Showing posts sorted by date for query jiko. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query jiko. Sort by relevance Show all posts

12/31/2014

Seasonal Words and Topics - List

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.................... List of Seasonal Words
from Kenya and other tropical areas

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In Kenya, we have the following haiku seasons:

.. .. .. hot dry season
.. .. .. long rains
.. .. .. cool dry season
.. .. .. short rains

Some of the rainy season kigo appear twice in the course of the year.

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.. .. .. .. .. Seasonal Items

hot and dry season
(roughly November to March, with January being the hottest month)

-- Buying textbooks
-- Buying school uniforms
-- Cassia blossom Golden Shower Tree (Cassia fistula). Drumstick Tree (Moringa oleifera).
-- Caterpillar, Hairy Caterpillar
-- Census
-- Christmas worldwide

-- Dry lips
-- Dust
-- Exam resultsKCPE and KCSE Exam Registration and Results
-- February rainfall
-- First things, New Year
-- Form One entrants and monolisation
-- Frangipani, Plumeria
-- Goat Meat, also Goats in general
ice cream
-- Jamhuri Day (12 December)
-- January
- - - - Njaanuary ( njaa and (Jan)nuary
-- Maasai Cattle (Masai Cattle)
-- Mabati shimmering roofs
-- Maize, Green Maize (for corn/maize see below)
-- Mango (ripe fruit)
-- National Drama Festival
-- New Year
--- New Year's resolution 2012
open shoes
-- Orchid Show, Nairobi
-- Papyrus and other grasses couch grass, napier grass, African star grass
-- Paying school fees
-- peaches, ripe peaches
-- Plums, ripe plums, plum fruit
-- Scorching sun
-- Smell of urine
-- Start of new school year Kenya
... ... see also Start of Schoolyear, worldwide
-- sweating
Valentine’s Day, St Valentine’s Day, Valentine
-- vest
-- Water shortage , drought
-- Weeds
-- World AIDS Day

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long rains (roughly March to May)

-- Amaranth, Amaranthus leaf vegetable
-- Bombax blossom
-- First rainfall, imminent rain
-- bullfrogs Frog (kawazu, kaeru) worldwide
-- Easter
-- flooding
-- flying termites kumbi kumbi
-- Grass, fresh grass, green grass, young grass
-- Guava fruit
-- Gumboots, gum boots
-- heavy raindrops
-- Ibis (Hadada)
-- Labour Day
-- Long Rains Haiku by Bahati Club
-- Long Rains
-- Mabati roofs rusting and harvesting rainwater
Mater Hospital Heart Run
-- Mosquitoes in Kenya

-- Mud (Swahili : matope)
including: Brickmaking, Dry mud, Bukusu Initiation (Circumcision)  
-- Mudslide, landslide

-- Palm Sunday
-- Plantation activities
-- Pneumonia
-- Power failure, blackout     
-- Puddle, puddles
-- rain shower
-- Rhinoceros beetle , a scarab beetle
-- Sand harvesting, sand mining
-- Shoe wiper
-- Stepping stones, step-stone bridge  
-- Thorn tree flowers
-- UEFA league
-- Umbrella
-- Urine smell, smell of urine

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cold, cool and dry season
(roughly from June to September, with July being the coldest month)

-- August moon
-- Avocado pear (Kikuyu : Mûkorobîa)
-- Beanie cap Kenya
-- Budget Day
-- Bukusu Initiation / Circumcision
-- Cold Dew (kanro) worldwide
-- Cold dry season, cool dry season   
-- Cold water

Datura suaveolens, Moonflower, Angel's Trumpet, trumpet plant
-- Day of the African Child (16 June)  
-- Dust
-- Euro Games, UEFA European Football Championship
-- Glove, gloves
-- Frangipani, Plumeria       
-- freezing
-- Hawkers for warm things glove, hot coffee, uji maize porridge, scarf, sweater ...
Irish potatoes (viazi)
-- Jiko (brazier)
-- July
-- Loquat, loquats - fruit
-- Maasai Cattle (Masai Cattle)
-- Mabati roors collect dew
-- Madaraka Day (1 June)
-- Maize, Green Maize
-- Martyrs’ Day Uganda
-- Morning glory, fam. Ipomoea (

-- Nairobi Bomb Day (7 August)
-- Nairobi International Trade Fair (end of September)
-- no meetings (August)
-- Oranges (Swahili : Mchungwa)
Referendum August 2010
-- Sunflower
-- Sesbania Tree (Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr.)
-- Shivering, to shiver
-- start of university year
-- Weeds


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short rains (roughly October and November)

-- Aramanthus, vegetable
-- bullfrogs > Frog (kawazu, kaeru) worldwide
-- First rainfall, imminent rain
-- Ocotber rain
-- Flamboyant Tree (Swahili : Mjohoro)
-- Flooding in 2006
-- flying termites kumbi kumbi
-- Graduation Ceremony in Kenya
... ... see also Graduation (sotsugyoo) worldwide
-- sGrevillea tree Grevillea Robusta . Mgrivea (Swahili), Mûkima (Kikuyu)
-- Gumboots, gum boots
-- Jacaranda blossom
-- heavy raindrops
-- Kenyatta Day
-- Messiah for the Hospice

-- Moi Day (10 October) renamed :
. . Mashujaa Day since 2010
-- Mosquitoes in Kenya
-- Mud (Swahili : matope)
-- Mudslide, landslide

-- Nairobi Marathon
-- -- Plantation activities
-- Power failure, blackout
-- Puddle, puddles
-- Shoe wiper

-- School exams KCSE / KCPE
------ Short Rains and more kigo about this season
-- Stepping stones, step-stone bridge
-- Thorn tree - fresh leaves
-- Tipu tree (Tipuana tipu)
-- Umbrella


.. .. .. Glossary of Kenyan Terms and more Haiku Topics

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............. Topics for which the season changes

-- Diwali (Devali, Divali)
-- Ramadan in Kenya
-- Ramadan ends (Idd ul Fitr)

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............. Non-seasonal Topics

Ageing ... Getting old in Kenya. Grandfather, Grandmother
Akala ... Sandals
Aloe vera
Antelope
Arfat, scarf of a muslim woman
Arusha Tanzania
. . . Brick making in Arusha
. . . Namanga-Arusha Highway Road

Banana
Banana ring, to carry things
Bat, bats . . . and the Mukuyu tree
Beggar
Bisquits and cookies
Boda boda, motorbike taxi, motorcycle taxi
Boma Homesteads
Buibui, to cover the head and face of a Muslim woman face veil
Bukusu Culture, Babukusu People
Bull fighting, bullfight
Bunche Road, Nairobi

Cabbage
Calabash, calabashes, gourd
Camel, Dromedary, Kamel, Dromedar
Casuarina Tree
Central Park, Children's Traffic Park
Chameleon
Chapati, flatbread Chokoraa, chokora - "street boy" or "parking boy"
Coconut, coconuts, coconut milk
Coffee plant blossoms, coffee blossoms
Crickets, cricket

Dandora, Municipal Garbage Site Nairobi
Day Moon
Demolitions in Patanisho, Nairobi
Duck, ducks


Elections, general election 2013
Eucalyptus tree Fam. Myrtaceae

Fences and hedges
Firefinch fam. Lagonosticta
First things
Flame tree (Erythrina fam.)
Flies, Fly, Housefly, Fruitfly
Fog
Fountain (in a park)

Garbage, sewers, sewerage
Gilgil, town in the Rift Valley
Githeri
Grevillea tree
Guitar

Hell's Gate National Park
Hornbill


Irio (mûkimû)
Isukuti Dance


Jackfruit, fenesi
Jeevanjee Gardens and Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee
Jua kali artisans

Kabaka of Uganda
Kajiado mission
Kale, kales, a cabbage (sukumawiki)
Kamba People A funeral in Ukambani
Kamukunji constituency, Nairobi
Kanga, kangas, wrapping cloth
Karura forest
Kasarani Constituency

Kenya Railway Museum Kukai August 2010
Kenyatta National Hospital,Nairobi
Khamsin wind Egypt, North Africa
Khat, miraa (Catha edulis)
Kiambu County
Kibanda hut, kiosk, stall
Kibera Slums
Kigali, Rwanda
Kikoi. kikoy - garment, shawl
Kiondo handbag (chondo, pl. vyondo)
Kisii in Nyanza Narok plains, Ogembo Street
Kisongo Market Tanzania
Kitale Town in Western Kenya
kitenge - garment

Koinange mall and street, Nairobi
Komarocks play ground and Embakasi
Korogocho slum
kuku choma - grilled chicken

Lang'ata - Nairobi
Limuru town in Kiambu West Distarict
Longido Hills
Lugari Forest

Machakos town, Masaku
Magadi, Lake Magadi in the Rift Valley
Maize (Swahili : Mahindi, American : Corn, South African : Mealies)
managu vegetable
Masai, Maasai, Massai ... indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya
Mandazi, a kind of doughnuts ndazi (singular)
Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus
Marikiti Farmers' Market Nairobi
Market, markets
Matatu minibus
Mathare Youth Sports Association, MYSA Mathare Valley slums
Matuu town
Mavoko county
Mitumba (singular : mtumba) second-hand goods
Mkokoteni - hand cart, pushcart pl. mikokoteni
Monkey, monkeys
Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro
Mourning
Mtumba (singular) / mitumba (plural) used items
Mugumo tree
mutura - Kenyans Saussage
Murang'a town
murram mud roads
Mzungu, muzungu ... person of European descent... "white person"

Nairobi City
Haile Selassie Avenue, Soweto Market, Wakulima Market, Thika road, Tom Mboya street, Marikiti market, Kawangare slums, Kibera slum . . .


Ngaramtoni at the flank of Mount Meru
Newspaper vendor, newspaper boy
Nightjar (Fam. Caprimulgus)
Night life
Njiru Market
Njiiru Plains
Nyama choma - roast meat


Passion fruit, Passiflora edulis
Pawpaw tree(Asimina) paw paw, paw-paw, papaw
Peace (Swahili : Amani)
Pelican
Pig, pigs
Pine tree, Pinus Patula
Pineapple, Ananas comosus
Pokot people West Pokot and Baringo Districts of Kenya
Pomelo (Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis) Chinese grapefruit
Posho mill, poshomill -- to grind wheat, maize and other grains

Radio
Rift Valley
Royal Palm Tree Roystonea regia

Scorpion
Sewer, sewage in Soweto
shuka - blanket
shamba - food garden
Sinai slum fire, September 2011
Sisal (Agave sisalana)
..... Sisal and makongeni paths
Slasher to cut grass
Smoke and smog
Snake, Snakes
Sorghum (mtama) and milled porridge (uji)
Sowbug, a brown snail
Sufuria .. cooking pot or saucepan


Tea (Swahili : chai)
-- thermos container
Tilapia fish
Toilet, outhouse
Tomato, tomatoes
Trans-Mara region


Ugali and Uji, maize porridge
Ukwala, Muthurwa, Luthuli Avenue
Umbrella tree / Schefflera actinophylla
Upland rice

Voi, Sagala hill


Warthog
Weaver birds (Ploceidae family)
Webuye Town
Westgate Attack, Mall Attack, September 2013
Wildebeest
migration

Wimbi, bulo ... Millet
Wood, firewood
World Environment Day (5 June)

Zebra

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Haibun . Haiku in Combination

Construction and Development


. Kiswahili Haiku


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...................................... Other Tropical SAIJIKI

WKD: Trinidad and Tobago Saijiki


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.. .. .. .. .. National Holidays in Kenya

l Jan -- New Year's Day -- International New Year's Day Holiday
> -- WKD ... : New Year (shin-nen)

Varies -- Good Friday -- Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ
> -- WKD ... : Easter

Varies -- Easter Monday -- Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ
> -- WKD ... : Easter

1 May -- Labour Day -- International Day of the Worker
> -- see also : Labour Day, USA

. . . . .


Mashujaa Day

10 Oct -- Moi Day -- Established on the 10th day of the 10th month 10 years after the inauguration of President Daniel arap Moi as the second President of Kenya.
October 2010:
The new constitution scrapped Moi Day and replaced Kenyatta day with Hero's (Mashujaa) Day in efforts to celebrate the men and women who fought for Kenya's freedom .

20 Oct -- Kenyatta Day -- This is to commemorate the arrest of Jomo Kenyatta and the declaration of the State of Emergency on 20 October 1952.
October 2010:
The new constitution scrapped Moi Day and replaced Kenyatta day with Hero's (Mashujaa) Day in efforts to celebrate the men and women who fought for Kenya's freedom .
Jomo Kenyatta


. . . . .


12 Dec -- Uhuru or Jamhuri Day -- This is to commemorate the day on which Kenya achieved its Independence, on 12 December 1963.
> -- Jamhuri Day

25 Dec -- Christmas Day -- Christian holiday celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ.
> -- Bahati Haiku Club : Christmas
> -- WKD ... : Christmas

26 Dec -- Boxing Day -- celebrating St Stephen's Day and the second
day of the Christmas season.
> -- WKD ... St Stephen's Day


Varies -- Idd ul Fitr
The Muslim festival of Idd-ul-Fitr is also a public holiday and takes place on the sighting of the new moon at the end of Ramadhan. The exact date varies according to the position of the New Moon.

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.. .. .. .. .. .. Annual events in Kenya

Apart from big celebrations that are held on Madaraka, Kenyatta and Independence Days, Nairobi is also the venue for a number of large international and national sports matches. Nairobi further enhances its cosmopolitan image by hosting a number of annual shows and
festivals.

The Kenya Schools Music Festival is held in Nairobi in May/June and

The Agricultural Society of Kenya (A.S.K.) Show takes place at Jamhuri Park at the end of September or beginning of October. See Nairobi International Trade Fair

The long established and international Safari Rally begins and ends in Nairobi - drawing ever larger crowds.
http://www.kenyaweb.com/

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Introduction to the

Haiku Clubs of Nairobi


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More LINKs in the Kenya Saijiki

Getting to Know Kenya

Poetry and Literature of Kenya

Music of Kenya, by Douglas Paterson

Missionaries in Kenya

Wildlife in Kenya

Plants and Animals of Kenya, LIST by Allen & Nancy Chartier

Kakamega Forest Birds

Nature Kenya Organization


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Editor: Isabelle Prondzynski

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Kutoka Wikipedia, kamusi elezo huru: HAIKU


Back to the Worldkigo Index

Back to the Trinidad and Tobago Index


Back to the KENYA SAIJIKI - TOP

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12/28/2013

Glossary

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Glossary of Kenyan Terms and Topics


bob -- shillings, money

githeri -- a staple food made from maize and beans

jiko -- a brazier used for cooking or heating and fuelled with charcoal, firewood or kerosene

lesso -- same as kanga
-- a rectangular cotton cloth with colourful prints and Swahili proverbs, worn as a skirt, as a turban,


Kayole -- an Eastern suburb of Nairobi

kiondo -- a sisal basket woven by women -- plural : vyondo

mabati -- corrugated iron sheets for building houses or roofing them

mandazi, mandazis -- a kind of doughnut

matatu -- a public transport minibus


mkokoteni, a hand cart pl. mikokoteni

muthokoi -- the delicious Kamba staple food

mzungu -- a white person

Nairobi -- the capital of Kenya

ndizi -- banana

ndubia -- tea with milk but no sugar


posho mill, poshomill -- for wheat and maize


shamba -- vegetable garden

Soweto -- a slum area within Kayole

Sufuria -- cooking pot or sauce

sukuma wiki, sukumawiki -- "stretching out the week"
leafy cabbage-like vegetable


tilapia -- a fish from lake Victoria
turungi -- "tru tea" : tea with neither milk nor sugar

ugali -- a staple food, solid porridge made from maize flour

uji -- a liquid porridge made from maize or millet flour


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Reference

***** KIGO : Season Words of Kenya

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8/21/2012

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)


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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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11/06/2011

St Mathew Kukai Nov 2011

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Eleventh Kukai of the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi
St Mathew’s Secondary School, Soweto Branch
November 5, 2011

This was the eleventh Kukai of the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi. It took place at St Mathew’s, Soweto Branch, following the kind invitation of Mr Andrew Otinga, the Patron of the Peacocks Haiku Club. It was also the last kukai for several members of the Peacocks and the Bamboochas, who were in the final days of their KCSE examinations and were about to graduate from their respective schools.

. Photo Album .


Participants :

Peacocks
Abednego Muasya
Agnetta Shikalo
Akaliene Rose
Brian Etole
Brian Mulando
Bryan Anyonya
Carolyne Wanjiru
Caxton Okoth
Ceciliah Wambui
Derrick Ambale
Diana Dolla
Doris Muthini
Elijah Juma
Elijah Noah
Esther Mweme
Faith Owila
Florence Mlangi
Gertrude Wahu
Hamisi Ishmael Kambona
James Karume
Jescah Auma
John Kennedy
Joseph Musango
Joshua Kyalo
Julie Okach
Kevin Asava
Lencer Achieng
Margaret Ndinda
Metrine Okalo
Moses Nyawanga
Pauline Wayua
Richard Okoth
Silvia Mukelli
Sharon Akoth
Stanley Mutinda
Stanley K Joshua
Stephen Munyao
Synaidah Kalahi
Titus Mutungi
Valary Knight
Virginia Njeri

Bamboochas
Ancent Mutua
Annastacia Muthini
Antony Mwangi
Cecil Wambui
Collins Omuganda
Consolata Akoth
Donnahlily Atieno
Douglas Nugi
Emmanuel Muteti
Gloriah Kerubo
Iryne Lydiah Aluoch
Isaac Ndirangu
James Bundi
John Kamau
Johnson Gacugu
Lucy Mukuhi
Mecyline Akinyi
Melcine Ayako
Mercy Muthoni
Milkah Wanjiku
Rachael Njeri
Redempta Ndinda
Sam Pirias
Silvia Khabayi
Stephen Macharia
Sylviah Mbone
Susan Njeri
Teresia Njeri


Cocks
Caleb Mutua
Catherine Njeri Maina

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While the students were gathering for the kukai, Mr Patrick Wafula, the Co-ordinator of the Haiku Clubs, gave them a quiz to solve, promising a small prize to the 16 participants who had answered all five questions correctly.

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Caleb Mutua was in charge as Master of Ceremonies for the morning session. Participants were sorry to hear that Antony Njoroge was ill and sent him their good wishes.

The meeting started with lively choruses and a prayer.

The new members of the Haiku Clubs, particularly those in Form One, were welcomed.

The Chairpersons of the Haiku Clubs, Brian Etole and Synaidah Kalahi for the Peacocks and Isaac Ndirangu for the Bamboochas, then presented brief reports on the work which had been carried out in their respective clubs.


Synaidah Kalahi presenting the Peacocks’ report
Photo : Isabelle Prondzynski

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Update on computer teaching

Mr David Kimani reported that the following computer students (all Peacocks) had been regular and committed attendees at computer classes and would soon have finished their end-of-year examinations, qualifying them for a certificate :

Jack Silingi
Pauline Wayua
Synaidah Kalahi
Benta Kisia
Stanley K Joshua
Doris Muthini
Winfrida Maheri
Elijah Juma
Joshua Kyalo
Titus Mutungi
Otakwa Livingstone
Agnetta Shikalo
Abednego Muasya
Caxton Okoth
Monica Ndunge
Joseph Musango
Valary Knight
Margaret Ndinda
Grannis Ambuli
John Kennedy
Victor Odhiambo
Jescah Auma

He expressed his appreciation for their commitment and studiousness, and he looked forward to teaching the next group soon after the start of the new school year.

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Best haiku submitted to Kenya Saijiki since the previous kukai

As the Moderator of Kenya Saijiki, I (Isabelle Prondzynski) then presented prizes for the best haiku written by members of the forum during the past few months. I had been greatly impressed with the high standard of haiku written by the prizewinners, so that the choice of the top places had been a hard one. The prizewinners received some well-merited applause.

These are the prizewinning haiku :

1.
---
sunset --
a farmer scrapes mud
from his hoe


~ Victor Obutho

2.
---
Gertrude's hospital --
jacaranda flowers fall
one by one


~ J Kaweto

3.
---
light shower --
her hair shines with
raindrops


~ Brian Mulando

4.
---
sudden blackout --
the hawker lights
all his torches

~ Brian Etole

5.
---
marching scouts --
dust rises from their
stumbling feet

~ Yamame

6.
---
Mashujaa Day --
rain forces the choir
from the stage


~ Kelvin Mukoselo

7.
---
twilight --
sunrays sweep across
jacaranda flowers


~ Catherine Njeri Maina

8.
---
a dishevelled calf
shelters under a stall --
evening showers


~ Bonface Bonke

9.
---
rush hour --
a matatu spills dust
past the market


~ Elijah Juma

10.
----
goat choma point --
the sparkling light of
a burning jiko


~ James Bundi


Viewing the haiku prizes
Photo : Patrick Wafula



Numbers 11 to 18 (in no particular order)

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a body push
sends a lady to the floor --
avocado chaos


~ Mango Junior

a candle flame sways
side to side in the wind --
power failure


~ Stephen Macharia

muddy road --
a mkokoteni puller
in torn gumboots


~ Isaac Ndirangu

late evening --
a greengrocer lights
the first candle


~ Winfridah Malesi

moving cars --
a cloud of dust floats
in the air


~ Otakwa Livingstone

busy road --
a glimmer of light
from the matatu

~ Pauline Wayua

Soweto market --
she sprinkles water on
withered vegetables


~ Douglas Nugi

Mashujaa Day --
heavy rain interrupts
the programme

~ Douglas Kaucho

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Appreciating other people’s haiku

In a workshop, with nine groups of around nine people working together, the students discussed nine prizewinning international haiku, working out which of these they liked best, and why. Each group then presented the haiku they had chosen, explaining why they liked it best and whether it complied with the basic rules of haiku.

They realised that it was not easy to work out which was the kigo, as the seasons are different in other parts of the world, but they made a valiant effort to find the kigo in each example. They also made several thoughtful suggestions as to how the haiku could have been further improved.

The two haiku that garnered the most support in this workshop were :

paper lantern --
a moth’s shadow dances
on the wall


~ Jacek M.


after the storm --
the old dry well
full of stars


~ Manuela Dragomirescu


Haiku working groups
~ Photo : Isabelle Prondzynski

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Poetic haiga

Isaac Ndirangu then presented a poetic haiga he had written, about Mashujaa Day (20 October), a kigo for the short rains, when the heroes of Kenya are celebrated.


in the times of war
Kenyan warriors fought for all
some even tried to build some wall
for they knew the war was not for the fool
mashujaa fought for all

National Stadium --
a presidential speech to recognise
our freedom fighters

the land was disgusting
especially where they were hiding
the wise were forbidding
for our leaders who were upcoming
bur still mashujaa fought for all

commemorating independence --
rest in peace the gone heroes
of our Kenya

some were detained
but still freedom was obtained
and now we are enjoying what our warriors attained
mashujaa fought for all



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Ginkoo - Haiku Walk

After the lunch break, the haijin set out for their ginkoo, while the Patrons and the Moderator discussed haiku club business. Following the ginkoo, they became the jury, while the haijin entertained themselves and each other.

These were the haiku chosen as the prizewinners of the ginkoo :

1.
---
the thud of
a fresh mudball on the floor --
hopscotch


~ James Bundi

2.
---
muddy path --
her shoe remains
behind


~ Milkah Wanjiku

3.
---
hot afternoon --
he pours ginkoo water
on his head


~ Brian Etole

4.
---
hot noon --
she washes a baby
on the balcony


~ Brian Mulando

5.
---
cool breeze --
a tethered goat browses
on a green field


~ Asava Kevin

6.
---
sunny afternoon --
tadpoles paddling inside
stagnant water


~ Agnetta Shikalo

7.
---
water ripples --
sun's reflection on its surface
hits my eyes


8.
---
sweat drips --
he pushes a wheelbarrow
full of stones


~ Donnahlily Atieno

9.
---
afternoon nap --
haijin's footsteps wake
the goat up


10.
----
flower bed --
the gardener uproots
a moss plant


~ Gloriah Kerubo


Out for the ginkoo
~ Photo : David Kimani Mwangi

11.
----
roadside kiosk --
a vendor loading some
empty charcoal cans


~ Isaac Ndirangu

12.
----
noon --
a panting dog crosses
the stream


~ Stanley Mutinda

13.
----
rattling sound --
a toad hops over
the dustbin


~ Joshua Kyalo

14.
----
hot sunshine --
man in yellow cap relaxing
under a castor tree


~ Dominic Kuvonga

15.
----
midday --
bluegum leaves fall
beside a haijin


~ Diana Dolla

16.
----
sudden wind --
banana leaves sway
side by side


~ Mercy Muthoni

17.
----
scorching sun --
the reflection of light on
the water surface


~ Stephen Macharia

18.
----
water in a basin --
a rainbow cast on the
shiny mabati

~ Margaret Ndinda

19.
----
calm afternoon --
an eagle tries to balance
high up in the sky


~ John Kennedy

20.
----
trimmed fence --
a broken umbrella
suspended


~ Synaidah Kalahi

Prizes were distributed to the winners, and a great atmosphere continued to reign for some time after the close of the kukai, with haijin lingering, chatting to each other, and taking pictures in the evening sunlight. All agreed that this had been a splendid kukai, and expressed their congratulations to Mr Andrew Otinga, the organiser.


The ginkoo prizewinners
~ Photo : Isabelle Prondzynski

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Kukai haiku by the Patrons

Following the kukai, the Patrons also sent in their haiku of the day, remembering the pleasure it had given them. So here, as an afterword, are the Patrons’ haiku :

the Moderator helps
a ladybird cross the table --
11th kukai

withering flowers
in old plastic bottles --
the din of haijin

Kukai workshop --
two chicks peck bread crumbs
under chairs


~ Patrick Wafula


she moves
to inspect haiku groups --
eleventh kukai

open windows --
cool breeze drifts
into the hall

eleventh kukai --
flower vases on the
front table


~ Andrew Otinga


eleventh kukai --
the flower arrangement wilts
before my eyes

lunch break --
a hen and chicks peck
for our fallen crumbs


lunch break --
a kitten is resting
on a haijin’s lap

jury meeting --
haiku entries weighed down
by our fingers


~ Isabelle Prondzynski


The top table at the kukai,
with the flower vases we all enjoyed
Photo : Patrick Wafula



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Related words

***** . The Haiku Clubs of Nairobi .


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7/27/2010

Mabati iron sheets

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Mabati (Swahili, plural)
Corrugated iron sheets (English)

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation

The Swahili word "mabati" is one which every newcomer to Kenya learns within the first few days, as mabati are everywhere. They are the walls and roofs of houses, they are fencing, they are easily demolished, carried, and re-erected elsewhere. Even slum dwellers have mabati, which they may buy sheet by sheet, in order to build or extend their homes, to surround themselves with a protective wall, or to subdivide the interior of a house. Mabati are easy to erect (you just need some building timbers and suitable nails), and if they are used for housing, they keep off the rain, but magnify the heat or the cold -- and if the owner of the iron sheets moves, the mabati move along too.


Mabati fence


In the rural areas, they are fast replacing what remains of the traditional thatch. They have the advantage of being more easily available nowadays than the thatching grasses are, and they are clean enough to provide run-off drinking water, filling buckets, basins and tanks during the rains.
On the other hand, they have the disadvantage of poor heat insulation. City dwellers who stay in traditionally thatched houses for the first time, usually comment with pleasure about the very comfortable temperatures and the softer noise levels generated by the thatch.

The din of the mabati during heavy rains must be heard to be believed. During the hot dry season, on the other hand, they often emit tiny crackling sounds as they expand in the heat.

Video of mabati under pouring rain


Kenyans often use the English "iron sheet" as a translation of mabati -- this is not correct, as only corrugated iron sheets are normally mabati. Newcomers to Kenya usually switch to the Swahili word with great ease, as mabati are such an intrinsic part of modern day Kenya, whether urban or rural.

Mabati are usually left metallic and unpainted. Nowadays, painted mabati are also available in an array of colours, and they may be bent too, so as to form the roofs of bus shelters (e.g. the Country Bus Station in Nairobi) or markets (e.g. Muthurwa Market in Nairobi), where they project good modern design.



Old and new mabati used to build a slum house


~ Text and photos : Isabelle Prondzynski

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The most common use of mabati is to construct housing in informal or slum areas. Mabati do not as such have any seasonality, but they provide a number of kigo for the dry and rainy seasons.

During the two rainy seasons, they rust and turn brown. Therefore, mabati rusting can be a rainy season kigo. Most importantly of all, mabati roofing is very useful during the rainy seasons for harvesting rainwater for domestic use.

During the hot dry season, the heat shimmers from the mabati roofs; this shimmering is quite visible, although it does not have any direct use or application to humans and animals. What I know is that the shimmering roofs are used to dry cereals such as maize, millet, etc, etc.

What I like most about mabati is that during the cold dry season dew collects on them and drips. This can be harnessed as water for domestic use in places where water is scarce, such as Ukambani.

~ Patrick Wafula


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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way



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HAIKU



sunrise --
light through the mabati
wakes me up

sleepless night --
water drops from the old
iron sheets

~Isaac Ndirangu


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windy August night --
wet shoes on the mabati
roof rumble


World Cup --
they drum the mabati walls
celebrating Ghana


mabati roof...
gently pattering drizzle
in the blossoming dawn


sunny days --
the blue iron sheet's paint
peeling off


iron sheet roof --
the sound of raindrops
swallows our voices


~ Caleb Mutua


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mabati sheets
play a lullaby rhythm --
soft rain


~ Elung'ata Barrack


A church built and roofed with mabati


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evening downpour --
a row of basins below
the rusty iron sheets


~ Hussein Haji



cracking iron sheets
interrupt my study --
I take another shower


~ Anthony Njoroge



sunny afternoon --
iron sheets shine exposing
sun rays

~ Vivian Adhiambo



windy morning --
a noisy iron sheet swings
to the beat


~ Scholastica



leaking raindrops
from a rusty iron sheet --
rainy season


~ mwasia



reflection
from iron-sheet roofs --
sunny afternoon

~ Benard Nyerere



jua kali artisan
modelling an iron sheet --
a young jiko


~ Martin Kamau



early morning
rain drops fall heavily on
the iron sheets


~ Kelvin Mukoselo

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cold drizzle
on our mabati roof --
grey morning


April rain --
the spattering on the
mabati roof


~ Patrick Wafula


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first sun-
the cracking sound
of mabati


Otinga Andrew
January 2012


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a bird shelters
under the iron sheet -
scorching sun


Jesca Auma
February 2012


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Related words

*****


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5/28/2010

Haiku Lesson Two

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. HAIKU LESSONS
Caleb Mutua
 


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Haiku Lesson Two : KIGO

by Caleb Mutua

Introduction

Kigo is a word indicating the season in which the haiku is written. It does not only refer to bees, butterflies, green plants ctc. but to their changes within each season. Season words include the seasonal aspects in human life, such as ceremonies and festivals, lifestyle and food, as they change within the seasons. Traditional Japanese haiku are about the changes of the season (not simply about nature !! ) and the season words help to express this change. Because a kigo is very important in a haiku, it is sometimes called the lifeblood of the haiku, or the navel of the haiku. By using season words that reflect the nature of our country and its changes, the ceremonies and festivals we celebrate, we tell the world about our culture and way of life through haiku. It is therefore, very important for us to use Kenyan kigo that fit our cultural background.

Saijiki
is a collection of season words. In Kenya, we have already started collecting season words. All haijin are requested to be conscious of their environment in order to identify new season words that can be added in Kenya Saijiki; even in Japan there are now movements to collect new kigo from rural areas, to compile "local saijiki" with local kigo. The following are some of the season words in their respective seasons that Kenyan haijin have collected.


Hot dry season
(roughly November to March, with January being the hottest month)

Buying school uniforms, Cassia blossom, Caterpillar, Hairy Caterpillar, Census, Christmas, Dust , Exam results, Form One entrants and monolisation, Frangipani, Plumeria, Goat Meat, Jamhuri Day (12 December), January, Maasai Cattle, Green Maize, Mango, New Year, Paying school fees, Peaches, Plums, Start of new school year , Sweating, Water shortage , drought, World AIDS Day


Long rains (roughly March to May)
Bombax blossom , First rainfall, Imminent rain, Bullfrogs, Easter, Flooding, Flying ants or termites, Gumboots, Heavy raindrops Ibis (Hadada), Labour Day, Mosquitoes, Mud, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Power failure, Puddle, Stepping stones, Umbrella


Cool dry season
(roughly from June to September, with July being the coldest month)

Avocado pear (Kikuyu : Mûkorobîa), Bukusu Initiation / Circumcision, Day of the African Child (16 June), Dust, Frangipani, Plumeria, freezing Jiko (brazier), Maasai Cattle (Masai Cattle), Maize, Green Maize, Martyrs’ Day Uganda, Nairobi Bomb Day (7 August), Nairobi International Trade Fair (end of September),Oranges (Swahili Mchungwa), Sesbania Tree (Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr.), start of University year… (Please suggest more season words)


Short rains (roughly October and November)
Aramanthus,Bullfrogs, First rainfall, Imminent rain, Ocober rain, Flamboyant tree, Flooding, Flying ants or termites, Graduation ceremony, Gumboots, Jacaranda blossom, Heavy raindrops, Kenyatta Day, Moi Day, Mosquitoes, Mud, Nairobi Marathon, Power failure. Puddles, School exams: KCSE / KCPE, Stepping stones, Tipu tree, Umbrella


One season word is enough in haiku. Ensure you have used a SEASON WORD and not the name of the SEASON. For instance: use mud, umbrella or puddle and not “rainy season” because the words themselves reflect that season.



. HAIKU LESSONS
Caleb Mutua
 

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3/25/2010

Sufuria cooking pot

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Sufuria cooking pot

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


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Explanation

A Sufuria (Swahili plural sufuria, English plural sufurias)
is a Swahili language word, adopted in East African English, for a flat based, deep sided, lipped and handleless cooking pot or container or saucepan, ubiquitous in Kenya, parts of Tanzania and surrounding nations.A replacement for more traditional crockery containers (ek fara), it used in most every Kenyan household for cooking, serving and storing food.
Most Sufuria are today aluminum, produced and purchased locally in the informal sector.
Sufuria were traditionally used to cook over open fire, charcoal brazier (a jiko), or coals, and are purchased in a variety of sizes, with and without lids.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !





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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way



Frying flying termintes
in a sufuria



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HAIKU


Kenya Saijiki Fourm


hot tea from sufuria
scalds my brother --
chilly morning


Anne Wairimu
April 2007


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lovely new morning -
frying pans and sufurias
this is Christmas day


Jacinta Minoo
January 2007

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warm steam from
the boiled maize sufuria--
evening showers


Hussein Haji

Maize Haiku


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Related words

***** -- Jiko (brazier)


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7/02/2009

Kanga wrapping cloth

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Kanga, kangas wrapping cloth, leso, lesso

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


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Explanation

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.



There is a famous book called "100 uses for a kanga" -- and there are at least that many, probably many more!

Text and photo : Isabelle Prondzynski


. More photos of kanga .



Similar cloths are the kikoi and the kitenge.

. . . . .

The words lesso and kanga or khanga have now been officially accepted as English words, and now they can be found in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 8th Edition page 819.
Patrick Wafula

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quote
History of Kanga

Kangas originated on the coast of East Africa in the mid 19th century. As the story goes, some stylish ladies in Zanzibar got the idea of buying printed kerchiefs in lengths of six, from the bolt of cotton cloth from which kerchiefs were usually cut off and sold singly. They then cut the six into two lengths of three, and sewed these together along one side to make 3-by-2 sheet; or bought different kinds of kerchiefs and sewed them back together to form very individualistic designs.

The new design was called "leso" after the kerchief squares that had originally been brought to Africa by Portuguese traders. The leso quickly became popular than the other kind of patterned cloth available. Before long, enterprising coastal shopkeepers sent away for special designs, printed like the six-together leso pieces, but as a single unit of cloth.

These early designs probably had a border and a pattern of white spots on a dark background. The buyers (or more likely, their menfolk !) quickly came to call these cloths "KANGA" after the noisy, sociable guinea-fowl with its elegant spotty plumage.

Early this century, Swahili sayings were added to kangas. Supposedly this fashion was started by a locally famous trader in Mombasa, Kaderdina Hajee Essak, also known as "Abdulla". His many kanga designs, formerly distinguished by the mark "K.H.E. - Mali ya Abdulla", often included a proverb. At first, the sayings, aphorisms or slogans were printed in Arabic script, later in Roman letters. Many of them have the added charm (or frustration!) of being obscure or ambiguous in their meaning. If you find a motto that you can't figure out, ask several different Swahili speakers. You will get an equal number of different explanations! Some typical kanga sayings are listed on the following page, for your edification and enjoyment.

source : www.glcom.com/hassan / Swahili language and culture



CLICK for more photos CLICK for more photos


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Worldwide use



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Things found on the way



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HAIKU



cold July evening --
market women wrap kangas
round their necks

Patrick Wafula, Kenya, 2009


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quick nap-
she burns her kanga
on a jiko


joseph nzilili
September 2010


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Sunday afternoon-
she carries her child
in a leso


Sibiko Yamame


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cold breeze-
mother covers her child
with a khanga


Mercy Amunze
June 2012


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Related words

*****


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