Parade of the Bands

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Parade of the bands

***** Location: Trinidad and Tobago
***** Season: Dry Season - Tropics, Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean
(Spring in cold climates)
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Fun in the sun is the order of the day...
In Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Monday and Tuesday precedes Ash Wednesday;
and ends the Carnival Season. A time of joviality boarding on lewdness.There are carnival parties called fetes and various competitions among musicians- brass and steelbands, calypso
singers, individual masqueraders - king and queen of bands, and childrens's competitions. The high point is really the ending on Monday and Tuesday when the masqueraders take to the street and are judged in bands at certain competition points along the parade routes.



© Photo and Text : Gillena Cox, T&T

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Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is the event of the year.



It is said that if the islanders are not celebrating it then they are preparing for it while reminiscing about the past year's festival. The heart of the musical celebration is the calypso, which developed in spite of British rule with all its Anglicizing zeal and racism.

Recently, Soca has replaced Calypso as the a mainstream type of music. Carnival on Trinidad and Tobago originally had its roots in conservative French aristocracy where masks were donned and social visits ensued. It then grew with African influences from the slaves who added singing, dancing, and music as well as exuberance to Carnival to transform it into what we see today. Carnival is celebrated the week before Ash Wednesday in the season of Lent. Musical competitions make up a large part of Carnival and to win a competition is highly coveted.

For example, to be named Calypso Monarch is one of the island's greatest honors, and the competition is aired on television. Other prestigious titles are Soca Monarch, Road March and Panorama Champions. The instruments used are the drums, claves, and the steelpan, which is a drum that has been hammered down in different areas which create different notes.

A group of performers practice weeks in advance on these drums in order to compete and hopefully bring home the top honor. Trinidad and Tobago is very multicultural (Africian, Asian (south and east), European) and all these groups have combined their musical influences to that of Carnival. Spanish influences are also reflected by the immigrants from Venezuela. These cultures and contributions render a sound vastly different from Carnival in Spain, Venice, or even in New Orleans, where Mardi Gras is celebrated.
© WIKIPEDIA. Read more !


More LINKs
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9748/sbook.htm
http://www.visittnt.com/todo/events/carnival/


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

parade of the bands
clouds of dust
even in our throats

© gillena cox 2007


police watch the crowds
at children's carnival
the horse's teeth

© gillena cox 2008


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Related words

***** calypso, soca, mas, pan


***** Carneval, Carnivalsee also Shrovetide

***** Goa Carnival, Goa Carneval India

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THE KENYA SAIJIKI
Please send your contributions to
worldkigo .....

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Oranges

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Oranges and Mandarin Oranges

***** Location: Kenya, other areas
***** Season: various, see below
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

In Kenya, oranges (Swahili : Mchungwa)
are a kigo for the cool dry season.

While imported oranges are nowadays available all year round, the Kenya grown oranges are ripe in the cool dry season and are the most popular oranges in Kenya..

Kenya does not have an ideal climate to grow oranges, since it lacks a sufficiently cold season. Oranges are less beautiful to behold than those grown in more temperate climates, with slightly rough skins, staying on the yellow-green side. They are therefore not exported, and the entire orange harvest is available to the Kenyan population.

Oranges are popular in Kenya, and are sold at roadside stalls, usually in piles of 4 or 5 fruit, at very affordable prices. Passers-by who have bought them, may decide to consume one immediately, sucking the flesh and the juice from the fruit quartered by the hawker.



As the fruit are slightly bitter, they are also well suited to making marmalade, which is cooked in many larger households and in small businesses in the country and is both popular and tasty.

Orange juice, orange squash, orange pop and orange flavoured sweets are also much enjoyed in Kenya, but have only the name in common with the orange fruit. A friend of mine, who once learnt how to produce orange squash for sale, was shocked to realise that this contained only chemicals and water -- and asked her children never to drink it again!

Other citrus fruit which grow well in Kenya, are the lemon, the lime and the tangerine. The lemon is juicy and full of flavour, while the lime is delicious, and is used for fresh drinks, as well as in several fish recipes.

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Citrus sinensis -- Orange tree

Exotic, native to southern China, Vietnam

Local names : Mchungwa (Swahili), Muchungwa (Luganda)

A shrub or small tree, growing 4-6 m in height; it is widespread in regions with tropical and temperate climates.

Bark : Grey-brown; branches greenish brown, armed with spines.
Leaves : Simple; alternate; spicily aromatic when crushed.
Flowers : Small; regular; 5 white petals; free; scented; attract bees.
Fruit : A hesperidium (as in all citrus); green to orange when ripe.
Uses : The family Rutaceae includes the orange (citrus sinensis), lemon (citrus limon), tangerine (citrus reticulata), grapefruit (citrus paradisi) and lime (citrus aurantifolia). All citrus fruits are juicy, full of Vitamin C, and used to make jams, jellies, marmalade and fruit squash. Wood is used as firewood. Flowers, leaves and peel produce aromatic oil.

Najma Dharani
Field Guide to common trees and shrubs of East Africa, Cape Town 2002.


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Worldwide use


Florida (USA)
oranges (the fruit)
kigo for winter

orange blossoms are around in February.


evening stroll
the scent of orange trees
lingering

Judith Gorgone
WKD Facebook, November 2009


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Japan


mikan 蜜柑 (みかん) tangerine, oranges, grapefruit
Mikan, mandarin orange with more kigo
Kankitsu, kankitsurui かんきつるい (柑橘類) citrus fruit
かんきつ類



samaa orenji サマーオレンジ summer orange
kigo for early summer


Orange juice, Orange squash,
orenji sukasshu オレンジスカッシュ
kigo for all summer

A cold drink, usually with ice cubes.

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Turkey

kigo for winter

Traditionally oranges and tangerines are december fruits in Turkish markets.
Isa
WKD : Turkey Saijiki


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Things found on the way

Kenya

During the national referendum on the proposed new Constitution in 2005, the symbols allocated to the “yes” and “no” campaigns, were the banana and the orange, respectively. Several political groupings got together under the orange banner, and adopted the name of the Orange Democratic Movement. Having won the referendum, they continued their joint activities and are currently in the process of becoming a new political party.

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The colour orange is very popular in Kenyan textiles, particularly among the Kikuyus and Maasais. Traditional wraparound cloths, called kanga, often use yellow and orange patters in the ever changing designs.


Bahati Secondary School students in a drama performance

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Mchungwa can also be a term of endearment by a boy for the girl of his love. In the mid 1990s, a series of highly popular Kikuyu stories and songs about a girl named Gachûngwa (“little orange”) delighted the country, stayed at the top of the pops for many weeks and was played all over the matatus (minibuses) and village homes.

Text and photo : Isabelle Prondzynski

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HAIKU

sunrise
in the orange grove --
heart singing in prayer

Isabelle Prondzynski

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mummy and daddy
sucking fresh orange juice
sharing a happy moment

Susan Wangui (Bamboocha)


I suck the juice sac
from the sweet fleshy orange --
flies buzz past my face

Cyprian Awino (Bamboocha)


orange in a market
crowded by students shouting
yellowish one is mine

Solomon (Falcon)


ODM at a rally
a crowd gather cheering as
they throw oranges

Beatrice (Falcon)


my grandfather's beard
stained with orange juice --
his sticky lips

Catherine Njeri (Bamboochas)


juicy finger tips,
sucking lips --
orange peels in the compound

Hisseini Haji (Peacock)


jovial faces
sticky fingers and mouths --
orange snacks

Beth Mwangi (Peacock)


sharp thumb nail
cuts the yellow orange peel-
juice flows down the elbow

Anne Nechesa (Patron, Peacocks)


choked by thistles as
Tom carries a basket of oranges
down a tree

Patrick Wafula (Patron, Bamboochas)


a plate of food on one hand
an orange on the other --
what a meal

Anthony Njoroge


my brother comes in
with an orange in his hand --
how selfish he looks!

Agnes Adhiambo (Peacock)


Soweto market-
a big orange attracts me
to the stall

Brian Mulando in August 2012


More ORANGES HAIKU from Kenya are here !

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tiny sour oranges--
a kabuki actor
with bleached hair

© Fay Aoyagi - Roadrunner Magazine

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winter picnic
another orange peel
hits the compost

oranges and sunshine
he runs his bare toes
through the grass

orange alert
children surround the bowl
of tangerines

Copyright © 2000-2005 by Heather Madrone .

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Related words

***** Mandarin Oranges, mikan　みかん、蜜柑

blossoms of the mandarin oranges, mikan no hana
蜜柑の花
flowering mikan, hana mikan 花蜜柑
kigo for early summer


I remember driving through some islands of the Inland Sea of Japan, famous for its mikan plantations on the steep hills, where the smell of the mikan flowers was so strong in the air ! The flowers are rather small and hardly to be seen, but the nose was enchanted !
Gabi Greve

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


mandarin orange, the fruit, mikan　蜜柑
Mikan, mandarin orange (kigo list)
kigo for all winter
the fruit of Citrus reticulata, eaten almost on a daily basis in Japan.

Click HERE for some photos


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Odinga

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JARAMOGI OGINGA ODINGA

He is fondly referred to as the Octogenerian of Kenyan politics for his long and productive contribution to the Kenyan political scene. Jaramogi was a very prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence, especially during the period of Mzee Kenyatta's arrest and detention by the colonial government. He was forefront in the clamour for Kenyatta's release, and was graciously rewarded with the Vice-Presidency in Kenyatta's first independent Kenya government.

Together with Tom Mboya, Odinga heads a string of very prominent politicians from the Luo community in Nyanza Province who have played a very significant role in Kenya's politics. His son Raila Odinga, has clearly inherited his political talents and has gone on to establish himself as one of Kenya's leading politicians.

Odinga, like many other prominent Kenyan politicians, got his education at the prestigious Alliance High School. His emergence in the political scene can be traced to the 1940's when he formed the Luo Thrift and Trading Company in an effort to boost the economic base of his Luo community. His rise to the top however came after 1952, with the declaration of the state of emergency and consequent arrest and detention of Mzee Kenyatta. With Kenyatta in Prison, he could easily have become Kenya's first president but instead insisted on Kenyatta's release, showing the true nationalist that he was. In 1963, when Kenya became independent, Kenyatta appointed him his Vice President.

In 1969, following a clash with Mzee Kenyatta, Odinga resigned and formed a new party, Kenya People's Union(KPU) that was later proscribed and led to his detention. It was Kenyatta's contention that at that time, Kenya needed only one political party, KANU, in order to keep the country united.

Odinga's struggle for a multi-party state put him in trouble with Kenyatta's successor President Moi who also kept him in detention. The veteran Odinga, resurfaced in the 1990's with the demands for a multi-party system in Kenya. Together with Kenneth Matiba, Martin Shikuku, Masinde Muliro and others, they founded the Forum for The Restoration of Democracy(FORD), a popular pressure group that forced the Moi administration to adopt Multi-Party politics in Kenya in 1991, with the repeal of section 2A of the constitution.

With FORD also came a brand of young vibrant activist, the likes of James Orengo, Paul Muite, Gitobu Imanyara, and Dr Mukhisa Kituyi. FORD later evolved into a political party and was clearly poised to wrest power from the KANU government in the 1992 General Elections. In a surprise turn of events, Odinga and Matiba parted ways leading to a bitter split in the popular party. Odinga's party became FORD-Kenya while Matiba's became FORD-Asili. Asili is Swahili for "original". The result of this split was a loss for the opposition parties to President Moi's KANU. In the 1992 Elections, Moi got a total of 1,927,640 votes.

Kenneth Matiba(FORD-Asili Party) came in second with 1,354,856 votes, followed by Mwai Kibaki(Democratic Party) who got 1,035,507. Odinga came in fourth with 903,866, well below the expectations of many. Even after his lucklustre showing at the 1992 General Elections, the ageing Odinga still maintained an active role in Kenya's Multi-Party era politics until his untimely death in 1994. He is regarded in many quarters as the father of Multi-Party politics in Kenya because of his long and painful struggle towards that end, and needless to say, will go down in history as a great Kenyan Nationalist and Hero.

Copyright © AfricanTribute.com Inc., 2002
http://kenya740.tripod.com/jaramogi.html

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AIDS : Jaramogi Foundation has helped break culture of fear, silence


Jaramogi Oginga Odinga - Wikipedia

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Related words

***** Poetry and Literature of Kenya

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THE KENYA SAIJIKI
Please send your contributions to
Gabi Greve / Isabelle Prondzynski
worldkigo .....

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OAKS Haiku Club

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The Oaks !

Our group is from Embakasi High School in Kayole, Nairobi.
We are about one kilometre North of Bahati.

We were introduced to Haiku by Patrick Sensei of Bahati Haiku Poetry club and his team of great haiku enthusiasts, the famous Bamboochas.

Haiku is unlike any other form of poetry we have ever known; it has opened our eyes and senses to a world we had hitherto not known: the world of nature and its wonderful seasons.

Even here in Nairobi, in the hustle and bustle, haiku has taught us to pause and observe, and what great sights we have discovered! Our greatest inspiration was the ginkoo on May 27 this year and our greatest experience was meeting The Moderator, Miss Isabelle.
We now long to meet Miss Gabi Greve and the other poets...

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Haiku for the World Cup July 2006

Rebecca Mbithe

parents disagree
over what to watch on TV--
world cup interrupts

Brazil and England
could not reach the semis--
tears are shed

commitments postponed--
friends and families gather
to cheer their stars

everyone hurrying--
televisions out of stock
it is world cup


Geoffrey Wafula

prrrrrt!
France gets a penalty kick
Zidane scores

goooooal!
challenging defender--
Ronaldo scores


John Simala

overcrowded bars--
revellers sip as they cheer
it is world cup

fans throng stadia
to behold cheer and jeer--
world cup fever is here

the battle is on
for the covetted trophy--
the FIFA World Cup

students and workers
skive to watch the event live--
moral support

France and Itally
survive to the finals--
who expected that?

Africans return
tearful and empty-handed--
the title is still elusive

hope still thrives--
South Africa hosts
2010 World Cup


Soccer, Football, Fussball

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Our last World Cup haiku, July 13, 2006:

students play football--
calling themselves Ronaldo
and Ronaldinho
Patrick Wafula

pedestrians wear t-shirts
with Ronaldinho's photo
patriotism
Patrick Wafula

a Japanese boy
play well during finals--
England is defeated
Okwaro

Tony was a good player--
Del Piero scored the last penalty
Italy wins World Cup
Doreen

watching in expectation--
ball against the net
cheerful crowds
Nancy Olande

smiles on their faces
Germany for World Cup
Mexico waves along
Nancy Olande

thronged stadium
filled entertainment spots--
cheering fans.
Nancy Olande

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Meeting of the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi
November 2006


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Related words

***** Bahati Haiku Club, Nairobi


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Nairobi Int. Trade Fair

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Nairobi International Trade Fair

***** Location: Nairobi, Kenya
***** Season: End of cool dry season
***** Category: Observances

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Explanation

The Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) lays on the Nairobi International Trade Fair at the end of September / beginning of October every year. The Show is held in its permanent grounds in Jamhuri Park, off Ngong Road -- a beautiful old park, planted with tall and shady trees. There are permanent stands for the regular Kenyan exhibitors, as well as an arena, where displays of various skills are performed (e.g. ambulance driving, acrobatics), and there are music and dance shows every day of the week-long event.

The Show is opened by the President of Kenya. Special busesare laid on from the city centre all week. Water supplies in the surrounding housing estates become scarce as the Show goes on, since stands are busy, and both people and animals are fed and watered.

Much of Nairobi flocks to the Show Grounds during the week. School classes come on excursions -- the children enjoy their outing, the song and dance, and the farm animals which many of them may be seeing for the first time. Adults make good use of the trade stands, many with special offers for the Show, many handing out free literature. Much of it is development related material, which can be used in their day to day activities by urban and rural communities.

Exhibitors receive several season tickets, which they give to their staff as special perks, providing a day of free entertainment. Even those on duty at the stands love the week -- the Park is beautiful, the atmosphere happy, and the work stress-free, with plenty of opportunities to meet visiting friends from both Nairobi and up-country.

One of the fun things about walking through the Show Grounds, is watching the excited children, relishing their big day out. Another is the encounter with a tuneful choir, swaying in rhythm to its music. Each major national organisation has its own choir, and thus one year, I met the Kenya Airways Choir, each member dressed in the flight attendant uniform, happily singing in front of the Kenya Airways stand. And I also love walking through halls full of enthusiasts showing off less well-known agricultural activities, such as bee-keeping or rabbit-rearing. Or demonstrating how to press oil from maize with the help of a huge, but entirely mechanical machine.

The Nairobi churches hold their annual Harvest Thanksgiving Services on the Sunday before the Show starts.
The ASK Chairperson delivers the sermon in All Saints' Cathedral, where tractors and farm produce are taken and displayed before they continue their journey to the Show Grounds. Children from Nairobi schools enter the church in a long colourful procession, bearing gifts. They are joined by the members of the congregation, all bringing food items to be donated to various homes for the needy, including the Tujisaidie Nursery School, part of the Cathedral's own Urban Development Programme.

Isabelle Prondzynski

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His Excellency President Daniel Moi, is taken around the 2002 Nairobi International Trade Fair by Director KARI, Dr. Romano M. Kiome (holding microphone).



and a photo of the KARI stand itself



© Copyright Kenya Agricultural Research Institute.

Look at some more photos here:
http://www.kari.org/News_Events_Archives/KARItionalTFair.htm

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2005 Nairobi International Trade Fair

This year’s Nairobi International Trade Fair has attracted more local and international exhibitors than previous times.

The show opened its gates to the public, yesterday with the organisers hoping that the event would attract the highest number of showgoers so far. The fair is the biggest exhibition in East Africa and the sole surviving agricultural show in the region. The number of exhibitors who have shown interest has almost doubled from last year’s.

International participants entering the event for the first time include the US, China, Malaysia and Mozambique. The total number of exhibitors this year is 310, compared to 162 last year. Of these, 79 are foreign exhibitors compared to 44 in 2004.

Yesterday was the fair’s business day, which was graced by Trade and Industry minister Dr Mukhisa Kituyi. Kituyi said the increased number of foreign exhibitors would turn the country into a trade centre in the region. "I am glad that there are many exhibitors from East Africa, which will strengthen the regional customs union," he said.

Kituyi asked the show organisers to encourage greater participation by international exhibitors to make Kenya an "economic powerhouse". in the region. The ministers challenged them to cultivate dialogue between farmers and entrepreneurs to sustain primary producers.

Allan Kisia
(c) East African Standard, 27.09.2005
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=29540

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The Show follows the British tradition of Agricultural Shows, in the beautiful surroundings of Jamhuri Park. The following shows pictures of the prize winning Jersey cattle :

including “Kingscliff Kennedy” - the Champion Bull



and many other bulls



Loook at many more photos here:
http://www.avonteur.com/Nairobi2004JerseyResults.html

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Business slow as Nairobi show opens

The Nairobi International Trade Fair opened its doors to the public yesterday. But business was slow as exhibitors were still putting the final touches to their stands, which the organisers said were cleaner and more colourful than last year's. Roads in the showground were being watered to control dust, while the exhibitors said they were happy with the preparations and hoped they would seal deals during the show.

The minister for Trade and Industry, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, was the chief guest yesterday.

The number exhibitors has gone up considerably, with 310 local ones, compared to 162 in 2004. The number of foreign stands is 79, up from 44 last year. Foreign countries exhibiting at the fair include China, Malaysia, Tanzania, Mozambique and the US which has set up an agricultural and commercial services stand at the international pavilion. Tanzania has the biggest number of exhibitors in the foreign category, with 46 companies participating.

Dr Kituyi said the large turnout of foreign exhibitors showed their confidence in Kenya an investment destination. The Government, he added, had made sure farmers were supported in their activities despite political distractions.

At the same time, he called on the Yes and No referendum campaigners to conduct their activities "with decency so that they do not unsettle the conducive investment climate."

(c) Daily Nation, 27.09.2005
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=58082

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On 21 November 2005, a referendum will be held on whether to adopt the proposed new Constitution of Kenya. At the time of the Show, the campaign is heating up :



Wananchi (citizens) receive copies of the proposed Constitution at the Nairobi International Trade Fair at Jamuhuri Park yesterday.
Photo 27.09.2005 by: Joan Pereruan
http://www.nationmedia.com/

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More news and photos here :
View The Trade Fair Picture Gallery

http://www.worldagroforestry.org/eca/news_031004_001.asp

http://www.worldagroforestry.org/eca/photo_gallery_TradeFair.asp


Guest of Honor at the Agricultural Society of Kenya Show-WSC Stand



Copyright ©2005 Western Seed Company Ltd.

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Worldwide use

Ireland

Dublin has its own famous agricultural shows, the Spring Show (May) and the Horse Show (August), which are held in the splendid Show Grounds of the Royal Dublin Society in Ballsbridge. These shows have in recent years become dominated by urban visitors, so that rural interest has increasingly shifted to the National Ploughing Championships (September), which has become a huge agricultural show, held in a different location each year.

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Things found on the way

Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair - Tanzania

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HAIKU

first encounter --
tiny girl and huge bull
dressed for the Show

season tickets --
our turn for the Show today --
office, good luck!

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Related words

***** Harvest Thanksgiving (Erntedank)


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Nairobi Bomb Day

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Nairobi Bomb Day (8 August 1998)

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Cold dry season
***** Category: Observances

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Explanation



The picture above is of the Nairobi bomb blast which occured on August 7th1998 - a day Kenyans remember with a lot of sorrow. The bomb went off at 10:30 a.m and was the first in the country's history. The target was the US Embassy in Nairobi and the death toll was more than 200 people with about 4000 seriously wounded. It is believed to have been carried out by some Islamic extremists. The blast literally brought Kenya's capital to a standstill as no one had expected such an occurrence. The 25 story building in focus is the Co-operative Bank of Kenya in which nearly 100 employees lost their lives. At the same time a similar bomb went off in Dar-es-Salaam, the capital of Kenya's neighbour Tanzania also just next to the US Embassy.

Photo and text :
http://www.radiobridge.net/www/archive086.html

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The blast in Nairobi occurred about 10:45 a.m. (3:45 a.m. EST/0745 GMT). The force of the blast blew off the embassy's bomb-proof doors -- which were later used as stretchers to carry away the injured.

Injured people were rushed from the scene, as a plume of smoke rose above the Nairobi skyline. Windows were shattered as far as 10 blocks away, and bloodied clothing and papers littered the streets. Crowds crawled over the twisted and broken concrete and metal that was once Ufundi House, looking for victims and trying to free trapped people heard crying for help. As darkness fell, studio lights were set up so that the rescue work could continue. "We fear the worst. By the time the rubble is cleared, we expect to find more dead," said Red Cross spokeswoman Nina Galbe. The city's four hospitals were overwhelmed with the injured.

The Kenyan government announced an official five-day mourning period for victims of the bombing and ordered flags lowered to half staff. The government pledged $850,000 to a fund to help survivors and families of the dead.

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9808/07/africa.explosions.04/

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At around 10.30 hrs on Friday, 7 August 1998, a huge explosion ripped through the centre of Nairobi. The target was the American Embassy, and the perpetrators were the until then virtually unknown Al Qaeda. One building collapsed, two were almost entirely destroyed, and in a wide radius scores of buildings were severely damaged and could only be ventured into after prior inspection and approval by the city authorities. Two buses were smashed by the explosion, and all passengers and staff killed.

This picture above may have been taken by a builder, working on top of Nairobi' tallest building, the Kenya Times Media Complex, who had a camera with him and the presence of mind to use it. These pictures travelled round the world, a unique recording of the event.

During and in the immediate aftermath of the bomb blast, some 260 people died, and another 5,000 were injured and in need of hospital treatment. Many were blinded in one or both eyes. A minor explosion had preceded the main one, causing people to rush to their office windows to check what had happened -- these windows, as well as computer screens, shattered into people's eyes. Many people spent months in hospitals, and when they were discharged, it was into a changed world.

Nairobians showed themselves exemplary -- those with workable cars spent all days rescuing others and driving them to hospitals, the queues to donate blood were great, people carried each other and encouraged each other even as, one eye witness said afterwards, every square foot of the city centre was drenched in blood that day.

And then, people donated funds, clothes, food, assistance. Counsellors got together and offered to make themselves available, for a period of months, finding bases in all the major churches of the city centre where they could counsel people on a voluntary basis. International aid was received but, per head of the survivors, it was low, and much depended on efforts made by Kenyans themselves. And those efforts were made, willingly and generously. Meanwhile, funerals went on. The last few bodies were identified only with the help of DNA samples.

A fortnight after the bomb blast, a National Memorial Service was held, processing from the bomb site, where the participants laid down single long-stemmed red roses on a heap of rubble, all the way to Uhuru Park. It was a solemn yet beautiful occasion and allowed normality to start returning.

Time has healed some of the wounds. The American Embassy has moved out of the city centre into an area which it can protect more effectively. Ufundi Co-operative House is no more. Co-operative Bank Building has been rebuilt, a showpiece of modern architecture revived. The survivors have learnt to live with their wounds, without their breadwinners, their spouses or their children, with new offices or jobs or troubles.

The bomb site has been turned into the 7 August 1998 Memorial Park, a place of peace and beauty, where a polished stone wall lists the names of all who perished, people of many faiths and denominations, of many tribes and nations, but almost all of them Kenyans.

For my personal story of the bomb and its aftermath, a rather long exchange of e-mails with the group of Godfriends may be read at the site below. It was a Friday, I was on a day off and drove past the site half an hour before the bomb exploded. By the time it did, I was outside Nairobi at a friend's house, and did not realise what had happened until I met total and absolute chaos on my way back in. A chaos through which we lived.

Despite all the horror, there were redeeming moments too, such as the National Memorial Service in Uhuru Park, just outside All Saints' Cathedral where I worked.
http://www.umilta.net/chronicle.html

The pictures below, taken from Press reports, show the Wall of Remembrance in the Memorial Park on 7 August 2005, at the time of the annual remembrance ceremony.

Isabelle Prondzynski
... ... ...



Samwel King'ori (right) leads 70-year-old Pius Maina who was blinded by the US embassy terrorist attack, at the Bomb Blast Memorial Park during the 7th anniversary yesterday. Kingo'ri who walks with the help of a cane sustained serious spinal injuries.
Photo by Noor Khamis

http://www.eastandard.net/archives/cl/default.php?date=8/08/2005

... ... ...



Rosemary Wanjiku, 9, in deep thought as she sits next to the plaque bearing the names of the victims of the 1998 bomb blast in Nairobi yesterday during the 7th anniversary commemoration. Wanjiku, who was two years old then, and her mother were injured in the blast.
Photo by Joseph Mathenge

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=54650

... ... ...



Kenyan victims of the August 7, 1998 U.S. embassy bombing sit at a memorial site in the capital Nairobi, July 26, 2005. About a dozen Kenyan victims of the bombing are on hunger-strike at the blast site in central Nairobi to demand payment for medical expenses and other losses they some blind or crippled - say they began their protest 11 days ago at the site of the old diplomatic mission, which is now a memorial park, to draw attention to their plight.
(Antony Njuguna/Reuters)

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050726/photos_wl/mdf482887;_ylt=AmBU7KFl_.CSvOg%0DuQ2sHPzpg.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGk2OHYzBHNlYwN0bXA

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A U.S. Marine stands guard outside the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, after a huge explosion ripped apart a building in the Kenyan capital, heavily damaging the embassy and killing dozens on Friday.

NEXT click here for more pictures.

Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company
http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/080898africa-bombing.html

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More analysis :

http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/aug1998/bomb-a15.shtml

The then American Ambassador, Prudence Bushnell, and the acting DCM at the time of the 1998 bombing, Lucien Vandenbroucke, have also written up their memories of that fateful day :

http://www.afsa.org/fsj/julaug00/Bushnell.cfm
http://www.afsa.org/fsj/jun00/vandenbroucke.cfm

U.S. EMBASSIES BOMBED IN AFRICA

Read a lot more about this subject:
http://www.msu.edu/course/iss/325/stein/terror.htm

More pictures here :

http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/080898africa-bombing.html

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050726/photos_wl/mdf482887;_ylt=AmBU7KFl_.CSvOg
uQ2sHPzpg.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGk2OHYzBHNlYwN0bXA

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Tanzania suffered a smaller bomb on the same day in its commercial capital, Dar Es Salaam.

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Things found on the way

Rose Wanjiku, emblem of the Nairobi bomb tragedy

The mindless cruelty and barbarism of this act was symbolized by what happened to Rose Wanjiku, a tea-lady in one of the Ufundi House offices. After the building collapsed, she remained buried alive for five days as rescuers, including a special unit of Israeli soldiers, worked desperately around the clock in an effort to save her and others. She had communicated constantly with them from beneath the rubble, but died half a day before she was reached.

The tragic futility of her struggle for life touched millions across the world, and in Kenya, the long-stemmed rose became the symbol of the bomb blast victims. The National Memorial Service held two weeks after the outrage included Hindu and Muslim speakers, and the papers were full of praise for all Kenyans, whatever their religion or tribe, for having helped rescue victims in the immediate aftermath.

The site of the explosion itself, now a memorial garden (daily 6am-6pm; Ksh20), has become a place of pilgrimage where, every day, individuals, groups and delegations pay their respects to the victims of the bomb whose names are recorded on a plaque which also expresses the hope that those who died in this tragic event may rest in the knowledge that "it has strengthened our resolve to work for a world in which man is able to live alongside each other in peace

http://dg.ian.com/index.jsp?cid=76355&action=viewLocation&formId=97191


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HAIKU

bomb blast day --
nairobi's roses
ready to die

The Nairobi bomb blast is remembered with the red rose, which became a powerful symbol in the days following the explosion. The last person alive within the collapsed Ufundi Co-operative Building, was a young mother by the name of Rose, whose life the rescue workers, Kenyan and international, desperately tried to save. Having survived for several days in the rubble, she finally died before they could reach her.

Kenya produces huge volumes of roses, mostly for immediate air freight export. It is on days such as St Valentine's Day and for those commemorating the bomb blast day that the Kenyan red rose comes into its own in its own country.

memories
pictures of the blast
so many lives

Isabelle Prondzynski

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One-line linked haiku :

bomb-shattered building under the rubble voices
an unexpected rose but not in time for rose

http://www.marlenemountain.org/1llhaiku/porad/1llh_enclosed_porad.html

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every one who reaches here
falls silent and heads bow--
August bomblast

beautiful whirls of
flowers laid at the memorial park--
August bomblast

a long list
of gone loved ones awaits you
at the gate

who can shut
down all the weapons factories?
we need peace

Patrick Wafula, August 2006


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Related words


***** Peace (amani) Kenya

***** World Peace Day


***** Peace and War as Haiku Topics

***** Hiroshima Day also: Nagasaki Day, Japan


*********************

Please send your contributions to
Gabi Greve / Isabelle Prondzynski
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Mud (matope)

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Mud (Swahili : matope)

***** Location: Kenya, other areas
***** Season:Long rains, short rains
***** Category: Earth

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Explanation

Kenya is a muddy country when it rains. The soil is heavy, and people get busy cultivating and planting seeds as soon as the rains look established. Working on the land is a very muddy job at such times of year! The mud is carried, on people’s shoes, into buses, matatus, churches, shops and offices. Coconut fibre doormats need to be shaken out as soon as the mud has dried overnight, ready for the next day’s deposits.

The major city roads are tarmacked, but as one ventures into the poorer areas at the outskirts of town, and into the rural areas, murram roads take over. These are rightly called mud roads at this time of year, as the floods wash out the mud from between the stones, and the edges (no longer footpaths!) are in any case a mix of mud and flood.

Nairobi has a great variety of mud. In Eastlands, including Kayole, on the way out to Ukambani, the black cotton soil turns into a black, heavy mud, so stodgy and clingy that most of the inhabitants prefer to walk in their bare feet, carrying shoes in plastic bags, ready to put on once they reach town. In Westlands and beyond, moving into Central Province, the red soil turns into a red, much finer sandy mud, which nevertheless clings heavily to one’s hoe or shoe. The city centre has beige soil, which is perhaps the least muddy, as most of it is covered in buildings, parks, streets and pavements!

As the rains fall heavily, over a short period, much of the soil, once turned into mud, is carried away by the rivers towards the sea, which runs brown at the river mouths.


http://corbinball.coronaware.com/assets/eventphotos/art-ke26.jpg

Kenya loses much fertile ground each year as a result. The colonialists tried to limit rainwater erosion by means of terracing; in parts of the country, e.g. Ukambani, this has been moderately effective.

In the rural areas, the rainy season is also the season when mud is used to build or repair traditional mud and wattle houses. While house building is mostly men’s work, house repair is women’s work, and may take up to several days during the rains.

At the end of the rainy season, the mud gradually dries out. For a while, it remains in the shape it took, often resembling bizarre sculptures -- then, with time, it is eroded away and flattened by human, animal and vehicular traffic.

Isabelle Prondzynski

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. MORE PHOTOS
by Caleb David Mutua 　





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Elephants wallowing in mud -- their colour always reflects the colour of the mud of their habitat!

Look at a great photo here
http://www.pbase.com/flemmingbo/image/55500343

© Flemming Bo Jensen

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Two of the many types of mud-built houses in Kenya :


http://www.leavenworthbaptist.com/images/Missions/KenyaTrip/DSC00321_640.jpg

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Africa/Kenya/photo276173.htm


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Worldwide use

Japan

The word mud (doro) just like that is a topic for haiku.


spring mud, haru no doro 春の泥
..... shundei 春泥
kigo for all spring

A phenomen when the snow melts. Mud is usually something one tries to avoid, but in spring it expresses the joy of the long winter now being over soon.


お上人の足袋の春泥ご開帳
o shoonin no tabi no shundei go-kaichoo

spring mud
on the socks of the priest -
showing the secret statue
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

Seiji せいじ
http://www.hb-arts.co.jp/haiku_html/030510kekka.htm

Quoted from
Secret Buddha Statues
by Gabi Greve






秋しぐれ泥人形と生まれて泥
aki shigure doro ningyoo ni umarete doro

sleet in autumn -
born as a mud doll
this mud

source : Keiji Minato. Sep. 2008
Tr. Gabi Greve

Other translation versions are possible.
reference


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Trinidad and Tobago
Kigo for Dry Season ... Feb/March; Spring.

In Trinidad and Tobago, a great part of the fun on the first day of the two-day carnival masquerade, is playing mud mas. Mud mas is a must at Jouvert,( the opening hours, on the first day of Carnival).


www.tntisland.com/images/c2k5-06.jpg

mud smeared bodies
welcome the dawn
jouvert

related words: carnival; jouvert; ole mas; masquerade; street festivals.

Gillena Cox

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

home at last --
heart runs in greeting
while feet drag in mud

~ Isabelle Prondzynski

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Haiku from the August 2006 Shiki Kukai :
http://www.haikuworld.org/kukai/current.html

monsoon …
rising from the mud
a buffalo's horns

~ Ella Wagemakers


rainy season –
a muddied welcome
on the doormat

~ max verhart


through mud roads
a jostling bus ride --
smell of sweat

~ Kala Ramesh


ground-breaking
the politician poses
with a shovelful of mud

~ ed markowski


you call it a slum
because of faeces and mud
the big deal is life

James Omwimwa (Peacock Haiku Poetry Club, Kenya)


a student --
walking down a Soweto Street
his shoes squelching in mud

Caleb Mutua (Peacock Haiku Poetry Club, Kenya)

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Soweto streets --
my feet slide
in mud

~ John Mutahi (Falcon Haiku Poetry Club, Kenya) and Chibi

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muddy Soweto Road--
the crater left by a lorry's
large wheels

zebra crossing--
uneven footprints of mud
on the white strips

Caleb Mutua
December 2010


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February 2011

. Mud Haiku .
Sibiko Yamame


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leaning eucalyptus--
he cleans his muddy shoe
with a branch

heavy downpour--
a termite sticks on
the muddy floor

water puddles--
I am the fifth on the line
to the stepping stones

muddy path--
I squat to empty my bicycle's
mudguard

James Bundi

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sunset —
a farmer scraps mud
from his hoe

Victor Obutho

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raising mud
to the pond's surface
a spring toad

--Shoji Sugisaka (Yokohama)
http://www.asahi.com/english/haiku/060320.html

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どろ人形にはお父さんもお母さんもいない 僕が育ててあげよう



This mud doll
Has no dad or mom
So I'll raise it .

Sheng Tao age 10, male SHANGHAI (上海)
http://www.jal-foundation.or.jp/html/haiku/sakuhinY/e1998sakuhinY.htm

Mud dolls or clay dolls, as they are called in Japan, have their own space provided in the
Daruma Doll Museum by Gabi Greve　 　　　

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Bahati street--
a little boy on fours
drives mud oxen

Patrick Wafula
November 2012


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Related words


***** Brickmaking
non-seasonal haiku topic

Patrick Wafula went to see the brick works in Githurai on the Thika Road outside Nairobi :

busy hands firmly
kneading mud, preparing bricks--
black smoke from the kiln

Patrick Wafula, Kenya
http://www.haikuworld.org/kukai/current.html

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***** Dry mud
beginning of dry season

rain has ended
footprints remain dry on the paths
kids stumble and fall

梅雨明けや　足跡残り　　子は倒る
tsuyu ake ya / ashiato nokori / ko wa taoru
(Translation : Sakuo Nakamura)

~Raymond Otieno 　 　　　


© Photo Isabelle Prondzynski


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dusty ride
along a murram road---
Murang'a town

Catherine Njeri Maina


murram is a mix of stones and soil used for road building. There are still many rural murram roads in Kenya. They are reasonably stable but are nevertheless muddy during the rains and dusty during the dry seasons. They are also not very level, so vehicles have to drive slowly on them.
Isabelle Prondzynski


MORE
- Catherine in Murang'a


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***** Bukusu Initiation (Circumcision)
cool dry season

Bukusu circumcision usually takes place in August of every even year. Mud is used for three purposes : 1) to prevent excessive bleeding after the cut, 2) to prevent the candidate from blinking or wincing, and 3) to commemorate what Mango (the hero who originated the rite) did in order to kill the monstrous serpent that had for a long time terrorized Bukusu people and their livestock -- he anointed his whole body with mud to rid his body of the human odour; in this way, he approached and killed the serpent without it detecting his presence.
You see the same tactic being used in "The Predator" by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

a young Bukusu
circumcisee smeared with mud --
circumcision rite

Text and haiku : Patrick Wafula, 2006

Bukusu Culture, Babukusu People Kenya Saijiki



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Mourning

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Mourning

***** Location: Worldwide
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

*****************************
Explanation

Plane Crash in Kenya Kills 14 Members of Peace Delegation

By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service

NAIROBI, April 10, 2006

In heavy fog and torrential rains, a military plane carrying Kenyan political officials along with police and religious leaders crashed in a town north of the capital, killing 14 people and sending the East African nation into a period of mourning.

The plane crashed into a hill as it was trying to land in Marsabit, a rural town 280 miles north of Nairobi, according to news service reports. Three of the 17 people on the plane survived, including the two pilots.

The dead included two assistant cabinet ministers and the deputy leader of the main opposition party, all of whom were en route to a peace conference to discuss violence along the Ethiopian border.

"It is unfortunate that this tragedy has occurred when the peace delegation was on its way for a crucial meeting of bringing harmony among the communities living in the region," President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya said in a televised address to the country. He declared three days of national mourning.

Kenyan television showed graphic footage of charred corpses and harried emergency workers in white coats lifting bloodied bodies and covering them with sheets. Some of the workers cried. Witnesses said the aircraft, a Y-12 twin-engine cargo plane, burst into flames when it crashed.

"This is the worst tragedy to hit the National Assembly," the parliament's speaker, Francis ole Kaparo, told reporters with tears in his eyes. "We have lost a lot of very good people in this crash."

Officials said the dead included Mirugi Kariuki, assistant minister for internal security; Titus Ngoyoni, assistant minister for regional development; and Bonaya Godana, deputy leader of the Kenya African National Union opposition party and a member of parliament.

Kenya is known for its air safety record, despite frequent hailstorms. The last crash of a government plane, which killed Ahmed Khalif, the government's labor minister, was in January 2003.

The crash Monday was particularly upsetting to many Kenyans because the officials had traveled to northern Kenya to help ease regional tensions, government leaders said. Violence has broken out along the border over a scarcity of resources and cattle-rustling during East Africa's recent drought.

"They were trying to help, but the weather was terrible and foggy up there. It's a very sad day for all Kenyans," Alfred Mutua, the government spokesman said in a telephone interview. "We want to honor them with a good memorial service. They and their families deserve at least that."
© 2006 The Washington Post Company


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Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU

From the PEACOCK Haiku Club, Kenya

As you know, right now we are in a three day mourning period due to the Marsabit Military Plane crash in which we lost 14 people among them 6 members of parliament. The tragedy was caused by bad weather; poor visibility that caused the plane to crash on a hill. These wonderful people were peacemakers.

Here is a poem about the tragedy.

rainy windy Marsabit
peacemakers perish
in plane crash

hundreds left homeless
Kilifi thirsty soil drinks showers
in land slide

drizzly morning
my umbrella becomes
my inseperable friend

beloved ones drown-
showers of blessing
wash away Kibera slums

dark skies
shed tears at night
the sun wipes the tears by light

Anne Nechesa

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Mourning for KQ 507, May 2007

swollen airport...
a pressman struggling
amidst crowds

Read the report from
CATHERINE MAINA.

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MOURNING/FUNERAL

white-robed Catechist
prays for the red casket--
open prayer books

wails ring across
the green maize valleys--
wet handkerchiefs

with hoes and spades,
men in gumboots dig the grave--
wet muddy earth

framed photo
on the red casket--
wails and sobs

father and mother
mourn their beloved son--
hands on cheeks

heads bow
in respect and sorrow--
sun comes out of clouds

on three ropes
casket is lowered into the grave--
earth eats again

wooden cross
at the head of the grave--
end of life's journey

flowers planted
on the fresh grave--
new life

the Catechist
planting final flower on grave--
new life

Patrick Wafula, August 2007


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Related words

***** Long Rains

*****************************
THE KENYA SAIJIKI
Please send your contributions to
Gabi Greve / Isabelle Prondzynski
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index

Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro

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Mount Kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Earth

*****************************
Explanation

There is snow in Kenya too -- on Mount Kenya, we even have permanent glaciers, though unfortunately they are starting to melt now. As Mount Kenya is right beside the Equator, this is due to its great height (approx. 5,200 m -- Mount Fuji is approx. 3,800 m high).

Here are some web sites and pictures :

http://www.mountkenya.org/index.html

http://www.mountkenya.org/mtkenya.htm

http://www.kilimanjaro.com/kenya/mtkenya.htm

http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=800


And just across the border, in Tanzania and looking far into Kenya, is
Mount Kilimanjaro :

http://www.mountkenya.org/mtkilimanjaro.htm


Very few Kenyans have climbed either of these two mountains. But most view them with reverence. Mount Kenya is said to be the place where God (Ngai) resides. It can be seen very far away (for instance, from Kayole). There are days when it is possible to see both Mounts Kenya and Kilimanjaro from Wilson Airport, the domestic airport of Nairobi.

Most of the time, however, Mount Kenya, just like Mount Fuji, veils itself in clouds, and only the huge foot may be seen by those who know where to look for it.

Isabelle Prondzynski

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http://www.africaclimbing.com/mount-kenya-climbing/

Click HERE to see more photos of Mount Kenya !




Click HERE to see photos of Mount Kilimanjaro !

*****************************
Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way


*****************************
HAIKU




I have been privileged to visit the Land of Mt. Kilimanjaro again; and this time round I had my camera with me and took a photo of
Mt. Kilimanjaro’s highest Peak: Kibo.

noon sun —
Kibo still sitting
in white snow

Patrick Wafula



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Related words

The volcanic Mount Meru is shadowed by his big and famous neighbour Kilimanjaro.

***** . Arusha (Tanzania) .


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Meeting November 2006

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Meeting of the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi
November 2006

Objective

The four Haiku Clubs of the Kayole secondary schools had their second big meeting on Saturday, 4 November 2006. At the invitation of the local community’s Tujisaidie Self-Help Group, the meeting took place in the Community Centre, where the Tujisaidie Nursery School is also based.

The first meeting had been a festive gathering and ginkoo, with participation from invited guests, including the Japanese Cultural Centre. This second meeting was an internal affair, called above all to present the computer students with encouragement and small prizes, and also to have a discussion on haiku writing among ourselves.


Photo : Patrick Wafula

Background

During the previous week, I had visited the Bamboochas of Bahati Community Centre taking their computer classes. I had also been invited to the Peacocks of St Mathew Secondary School, to discuss their Ramadhan haiku with them and gather information for the Ramadhan kigo page. The next week would take me to the Falcons of Lorna Waddington High School. I had been received with a lot of cheer, welcome and enthusiasm in each of these schools, and was looking forward to meeting the haijin together once more.

Patrons’ meeting

The students, with great enthusiasm, arrived early at the Tujisaidie Community Centre. They were made very welcome by the youth of Tumaini African Foundation and were entertained with music and a mini-ginkoo while the Patrons held their own meeting.

Each of the schools was represented by the Haiku Club Patrons :

Bamboochas : Mr Patrick Wafula
..................Mr James Macharia
Falcons : Mr Ngugi
Peacocks : Ms Ann Nechesa
................ Ms Adelaide Amadade Luvandale
Oaks : Mr Jumah (Principal)
Computer teacher : Mr David Kimani
Haiku Committee of the community : Ms Lucy Irungu
.................................................... Mr Anthony Njoroge

The Patrons discussed a number of issues concerning them all, regarding computing, communications and haiku.

We looked together at how each school contributes to the Kenya Saijiki discussion forum, and how this in turn contributes to the Worldkigo Database. Haiku writing was leading to haiku discussion -- and to be able to discuss at international level, we need to communicate by e-mail and the internet. Hence, the link between haiku and computing. This led to a discussion of the computing budget necessary to make communication possible.

On haiku, we agreed that the two most important aspects to keep in mind when guiding the students during the coming months, were :

* the use of observation,
* the use of kigo (season words).

We also discussed giving feed-back to the students. Ideally, the students would send their haiku to Kenya Saijiki, receive feed-back, discuss this in their clubs and devote some effort to revising their haiku. In the same way, they should be open to giving feed-back by e-mail to others, so that we could have a discussion together and hone our poetry and our skills.

Haiku Clubs’ arrival

By the time the Patrons had finished their meeting, the students had happily arrived (some after difficulties finding the place -- they were eagerly welcomed), taken some snacks, enjoyed the company of their Tumaini hosts, danced to the music, and written some haiku. These haiku, here assembled, show the joyful and inspired spirit of the day :

all Falcons group
looking all round Soweto
oh... we are lost

haiku members
smiling at each other --
meeting up again

wow! two boys bringing
radios so that we can
dance on the floor

Tujisaidie Community --
full of haiku fans
enjoying music

Oscar is very
happy because of the
reggae music


Photo : Isabelle Prondzynski

haiku members
in a jovial mood as they
eat bread and sodas

welcoming focus
talking as they share jokes
ready to begin

everybody is happy
really to write best haiku --
how wonderful day is it?

Peacocks winning
all the top prizes --
haiku meeting

is this haiku?
why not?
syllables uncountable

this is the day
to share our feelings with mum
before going back

students listening
Madame Isabella speaking
everyone clapping

When the meeting was opened, we sang several choruses, praising God, who had brought us this far in our endeavours, and expressing our joy to be together again.

Computing meeting

The first part of the meeting was to recognise the effort the students had made in order to learn computing and encourage them to continue their studies for the final test early next year.

The top 7 computer students, who had passed all modules of their tests, were called forward by the teacher, David Kimani, and congratulated, with small prizes to choose from :

David Caleb Mutua (Peacock)
Omombo Christine (Peacock)
Nyakado Christine (Peacock)
Gideon Gichamba Wangui (Peacock)
Gladys Kathini (Peacock)
Catherine Njeri Maina (Bamboocha)

This brought the Peacocks a round of applause, as they had done exceptionally well. And while I was busy with the prizes, I did not even notice that we were being photographed by Patrick Sensei -- to whom many thanks!


Photo : Patrick Wafula

Another 17 computer students passed all but one of their modules and were called forward to collect their prizes :

Raymond Otieno (Bamboocha)
Anderson Mwendwa (Falcon)
Boniface Mutua (Falcon)
Ian Kamau (Falcon)
David Wandera (Bamboocha)
Rebecca Mbithe (Oak)
Khadija Rajab (Peacock)
Seline Onguto (Falcon)
Leonard Juma (Falcon
Otieno Walter (Bamboocha)
James Omwimwa (Peacock)
Stephen Kimanthi (Peacock)
Zaccheuas Ogoji (Peacock)
Jacinta Minoo (Peacock)
Ashraf Baraza (Falcon)
Agnes Adwambo (Peacock)
Patrick Gahuo (Falcon)

The computer classes will continue until the beginning of 2007 and will end with a final test, including a practical element. Best wishes to all the students -- and keep up the good work!

Haiku meeting

There followed an open discussion on very many aspects of haiku.

How many syllables, and how to count them?

Can one write about dreams?

How about newspaper or television reports?

What are the kigo of the current season?

Can one write about other seasons?

The importance of observation was emphasised -- concentrating on what is right there, and can be heard, seen, touched, smelled and tasted.

The importance of learning, and of receiving feed-back, was also pointed out. The students proposed that, from time to time, they would send in unsigned haiku, to request and receive feed-back. This was welcomed by everyone as a good idea.

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Photo : Isabelle Prondzynski

The day, which had started cool and overcast, had meanwhile became hot and sunny, and the time came to close the meeting and for everyone to walk home.

Many of us stayed for another while, to chat and exchange questions, answers and news, before starting on our way back.

Isabelle Prondzynski, November 2006

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A thank-you message to Kenya Saijiki in the evening

Dear Gabi, dear Patrons, dear teachers and haijin,

Thank you most sincerely for the wonderful meeting we had today. You gave generously of your time, and we had a great discussion and enjoyed being together.

Great thanks go to Lucy Irungu and Tujisaidie for the welcome they gave to us and for letting us use the community buildings, where we felt so much at home. Apart from the discussions, we enjoyed music and a light lunch as well as an unexpected mini-ginkoo!

It is hard to express how very much I appreciated the presence and the encouragement by the Haiku Patrons and teachers. I know you are very busy people, particularly at this time of exams, and it is not a given that you can take a whole afternoon out of your schools. Your commitment is wonderful, and the students appreciate it as much as I do! Please receive my gratitude and know that I shall do my utmost to co-operate with you to make the haiku venture a success for all.

You have given the students a wonderful chance! Looking at them today, listening to their eager questions, it is easy to forget that, a year ago, none of them had ever heard of haiku or practised computing and very few had had any contacts with their colleagues in the other schools. This has been a wonderful co-operative success, and the haijin have written so much that is beautiful, inspiring and touching. Dear haijin, if you continue to make progress at this pace, Kenya will soon become one of those countries known internationally to have excellent haiku!

Here are a few of the many haiku written during the day -- thank you, haijin, for the shower of haiku reflecting the day and the season.

my sister is back
with muddy shoes and socks --
my gumboots

Agnes Adhiambo (Peacock)


wet school uniforms
spend days on the line --
students miss school

David Caleb Mutua (Peacock)


children chasing
running everywhere in mud --
looking dirty

Anonymous


dark rain clouds
hanging below the sky --
people buy umbrellas

Paul Brown


raindrops cling on grass
catch the sunbeams sending
lights that dazzle eyes

Raymond Otieno (Bamboocha)


graphic and drawings
stuck on the wall --
hey! they are beautiful!

Anonymous (Falcon)

Greetings to you all, and profound thanks,

Isabelle.


Feed-back from the Director of WHC Worldkigo

Dear Friends from Kenya,
whow, this is such a good news indeed!
I forwarded it to all my haiku friends and I will start my day today with a big happy smile !

Thanks to all who help to spread the word of Haiku in Kenya. Dear old Basho and Issa will be pleased to receive this message in their haiku heaven !

With best wishes and may all your plans come true!
GABI


Feed-back from India and the USA

Gabi sensei, our Director in Japan, had sent my message to her haiku friends in other parts of the world, and some of them responded to send in congratulations.

This is from one of our great haijin friends in India, Kala Ramesh :

Truly what giant progress in such a short while!
It clearly underlines the effort and selfless love that you've shown
for promoting this art form.

My heartfelt wishes for a grand haiku future in Kenya!
Warmly,
kala


And this is from William Higginson (we have two of his books!) in the USA :

Quite a decent selection of first results for a new group of haiku recruits! I look forward to seeing more from these and other young Kenyans. Perhaps Dag Hammarskjold's favorite short-poem form will become as much of an ambassador for inter-human understanding as he himself was, or moreso.

I had to particularly smile at the rubber boots poem, watching my two grandsons and Penny's granddaughter and grandson at work and play. (I am an only child, so never had the pleasure (?) of my sibling borrowing my footwear.)

Some of these wouldn't look at all out of place in our magazines.

Congratulations to all involved, including you!

Well done!
Isabelle.

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Related words

BAHATI Haiku Club, Kenya
FALCON Haiku Club, Kenya
OAKS Haiku Club, Kenya
PEACOCK Haiku Club, Kenya
SPIDER Haiku Club, Kenya


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