
Moi Avenue

... CLICK HERE
for more photos of Moi Avenue from Patrick


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Patrick on January 2011, coming back from a trip


Nairobi sunset—
an orange sun sitting
on the Ngong Hills

Nairobi sunset—
flying crows littering
the orange dusk sky


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Doonholm road-
my tall shadow cast on
rusty mabati

Andrew Otinga

. . . CLICK here for Photos ! Donholm Nairobi


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Soweto market--
loud speakers advetise
Valentine products

Valentine morning--
vendors arrange flowers
in the wheelbarrow

Valentine day--
flower's hawker whistles
from door to door

Caleb Mutua, Kenya
Kenya Saijiki Forum February 2010



Muthurwa Market--
school girls gather around
success card vendors

Muthurwa Market--
the cabbage vendor juggles
a big one

Caleb Mutua, Kenya



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soweto stage --
muddy water stuck on
displayed potatoes


muthurwa market --
a boy struggles to pull
a cart from mud


Sibiko Yamame Winslause

. . . CLICK here for Muthurwa Market Photos !




Soweto stage--
she slices pineaples
into a white bowl

Andrew Otinga
September 2010




Soweto market-
greenish mould sprouts over
a decayed tomato

Asava Kelvin


Soweto market-
a naked madman eats
a rotten watermelon

muthoki

September 2010




. SOWETO VILLAGE - poetic haibun 　
free verse : Beryl Achieng
haiku : James Bundi

. . . . .


Soweto market--
she sprinkles water
on withered vegetable

Douglas Nugi
July 2011


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an old man
repairs an old bicycle
along thika road

Antony Njoroge


The expansion of Thika Road, a ten lane highway, considered the busiest highway in East Africa.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Thika highway--
a boda boda motorbike
hit a truck

Thika highway--
the late schoolgirls are stuck
on the other side

Barrack Elungata


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Tom Mboya street--
city council officers chase
the mango hawkers

Caleb Mutua

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Muthurwa terminus--
a new peddler hawks
boiled maize

hussein haji


Muthurwa bus terminal
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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sunny afternoon -
a coiled spider web sparkles
on a Kayaba fence

Sibiko Yamame Winslause

. . . CLICK here for Kayaba Photos !


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At Masimba I witnessed a thief who had stolen a mobile phone and he was in the hands ofthe public:


Masimba stage-
blood stuck on the
stumbled blocks

Masimba stage-
blood trickling on his
left shoulder

Sibiko Yamame Winslause


. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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Machakos Country Bus Station

. . . CLICK here for Photos !


Machakos terminus-
a short man advertising his
herbal merchandise

Andrew Otinga

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Donholm road-
my tall shadow cast on
rusty mabati

Andrew Otinga


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. Uhuru Park .
and a concert by Ricardo Muti
July 9, 2011


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the muddy path
coloured with flowers...
Kawangare

Anthony Njoroge

. . . CLICK here for Photos : Kawangware Slums!


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. Ngong Road



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Related words


Life in Nairobi
. . . Weekly collection of Caleb . . .


Place Names used in Haiku


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Urban Haiku - Worldwide


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Posho mill and wimbi millet

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Posho mill

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

This is a mill that grinds your wheat or maize into flour.



Most Kenyans grow their own maize, the main staple food in Kenya, and if it is not eaten green (i.e. fresh) or cooked wholegrain in githeri, they take it to the posho mill to be ground, so that the meal can be eaten as ugali.

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Posho Mills in Kenya



In Kenya, both in the rural and urban areas, posho mills play an important role in economic life of Kenyans; they pulverize maize grain, which is the staple food of the country, into flour (unga). The flour is then used to prepare ugali or uji. Both are types of maize porridge -- ugali is tougher and firm, while uji has a soupy consistence.



Ugali is simple to prepare.
You just heat water to boiling point, then, using a cooking stick, add handful after handful of maize flour, stirring the mixture gently until it becomes firm. You then continue to heat it for some time more to make it firmer. It is best to keep turning the mixture in the sufuria (saucepan) to make sure it is well cooked before transferring it to a plate. It is then served hot with the various vegetables or stew according to one’s own taste.



David, a worker at the mill

Posho mills also grind other grain such as wheat and millet into flour. There are two types of posho mills: the electric posho mill and the diesel posho mill. The diesel posho mill is used in the remote and rural areas where there is no electricity. It has been in existence for a long time; in fact, it has been there since those days of the grinding mill. Before the diesel posho mill came into use, there was the grinding mill, which was operated manually by hand. It was very tedious as one had to turn the heavy wheel for some time.

Due to its laboriousness, it could produce only a little flour at a time, and the flour was coarse. Before the grinding mill came into existence, there was the grinding stone. This is the most traditional method of producing flour, still used by some of the most traditional communities in Kenya.

The grinding stone is simply a huge flat stone smoothened on the surface and the user uses a smaller stone to crush the grain between the two. The traditionalists argue that flour produced by the diesel and electric posho mills is contaminated with grease and oil hence not very not safe for human consumption. However, it is also argued that flour produced by the grinding mill contains minute stones, which come off the grinding stone surfaces due to friction. These minute stones are a health hazard as they may accumulate in the appendix and end up causing appendicitis.




The electric posho mill on the other hand is found in urban centres with electricity supplies. They are made and operate in the same way as the diesel posho mills, only that they use electric power. The flour produced by these posho mills is supposed to be safer, but it is still argued that the oil and grease used to lubricate the machine’s mobile joints sometimes finds its way into the flour. It is also debatable that the metal parts which wear out may end up in the flour, as there is no place provided where the micro metal pieces can collect.

All in all, posho mills are crucial to the lives of most Kenyans. In the evenings mostly, you will see a long queue of tins or polythene bags full of maize grain waiting to be ground. It is mostly women and children who take the grain to the posho mills for grinding, but sometimes, also men, especially the single ones working in towns, are seen in the queues.

When maize grain is cheap after bountiful rains, the majority of Kenyans save money by buying maize grain and taking it to the posho mill for grinding into flour, instead of going for the fine and sifted flour (sold mostly in 1 kg or 2 kg packs) in the shops and supermarkets. The full maize grain is measured in a standard tin of 2 kg. This tin, which is a reused cooking oil container, is referred to as korokoro. To grind a 2 kg tin of maize one is charged KShs. 10/-, while the maize in the same tin currently costs KShs. 50/-. The largest quantity of maize is the 90kg bag.


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WIMBI

wimbi means millet.
This posho mill grinds not only maize, but millet or wimbi as well. Wimbi is also called bulo, obulo or obule (Luhya).



Wimbi is one of the oldest grains to be grown by Kenyans, especially in Western and Nyanza. Wimbi has many domestic uses. One of them is the making of brown ugali or ugali ya wimbi as they call it. This type of ugali, is very special to the people of Western Kenya. It is eaten at all traditional ceremonies and rituals, the most remarkable one is being used during traditional weddings as a wedding cake.

The other use of wimbi is in the making of the traditional brew called busaa (Swahili) amalwa or kamalwa (Luhya). The millet used in this process goes through a special process which includes being kept under wet condition away from sunshine for a week, during which it produces white shoots. It is then spread out in the sun to dry up until it is brown. It is at this stage that is taken into the posho mill to be ground into flour, but this flour is not ordinary flour; it is called limela or limira, meaning yeast, and it is used to ferment the traditional brew called kamalwa. Busaa or kamalwa is a product of maize fermented maize flour fried and mixed with water and limela and allowed to ferment for three days.

Millet flour is also used in the making of brown porridge, traditionally known as buyu, obusera or busera (Luhya). The Luo call it nyuka. This is the most popular porridge in both rural and urban Kenya; you find it being sold even in big hotels, food kiosks, roadsides and even by hawkers.

To make the brown ugali even more delicious, the millet grain is usually mixed with pieces of cassava, which they call, kumwoko or omwoko (Huhoko: Swahili) and then taken into the posho mill for grinding. It makes a delicious meal when the brown ugali is eaten with meat and meat stew, chicken and chicken stew or fish and fish stew.

Text and Photos : Patrick Wafula


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Millet and sorghum are native crops in Kenya and prized for their drought resistant qualities.

In recent years, they have both been largely replaced by maize in Kenyan agriculture and in the Kenyan diet. One reason for this is that millet takes a whole year to mature, while maize yields two crops in the course of a year. Millet is also very attractive to birds and has to be protected from them while ripening, which makes it a more expensive crop to produce.

They have a long history in Kenya and are still prized as oodstuffs on the important occasions in people's lives.

Millet porridge (uji) is much appreciated and health giving and is the regular breakfast in parts of the country. It is also easily transportable in thermos flasks and can therefore provide good sustenance to farmers as they go about their daily work.

A particular type of millet (tef) grows only in Ethiopia and is essential for making injera, the Ethiopian staple carbohydrate.
Outside Ethiopia, the tef can be replaced with rice flour, which makes a decent enough injera for those who cannot obtain the real thing.

Isabelle Prondzynski



The swahili name for sorghum is mtama.


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Worldwide use


. Millet (hie, awa, kibi) 　Japan



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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

hot evening--
chicks pecking maize grains
in the posho mill

Alex Mwanambisi

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power failure -
a posho-miller leans
on the engine

James Bundi

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posho mill --
a dove pecks crunched maize
under the sieve

Isaac Ndirangu
April 2011


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Related words

***** Sufuria .. cooking pot or saucepan

***** Maize, Corn and githeri

***** Green Maize


. . . ugali


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Marikiti Market

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Marikiti Market

***** Location: Nairobi, Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Wakulima Market (Farmers' Market),
usually abbreviated to Marikiti,
is situated on Haile Selassie Avenue, right next to Muthurwa Matatu Terminus and close to the Machakos Country Bus Station.

It is Nairobi's main wholesale market for fruit and vegetables -- these are delivered round the clock from all over the country, indeed even neighbouring countries. Before dawn, retail traders and the owners of small stalls around the city arrive in Marikiti to buy their provisions for the day and take them back so as to be able to sell from opening time. There is great competition for the freshest, the tastiest and the cheapest produce, and most of the small stallholders have developed a keen eye for what is best to buy.

There is a huge business of mikokoteni (plural of mkokoteni, a hand cart) around Wakulima Market, as most stall holders do not possess a vehicle, yet regularly buy quite substantial volumes and weights. The hand carts are driven by young men (usually just one, but sometimes several if the weight is great) and produce is delivered all over the city, often many kilometres away. Mikokoteni, though walked by their operators, are regarded as part of the road traffic of Nairobi, and both car and matatu drivers will do their best to overtake them without causing harm or injury.

The pavements around Marikiti are occupied by sellers of tiny quantities of fruit and vegetables to the passing pedestrians, who thus also benefit from the attractive prices of the wholesale market.

Isabelle Prondzynski



© PHOTO :　JacKE1, FLICKR


MORE
. Mkokoteni Haiku .


Reference : wikimapia.org, Marikiti wholesale market MAP


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Busy mkokoteni
The weight of the load was so heavy that he had to spend most energy on pushing down the bar in front of him, as well as pulling the load itself.





Following a mkokoteni on Jogoo Road


© PHOTOS :　Isabelle Prondzynski, FLICKR


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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


Irish potatoes
peeping from an overstuffed sack --
a sweating cart man


It is one of the specialities of wholesale fruit and vegetable markets in Kenya to present the produce, particularly potatoes, in overstuffed sacks. Where the sack as such ends, more potatoes are added to form a pile, and the whole is then closed by a network of sisal string, so that the customer can see the contents without having to cut open the bag. This arrangement also shows the generosity of the producer -- filling as much as possible into the sack, to add value.


In Kenya, we have two basic types of potatoes --
Irish potatoes (Swahili : viazi, called potatoes in Europe), and
sweet potatoes (Kikuyu : ngwacî).
Both are popular in parts of the country and belong to Kenya's staple foods.

Marikiti market --
the porter ahead of me
smelling of onions

squashed
avocados and pawpaws --
Marikiti market gate

main gate--
mikokoteni and trucks compete
for entry and exit


my shoe slides
on a shell of a water melon--
Wakulima Market

sweltering noon--
tired cart men take a nap
in their mikokoteni

a hurrying woman
slides on an orange peel and falls--
milling crowds

loaded lorries
queue to offload farm produce--
falling dry and green fronds

Patrick Wafula, July 2010


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I respect the energetic men in this market whose work is to carry sacks and other luggage for short distances. They use nothing but their back to carry the heavy sacks to a point where they have to walk while their back is bended almost at 90 degrees! You would think that the sacks have legs because you cannot see them and they cannot see what is in front of them, all they can manage is to whistle for you to give them way.

whistles
under potato sacks--
Marikiti Market

Caleb Mutua

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Related words

***** Pawpaw (Asimina) almost like a kind of papaya

***** . Mkokoteni hand cart .


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