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Patrons' Kukai August 2017
***** Location: Greenspan Mall, Kayole, Kenya
***** Season: Cold dry season
Explanation
On 19 August 2017, the Patrons (Patrick Wafula, Andrew Otinga, Paul Kanga and Jackson Siva) of the four schools participating in Kenya Saijiki met together with the Moderator (Isabelle Prondzynski) in the Java House Café in Greenspan Mall, Kayole, Nairobi. The objective was to discuss the progress of haiku in their respective schools and to exchange ideas. The just concluded General Election was also raised.
1.
----
An inter club meeting is planned for September, and will take place at the invitation of the Beavers in their school. It is expected that 123 haijin will travel from the other schools to participate in the meeting. Computer certificates will be presented on this occasion. Patrons to co-ordinate with Mr Kimani so that this can be done at the agreed date.
2.
----
Dates for the 2018 kukai were decided upon as follows :
24 February 2018. Patrick Wafula will report on possible venues at the next Patrons' meeting in November or December.
29 September 2018. Kenkyo na Kokoro will host this kukai.
3.
---
Ideas for Kenya Saijiki :
~ Isabelle regularly to send the haiku clubs one haiku for their comments and appreciation, and one haiku to be revised and improved.
~ Isabelle to set themes on which the haiku clubs should research and report in time for the February kukai, the result of their research and the accompanying haiku written by themselves to be presented at the kukai. Each haiku club and the Patrons received a topic for research :
Patrons to focus on the jacaranda tree and blossom
Bamboochas to focus on Advent and Christmas Eve
Parrots to focus on Christmas Day
Beavers to focus on New Year's Day
Kenkyo na kokoro to focus on the First Things of the new year
~ Haiku clubs to make use of haiga (pictures combined with haiku) or haibun (narrative combined with haiku) -- each haiku club to prepare its report in the form of a haiga or haibun for the February kukai.
~ Rewards for haiku consistency and quality to be presented by Isabelle at kukai meetings.
4.
---
We enjoyed a ginkoo in the Greenspan Mall compound and shared the haiku we had written. These follow below.
. . . CLICK here for the Photo by Isabelle Prondzynski !
*****************************
- - - - - HAIKU - - - - -
my dusty shoes
on the clean pavement --
Greenspan Mall
Java House window --
a human face in the sun
stares at me
. . . CLICK here for the Photo by Isabelle Prondzynski !
Java House lounge --
a palm tree trembling
in the morning breeze
sparkling dew
in a canna lily's bud --
bright sun
ferns peeping
from a bamboo hedge --
Java House
the soft rustle
of a bamboo hedge --
gentle breeze
scorching sun --
star grass in Greenspan
has turned brown
green algae grown
on stagnant water --
metal tap
a bud, an onion
or a bean in the froth --
cappuccino
~ Patrick Wafula
.......................................................................
. . . CLICK here for the Photo by Isabelle Prondzynski !
afternoon breeze --
red canna lily blossoms
tremble and tremble
a can top hanging
in the bamboo hedge --
Greenspan Mall
a black ant emerges
out of a red soil heap -
children's fun park
a bee lands
on red canna lily blossoms --
fun park terrace
oxalis leaves
sway in the afternoon wind --
Java Garden
fun park entrance --
green algae covering
an artificial swamp
~ Andrew Otinga
.......................................................................
canna lilies
shake in the afternoon breeze --
Greenspan Mall
canna lilies --
I count seven budding stalks
at Greenspan Mall
oxalis
grown under a palm tree --
Greenspan Mall
Greenspan garden --
three patrons staring
at macdonald's eye
green algae
cover an artificial swamp --
Greenspan Mall entrance
~ Paul Kanga
.......................................................................
at Greenspan Mall --
three young girls jumping
on a bouncing castle
at Java House Café --
a kitten hiding
in a flower bed
at Java field --
a black wasp
flying in couch grass
at java field --
a mother on the pavement
scrolling her phone
at Greenspan Mall --
four white cars parked
on the playground
strolling on the pavement --
a mother with a baby
strapped to her back
~ Jackson Siva
.......................................................................
Greenspan Mall --
a slight breeze ripples
the little pond
Greenspan Mall --
water toys drifting
in the little pond
lazy Saturday --
a tall merry-go-round
stays idle
. . . CLICK here for the Photo by Isabelle Prondzynski !
Greenspan Mall --
a toy car is parked
in the last fee space
Greenspan Mall --
coloured traffic cones mark out
a parking space
. . . CLICK here for the Photo by Isabelle Prondzynski !
days of drought --
tall water tanks guard
precious supplies
seeking the shade --
a shopping mall entrance
provides some cool
~ Isabelle Prondzynski
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Showing posts sorted by date for query kayole. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query kayole. Sort by relevance Show all posts
8/19/2017
12/28/2013
Glossary
[ . BACK to worldkigo TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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
*****************************
Reference
***** KIGO : Season Words of Kenya
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
[ . BACK to KENYA SAIJIKI . TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
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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
*****************************
Reference
***** KIGO : Season Words of Kenya
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
[ . BACK to KENYA SAIJIKI . TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
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10/28/2012
Nairobi Digest News
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
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Nairobi Digest News
source : Caleb Mutua - October 28, 2012
Africa’s best haiku writers meet in Nairobi
The best group of haiku writers in the whole of Africa met in Nairobi yesterday to exchange ideas and participate in a haiku walk competition.
The Kenya Saijiki is part of a World Kigo Database (WKD) that brings together haiku writers from various parts of the world through the internet.
According to WKD owner Dr Gabi Greve of Daruma Museum, Japan, the database of seasonal words (worldwide saijiki) gives poets an opportunity to deepen their understanding of season words in haiku and to appreciate the climate, life and culture of many different parts of the world.
Haiku, a very short form of Japanese poetry, first started in Japan centuries ago and later spread to Europe and further afield.
African countries including South Africa, Burkina Faso and Kenya have in the recent past starting to appreciate this unique genre of poetry, with Kenya Saijiki members leading the way.
“This is an educational site for reference purposes of haiku poets worldwide,” says Dr Greve, who also advises Kenya Saijiki on haiku issues.
Since its inception in 2005, Kenya Saijiki members joined the wider haiku community in the WKD and have been collecting season words, known as kigo in Japanese, for Kenya and writing haiku poems.
The poems are then shared among all members and with the whole world through the internet for comments and discussion on the Kenya Saijiki web pages, starting at http://kenyasaijiki.blogspot.com/ with a long index.
“This was the 13th kukai (meeting) of Kenya Saijiki. The atmosphere was excellent, and all involved participated with full energy and in great spirits,” says the group’s Moderator Isabelle Prondzynski.
Kenya Saijiki is based in Nairobi and currently comprises three haiku clubs; the Peacocks and the Bambochas (based in secondary schools) and the Cocks, a group of poets who have graduated from high school but still write haiku.
The poets include both adults and secondary school students from Kayole Estate and Soweto Slum, Nairobi, with several other poets living in various parts of the country outside Nairobi.
Among other things, the group teaches the students how to write better poems, improve their communication skills and how to use computer and the internet.
The co-ordinator of Kenya Saijiki and the Bambochas’ Patron, Mr Patrick Wafula, recently won a prize after his poem was entered in the Annual Poets’ Choice Competition of the Shiki Kukai.
full moon—
cumulus clouds slowly
form a wolf
The haiku came into my mind while playing with my puppies in my home in Soweto. I have a habit of enjoying moonlit nights and the serenity that comes with it,” Mr Wafula told Kenya Saijiki during its 13th kukai.
During the kukai, the school-going poets enjoyed a one-hour haiku walk observing and writing haiku.
A panel of judges from Kenya Saijiki went through the haiku that were submitted and selected the following top 11 prizewinning haiku.
hot afternoon–
he washes his face
with sewage water
-Rodgers Adega
immense heat
in my white plastic shoes–
i walk on toes
-Brian Etole
scattered feathers
of a slaughtered chicken–
ginkoo walk
-Geoffrey Maina
dry grass–
a black goat struggles
to graze
-Getrude Wahu
scorching sun–
he splashes some water
down his chest
-Dennis Wright
ginkoo time–
she writes haiku
on his back
-Molline Wangui
hot afternoon–
he washes his head
with cold water
Walter Machembe
riverside–
the rustling Napier grass
bends in one direction
Stanely Joshua Kaweto
scorching sun–
two little boys fight over
a bottle of water
Julieth Oketch
garbage site–
I scare a swarm of flies
from a pawpaw peel
-Margaret Ndinda
scorching sun–
a hawk flying around
the smelly dumpsite
-Stephen Macharia
*****************************
- Related -
***** The Haiku Clubs of Nairobi
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:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Nairobi Digest News
source : Caleb Mutua - October 28, 2012
Africa’s best haiku writers meet in Nairobi
The best group of haiku writers in the whole of Africa met in Nairobi yesterday to exchange ideas and participate in a haiku walk competition.
The Kenya Saijiki is part of a World Kigo Database (WKD) that brings together haiku writers from various parts of the world through the internet.
According to WKD owner Dr Gabi Greve of Daruma Museum, Japan, the database of seasonal words (worldwide saijiki) gives poets an opportunity to deepen their understanding of season words in haiku and to appreciate the climate, life and culture of many different parts of the world.
Haiku, a very short form of Japanese poetry, first started in Japan centuries ago and later spread to Europe and further afield.
African countries including South Africa, Burkina Faso and Kenya have in the recent past starting to appreciate this unique genre of poetry, with Kenya Saijiki members leading the way.
“This is an educational site for reference purposes of haiku poets worldwide,” says Dr Greve, who also advises Kenya Saijiki on haiku issues.
Since its inception in 2005, Kenya Saijiki members joined the wider haiku community in the WKD and have been collecting season words, known as kigo in Japanese, for Kenya and writing haiku poems.
The poems are then shared among all members and with the whole world through the internet for comments and discussion on the Kenya Saijiki web pages, starting at http://kenyasaijiki.blogspot.com/ with a long index.
“This was the 13th kukai (meeting) of Kenya Saijiki. The atmosphere was excellent, and all involved participated with full energy and in great spirits,” says the group’s Moderator Isabelle Prondzynski.
Kenya Saijiki is based in Nairobi and currently comprises three haiku clubs; the Peacocks and the Bambochas (based in secondary schools) and the Cocks, a group of poets who have graduated from high school but still write haiku.
The poets include both adults and secondary school students from Kayole Estate and Soweto Slum, Nairobi, with several other poets living in various parts of the country outside Nairobi.
Among other things, the group teaches the students how to write better poems, improve their communication skills and how to use computer and the internet.
The co-ordinator of Kenya Saijiki and the Bambochas’ Patron, Mr Patrick Wafula, recently won a prize after his poem was entered in the Annual Poets’ Choice Competition of the Shiki Kukai.
full moon—
cumulus clouds slowly
form a wolf
The haiku came into my mind while playing with my puppies in my home in Soweto. I have a habit of enjoying moonlit nights and the serenity that comes with it,” Mr Wafula told Kenya Saijiki during its 13th kukai.
During the kukai, the school-going poets enjoyed a one-hour haiku walk observing and writing haiku.
A panel of judges from Kenya Saijiki went through the haiku that were submitted and selected the following top 11 prizewinning haiku.
hot afternoon–
he washes his face
with sewage water
-Rodgers Adega
immense heat
in my white plastic shoes–
i walk on toes
-Brian Etole
scattered feathers
of a slaughtered chicken–
ginkoo walk
-Geoffrey Maina
dry grass–
a black goat struggles
to graze
-Getrude Wahu
scorching sun–
he splashes some water
down his chest
-Dennis Wright
ginkoo time–
she writes haiku
on his back
-Molline Wangui
hot afternoon–
he washes his head
with cold water
Walter Machembe
riverside–
the rustling Napier grass
bends in one direction
Stanely Joshua Kaweto
scorching sun–
two little boys fight over
a bottle of water
Julieth Oketch
garbage site–
I scare a swarm of flies
from a pawpaw peel
-Margaret Ndinda
scorching sun–
a hawk flying around
the smelly dumpsite
-Stephen Macharia
*****************************
- Related -
***** The Haiku Clubs of Nairobi
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8/21/2012
Slum fire, fires
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
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Slum fires
(Swahili : moto (singular) mioto (plural))
***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity
*****************************
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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
*****************************
Worldwide use
*****************************
Things found on the way
*****************************
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
thick smoke --
my eyes are drenched
with tears
she wails
on seeing burnt bodies --
Sinai inferno
oil floats on
sparkling sewage --
Ngong River
an injured boy
is lifted onto a stretcher --
rescue mission
Sinai heat --
flames bubbling in
the smokey sky
Sinai tragedy --
oil fumes linger
in the air
a pastor leads
the bereaved in prayer --
Sinai fire
Tom Mboya Hall --
a pile of burnt mabati
at the entrance
bereaved parade --
a photographer identifies
an impostor
~ Andrew Otinga
(on the Sinai Pipeline tragedy mentioned above)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
fire tragedy --
a crying child asking
for her mother
Sinai fire --
displaced children
crying for food
Authors unknown
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
August cold --
a maize roaster pokes
his smouldering fire
Caleb Mutua
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
on a jam
dusty matatus on a stand still -
Nakumatt blaze
Nakumatt blaze was a great supermarket fire in 2009.
Siboko Yamame
. Matatu minibus .
*****************************
Related words
***** Jiko (brazier) and makaa (charcoal)
***** WKD : Fire (kaji)
kigo for all winter in Japan
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Slum fires
(Swahili : moto (singular) mioto (plural))
***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity
*****************************
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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
*****************************
Worldwide use
*****************************
Things found on the way
*****************************
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
thick smoke --
my eyes are drenched
with tears
she wails
on seeing burnt bodies --
Sinai inferno
oil floats on
sparkling sewage --
Ngong River
an injured boy
is lifted onto a stretcher --
rescue mission
Sinai heat --
flames bubbling in
the smokey sky
Sinai tragedy --
oil fumes linger
in the air
a pastor leads
the bereaved in prayer --
Sinai fire
Tom Mboya Hall --
a pile of burnt mabati
at the entrance
bereaved parade --
a photographer identifies
an impostor
~ Andrew Otinga
(on the Sinai Pipeline tragedy mentioned above)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
fire tragedy --
a crying child asking
for her mother
Sinai fire --
displaced children
crying for food
Authors unknown
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
August cold --
a maize roaster pokes
his smouldering fire
Caleb Mutua
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
on a jam
dusty matatus on a stand still -
Nakumatt blaze
Nakumatt blaze was a great supermarket fire in 2009.
Siboko Yamame
. Matatu minibus .
*****************************
Related words
***** Jiko (brazier) and makaa (charcoal)
***** WKD : Fire (kaji)
kigo for all winter in Japan
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
4/10/2012
Japan Culture Week 2012
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Japan Culture Week in Nairobi 2012
Invitation to the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi
Date: Thursday, 5 April 2012
The members of the Bamboocha and Peacocks Haiku Clubs had been looking forward to the great day with expectation and excitement. Unlike on other occasions, when the haijin had used public transport, this time the school bus was made available for them. It was one of their smoothest and most enjoyable rides from Kayole to Upper Hill, listening to music and sightseeing. The haijin were 78 students and four teachers.
It was a cloudy morning, and it had rained the previous night. This was the first rain signalling the onset of the long rains, which had come a little late this year.
On arrival at the Embassy, we were warmly and courteously welcomed. The security procedure was elaborate and rigorous, as all items were screened and deposited with the security staff. Both the haijin and teachers were amazed at these rigorous security checks. Mobile phones and cameras were not allowed into the Embassy; no photographs in or around the Embassy were allowed. We were only authorised to take photographs in the Embassy Hall.
The first session was a film about Japan, which highlighted the following areas:
-- education,
-- the economy,
-- culture,
-- international co-operation,
-- industry,
-- technology.
Preparing for the film projection
Session two was origami. It was exciting as the students were taught how to make things of different shapes by folding paper. These things ranged from animals to geometrical shapes. It was amazing to learn that it takes four days to construct a horse! After the demonstration, students were each given six papers and asked to make a cube. It was exciting even to the teachers.
I fold paper
the opposite way --
origami
missing one step --
I assemble a wobbly
cube
~ Patrick Wafula
Origami sheets ready
In the third session, the haijin were taught some Japanese greetings, common phrases and the numbers 1 to10. This was followed by an oral quiz to assess which haijin in the hall had been the most attentive. Most as some of the numbers, it turned out, sound like words in the English language. The haijin enjoyed finding those words and matching them with the numbers to enable them to remember the numbers better.
1: ichi (itchy)
2: ni (knee)
3: san (sun / son)
4. shi / yon: (she / yawn)
Session Four was a Japanese Love and Family Relations Film, which was very much enjoyed by all. It was about a young man called Matsuo and a girl called Izumi, and a restless, ever travelling old man called Tora, who had so many women in his life, but none for a wife, until he met Lily, an aged, but beautiful woman from an island. Izumi was in love with Matsuo, but her parents betrothed her to another man because Matsuo was jobless, but in the end, each of these couples were happily married.
dark room --
the projector’s gentle
hum
Film projection
Lastly the haijin were allowed to tour the library and take a number of photos before boarding their bus and heading back to Eastlands. The rest of the experiences are very personal and are only revealed through the haiku and photos that accompany this write up. All the haiku were written within the Embassy.
The haijin are gratefully indebted to Isabelle Prondzynski, our Moderator, for providing the haijin with transport fare, Otinga Andrew, for organizing the St. Mathew haijin, availing the bus and providing administrative support throughout the excursion; the Japanese Embassy staff, Shemi, David and Susan for taking the haijin through all the exciting events above: David san for a very interesting origami session; Susan san for teaching the haijin Japanese greetings and numbers; and Shemi san for organizing the whole event and inviting us. Last, but not least, the entire Embassy of Japan in Nairobi for their six years of co-operation and support to the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi.
School bus waiting for the return journey
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
cultural show --
reflected ray from Japanese
aquarium
~ Caxton Okoth
car park --
our bus enters after
a security check
~ Diana Dolla
rush --
the sliproad overloaded
with vehicles
~ Moses Nyawanga
writing haiku --
her head moves with the
grasshopper's hop
~ Flora Mbayi
origami --
colored papers litter
the grey carpet
security check --
a tweet on leaving
the glass cabinet
~ Brian Etole
origami --
I find it exciting making
colored boxes
learning lesson --
I find it hard pronouncing
Japanese words
dark clouds --
I shiver from light showers and
cool breeze
~ Brian Mulando
slippery floor --
I nearly fall but my friend
catches me
~ Winfridah Malesi
dark clouds --
an eagle flies around
the embassy aerial
~Annabel Mwendwa
dark clouds --
raindrops fall on the
happy haijin
~ John Maina
dark room --
I enjoy a Japanese
comic movie
~ Ezekiel Mbira
the end --
the Japanese movie leaves
me in suspense
~ Dennis Wright
haijins' uproar --
three dolphins dance
on water
coloured cubes
on white tables --
origami
folding --
the yellow paper
gets torn
one bulb after
the other turns on --
roaring generator
~ Andrew Otinga
Andrew Otinga and the origami sheets
we go through
the vigorous screening...
Japan Embassy
~ Jackson Shilaho
origami --
I concentrate on making
my colorful box
~ Metrine Okalo
Japanese embassy --
a warm welcome from
the guards
~ Geoffrey Maina
coloured papers --
I struggle to make
a cube
colorful table --
students display their
finished cubes
lights off --
the start of a Japanese
cultural movie
rain drops --
rythmic mabati sound
lulls her to sleep
~ Elijah Juma
Japanese library --
she is attracted to the left
bookshelf
chilly noon --
trees swaying
sideways
~ Marcellina Amunze
upstairs --
he holds a flower
smilingly
~ Joseph Musango
several folds --
a colourful box on
the table
embassy library --
the books arranged
alphabetically
~ Joshua Kaweto
colourful compound--
flowers nourishes the
environment
~ Agness Ndinda
Japanese Embassy --
the Japanese flag sways
in the breeze
~ Mary Wanjama
a bee sucks nectar
from morning glory --
Embassy wall
rain --
morning dew shining
on the grass
~ Sylvia Mmbone
Japan Embassy --
a paved corridor roofed
with climbing plants
Japanese film --
quiet theatre as we watch
a cultural show
~ Isaac Ndirangu
shuffle of papers
as we make cubes --
silent room
~ Stephen Macharia
Japanese Library --
haijin enjoy Japanese
monuments
~ Lucy Mukuhi
jovial faces --
haijin enjoy Japanese
arts
~ Willis Wanga
origami makes
the haijin to think --
calm room
~ Collins Omuganda
noon drizzle --
droplets fall from
a eucalyptus tree
colourful fireworks --
Japanese culture on
display
~ Eric Mwange
jacaranda tree --
leaves sway from side
to side
~ Irene Aluoch
students tour
the Embassy --
short break
~ Felix Kavayo
Embassy --
such a clean
environment
~ Hillaey Shisoka
dolphins swim
and dance happily --
movie
~ Melvine Ayako
dark room --
cheers after watching
the movie
~ Emmanuel Mutati
Japanese poem --
we understand Japanese
movie
~ Koskei Cornelios
students squeeze
through security door --
Embassy exit
~ Consolata Akoth
haijin sit
on the grass to write haiku --
Embassy visit
~ Anonymous
cold weather --
we put on sweaters
outside the Embassy
~ Mary Njambi
haijin struggle
through the security door --
Japanese Embassy
~Victor Obutho
cold morning --
the scent of flowers
at the gate
~ Susan Njeri
flower bed --
a withered rose
falls down
~ Eunice Katiwa
echoing hall --
the haijins’ jubilation
after the movie
flower bed --
an uprooted weed lies
on the pavement
~ Gloria Kerubo
-----------------------
Report and photos by Patrick Wafula for Kenya Saijiki
*****************************
Related words
. Japane Culture Week 2008 .
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Japan Culture Week in Nairobi 2012
Invitation to the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi
Date: Thursday, 5 April 2012
The members of the Bamboocha and Peacocks Haiku Clubs had been looking forward to the great day with expectation and excitement. Unlike on other occasions, when the haijin had used public transport, this time the school bus was made available for them. It was one of their smoothest and most enjoyable rides from Kayole to Upper Hill, listening to music and sightseeing. The haijin were 78 students and four teachers.
It was a cloudy morning, and it had rained the previous night. This was the first rain signalling the onset of the long rains, which had come a little late this year.
On arrival at the Embassy, we were warmly and courteously welcomed. The security procedure was elaborate and rigorous, as all items were screened and deposited with the security staff. Both the haijin and teachers were amazed at these rigorous security checks. Mobile phones and cameras were not allowed into the Embassy; no photographs in or around the Embassy were allowed. We were only authorised to take photographs in the Embassy Hall.
The first session was a film about Japan, which highlighted the following areas:
-- education,
-- the economy,
-- culture,
-- international co-operation,
-- industry,
-- technology.
Preparing for the film projection
Session two was origami. It was exciting as the students were taught how to make things of different shapes by folding paper. These things ranged from animals to geometrical shapes. It was amazing to learn that it takes four days to construct a horse! After the demonstration, students were each given six papers and asked to make a cube. It was exciting even to the teachers.
I fold paper
the opposite way --
origami
missing one step --
I assemble a wobbly
cube
~ Patrick Wafula
Origami sheets ready
In the third session, the haijin were taught some Japanese greetings, common phrases and the numbers 1 to10. This was followed by an oral quiz to assess which haijin in the hall had been the most attentive. Most as some of the numbers, it turned out, sound like words in the English language. The haijin enjoyed finding those words and matching them with the numbers to enable them to remember the numbers better.
1: ichi (itchy)
2: ni (knee)
3: san (sun / son)
4. shi / yon: (she / yawn)
Session Four was a Japanese Love and Family Relations Film, which was very much enjoyed by all. It was about a young man called Matsuo and a girl called Izumi, and a restless, ever travelling old man called Tora, who had so many women in his life, but none for a wife, until he met Lily, an aged, but beautiful woman from an island. Izumi was in love with Matsuo, but her parents betrothed her to another man because Matsuo was jobless, but in the end, each of these couples were happily married.
dark room --
the projector’s gentle
hum
Film projection
Lastly the haijin were allowed to tour the library and take a number of photos before boarding their bus and heading back to Eastlands. The rest of the experiences are very personal and are only revealed through the haiku and photos that accompany this write up. All the haiku were written within the Embassy.
The haijin are gratefully indebted to Isabelle Prondzynski, our Moderator, for providing the haijin with transport fare, Otinga Andrew, for organizing the St. Mathew haijin, availing the bus and providing administrative support throughout the excursion; the Japanese Embassy staff, Shemi, David and Susan for taking the haijin through all the exciting events above: David san for a very interesting origami session; Susan san for teaching the haijin Japanese greetings and numbers; and Shemi san for organizing the whole event and inviting us. Last, but not least, the entire Embassy of Japan in Nairobi for their six years of co-operation and support to the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi.
School bus waiting for the return journey
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
cultural show --
reflected ray from Japanese
aquarium
~ Caxton Okoth
car park --
our bus enters after
a security check
~ Diana Dolla
rush --
the sliproad overloaded
with vehicles
~ Moses Nyawanga
writing haiku --
her head moves with the
grasshopper's hop
~ Flora Mbayi
origami --
colored papers litter
the grey carpet
security check --
a tweet on leaving
the glass cabinet
~ Brian Etole
origami --
I find it exciting making
colored boxes
learning lesson --
I find it hard pronouncing
Japanese words
dark clouds --
I shiver from light showers and
cool breeze
~ Brian Mulando
slippery floor --
I nearly fall but my friend
catches me
~ Winfridah Malesi
dark clouds --
an eagle flies around
the embassy aerial
~Annabel Mwendwa
dark clouds --
raindrops fall on the
happy haijin
~ John Maina
dark room --
I enjoy a Japanese
comic movie
~ Ezekiel Mbira
the end --
the Japanese movie leaves
me in suspense
~ Dennis Wright
haijins' uproar --
three dolphins dance
on water
coloured cubes
on white tables --
origami
folding --
the yellow paper
gets torn
one bulb after
the other turns on --
roaring generator
~ Andrew Otinga
Andrew Otinga and the origami sheets
we go through
the vigorous screening...
Japan Embassy
~ Jackson Shilaho
origami --
I concentrate on making
my colorful box
~ Metrine Okalo
Japanese embassy --
a warm welcome from
the guards
~ Geoffrey Maina
coloured papers --
I struggle to make
a cube
colorful table --
students display their
finished cubes
lights off --
the start of a Japanese
cultural movie
rain drops --
rythmic mabati sound
lulls her to sleep
~ Elijah Juma
Japanese library --
she is attracted to the left
bookshelf
chilly noon --
trees swaying
sideways
~ Marcellina Amunze
upstairs --
he holds a flower
smilingly
~ Joseph Musango
several folds --
a colourful box on
the table
embassy library --
the books arranged
alphabetically
~ Joshua Kaweto
colourful compound--
flowers nourishes the
environment
~ Agness Ndinda
Japanese Embassy --
the Japanese flag sways
in the breeze
~ Mary Wanjama
a bee sucks nectar
from morning glory --
Embassy wall
rain --
morning dew shining
on the grass
~ Sylvia Mmbone
Japan Embassy --
a paved corridor roofed
with climbing plants
Japanese film --
quiet theatre as we watch
a cultural show
~ Isaac Ndirangu
shuffle of papers
as we make cubes --
silent room
~ Stephen Macharia
Japanese Library --
haijin enjoy Japanese
monuments
~ Lucy Mukuhi
jovial faces --
haijin enjoy Japanese
arts
~ Willis Wanga
origami makes
the haijin to think --
calm room
~ Collins Omuganda
noon drizzle --
droplets fall from
a eucalyptus tree
colourful fireworks --
Japanese culture on
display
~ Eric Mwange
jacaranda tree --
leaves sway from side
to side
~ Irene Aluoch
students tour
the Embassy --
short break
~ Felix Kavayo
Embassy --
such a clean
environment
~ Hillaey Shisoka
dolphins swim
and dance happily --
movie
~ Melvine Ayako
dark room --
cheers after watching
the movie
~ Emmanuel Mutati
Japanese poem --
we understand Japanese
movie
~ Koskei Cornelios
students squeeze
through security door --
Embassy exit
~ Consolata Akoth
haijin sit
on the grass to write haiku --
Embassy visit
~ Anonymous
cold weather --
we put on sweaters
outside the Embassy
~ Mary Njambi
haijin struggle
through the security door --
Japanese Embassy
~Victor Obutho
cold morning --
the scent of flowers
at the gate
~ Susan Njeri
flower bed --
a withered rose
falls down
~ Eunice Katiwa
echoing hall --
the haijins’ jubilation
after the movie
flower bed --
an uprooted weed lies
on the pavement
~ Gloria Kerubo
-----------------------
Report and photos by Patrick Wafula for Kenya Saijiki
*****************************
Related words
. Japane Culture Week 2008 .
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
2/14/2012
Valentine's Day Kenya
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
St Valentine’s Day (Valentine’s Day, Valentine)
***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Hot dry season
***** Category: Observance
*****************************
Explanation
Despite the little knowledge about its origin, the majority of Kenyans, especially the urban folks, believe Valentine to be the celebration of love. The colour red is the predominant mark for this day, and it is exhibited in flowers and clothes.
In Nairobi, St. Valentine's Day is highly commercialised. Flower, clothes, shoe and other accessory vendors and supermarkets, as well as hawkers, capitalise on this occasion and stock red coloured Valentine's items at strategic points to attract customer attention. Since red roses are expensive and in short supply, traders substitute them with plastic ones. Husbands and wives buy each other gifts and flowers and they dress in red; so do lovers. Couples go out to exclusive joints to spend a romantic moment together. Restaurants, hotels, pubs and resorts are decorated in red and special entertainments and menus are prepared to match their clients' needs.
The best climax about St Valentine's Day however is the renewal of love vows and re-affirming love and faithfulness to each other in our relationships.
A whirl of red synthetic roses with a bottle of grape drink
Text and photo © Patrick Wafula
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
This year, 2012, I was amazed by the ingenuity of Nairobi business people with regard to St. Valentine’s Day. This time round they went a notch higher with the Valentine affair. To start with, a couple of days prior to St. Valentine’s Day, they put up flower tents on almost every major street in the city centre. The flower tents were complete with smartly dressed sales people; the red flowers, which are usually synthetic (plastic), were this time round mingled with real fresh red roses. Secondly, to make it even more fabulous, the flowers were wrapped along with other beautiful gifts such as red teddy bears, chocolate, ribbons, or small, cute traditional reed baskets. The prices varied depending on the package. A whirl of real red roses cost as much as Kshs. 1,200. A teddy bear could even cost Kshs 2,000.
The supermarkets too were more creative. They set up Valentine stands right in the entrances, all shrouded in red. They offered very attractive Valentine packages with alluring gifts. All packages
included at least a red flower and ribbons. But some packages contained not just flowers and beautiful wrappings, but red wine, hot chocolate and huge teddy bears with fantastic love messages, such as “I am Thinking of You, My Thoughts Are Inside,” scribbled across them. A gift wrap with a bottle of wine, sweets and a chocolate bar cost around Kshs. 1,300.
Valentine’s Day stand at Tuskey’s, Moi Avenue
Nairobi city centre last evening was engulfed in romantic shopping sprees with supermarkets remaining open up to 9.00pm to serve their ravenous Valentine clientele. Hawkers too, strategically positioned all around the city, were making a kill; they sold the flowers and gifts at a more reduced price than the supermarkets.
Kenyans may not be as romantic as Nigerians, but I can assure you, they are pretentiously romantic: during day time, they harbour severe faces and religious behaviours, but at night, as darkness descends over the land, they turn vivacious, lascivious and openly romantic.
Valentine —
a red ribbon fluttering
on a matatu mirror
Moi Avenue —
an abandoned
red plastic flower
Text, haiku and photo © Patrick Wafula
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Unusually for a saint, St Valentine’s Day is not usually celebrated in church. The reason is that he lived so long ago, that no one is quite sure whether the stories about his life are true, or whether they have grown over the centuries without there being a firm basis of truth. On the other hand, when St Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday, the churches usually take the opportunity to talk about love, loyalty and faithfulness to one's partner.
It is to find red roses in Nairobi on St Valentine’s Day. Kenya produces the greatest number of roses exported in the world, many of which are red, and almost all of which come from around Lake Naivasha. But as the export trade is so strong for red roses around St Valentine's Day, there are usually insufficient of them left for Kenya itself! Every night, there are several Jumbo Jets flying out of Nairobi, loaded with nothing but flowers (mostly roses, as it happens)...
loading the plane --
surrounded by the scent
of St Valentine's
With its huge variety of other offerings in red, Kenya has truly made St Valentine's Day its very own festival.
Preparing an arrangement of red roses at City Market, Nairobi
Text, haiku and photo © Isabelle Prondzynski
*****************************
Worldwide use
WKD : Valentine's Day 2012
*****************************
Things found on the way
Haibun
In Nairobi ’s Kayole / Soweto slums where I live and work, February is usually a dry dusty month full of dusty breezes. But the sunrises are gloriously splendid. You wake up guaranteed a golden orange sun and an azure-blue sky. But on 14 February 2009, I celebrated a unique Valentine like none other I had ever had. I dated a person living with HIV/AIDS.
Valentine’s day--
red roses displayed
on dusty roadsides
17: 05 hours: I did not know what could be the best gift for my date as I closed and locked my office. I started off to our rendezvous — her flat. It was a lovely evening with a cool breeze sweeping across Soweto slum, mildly stirring up a little dust here and there, and sometimes a whole litter of polythene bags floated in the dark blue evening sky. Most of the young cute-looking people I met on the streets were either fully or half dressed in something red or at least had something red tagged somewhere on their cloth.
students crowding
a lush red coloured stall —
Valentine’s cards
Romanticism was slowly enveloping Kayole and Soweto slums in the twilight; the boldness of the uniformed students in pairs bargaining for Valentine Cards and gifts that were variously and creatively designed to offer variety totally mesmerized me; this scenario pushed me a notch higher on the Valentine Richter Scale. I was pressed for time. Not only was I required to accomplish my date with Miss L. (not her real name -- names are not mentioned here for confidentiality reasons), but I was also required to take my wife out on a date to Nyama Villa and later throw a late night family party with for our three daughters Faith, Esther and Liz.
Valentine ballads —
nostalgia for memories past
burns me up
Let me tell you more about my work. I work in a community secondary school based in Nairobi ’s Kayole Soweto slum. The school has a mixed population of both boys and girls of about 600 students aged between 13 and 18. But sometimes we receive extraordinary and unusual students not only in age, but also in background and experience. Some are aged over twenty and some are just below twenty but their experiences are flabbergasting. The oldest student we have ever received was Master R who was aged twenty-six in 2005. Master R completed his KCSE examination in 2008 and is now a teacher.
In fact, our school is a very special centre that mends broken dreams, lives, brains, hopes and hearts. For the seven years I have worked here, though, the year 2009 was an exceptional year for me. For the first time, we had two students, Miss M and Miss D sitting their KCSE exams with distended blessings in their wombs. And for the first time, we also had two students living with HIV/AIDS in our midst. They were Miss B and W. Of course I do not imply that we have never had teenage pregnancies in our school before; far from it. In fact, we do have them every year, even though our statistics for the last five years—2005-2009—show a sharp decline. The fact is that in 2009 we did not treat these cases in the usual tradition of expelling and stigmatizing. Instead, we showed sensitivity, understanding and moral as well as psychological support. We advised them to sit their exams and sternly cautioned all the other students against any form of discrimination and stigmatization. The question that triggered this was:
“Why haven’t we, as a society, ever expelled or stigmatized the boys or men who usually impregnate these girls? Why should the girls carry the burden of pregnancy alone, while the boy or man with whom they shared the pleasure of pro-creating is allowed to go on with his life totally uninterrupted?”
she is too large
to fit in between the desk —
her distended tummy
Thank God for our Government for endorsing this new policy. The girls can now sit their exams even if they are pregnant!
she tells a female teacher
that she’s older than her —
student mother
Our school also broke the record among community schools in 2009 for allowing two student mothers to study and sit their KCSE exams. The most outstanding was Miss E, who had been forcibly married off at the age of 16, due to poverty in their family. She had with much difficulty given birth to two children by the time we caught up with her in her matrimony. With the help of the authorities, we managed to extricate her from the abusive marriage. She joined our centre in 2007 and successfully sat for her KCSE exams in 2009. She had dropped out in Form 2. She had come to the centre with a broken heart, body and brain, as well as spirit, but she left the centre a healed, pretty girl in specs. She was very close to my wife.
sharing SMSes
from her ex-husband—
student mother
Generally, our students are the most beautiful-looking in the whole slum. With their resplendent uniforms and proud looks and posture, they usually attract so many others to the school. But underneath these beautiful faces and uniforms, are resilient spirits who have fought all forms of social and economic evils: drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, abject poverty, sex abuse and molestation, domestic violence and child labour. The year 2009 was also extraordinary because we had admitted the two students living with HIV/AIDS.
18:10 hours: At the market stall, I struggled undecidedly with Valentine’s cards and gifts to buy for my date. The cards and gifts, although all in red, differed in size, decorations and material and hence the variation in prices. In the background, ballads, vehicle honks and the usual market din and the hawkers’ monotonous sales slogans and stories blared on. I finally settled for a small but cute Valentine’s gift for Miss L. It was a nicely woven traditional basket made from wild date palm reeds. It had a huge fully bloomed red plastic rose at the centre with red ribbons fluttering all around the red rose and the basket. There was a simple love message scribbled on a rectangular paper glued to the side of the basket:
To Someone very SPECIAL,
On this Valentine :
I LOVE YOU!
Thinking of you : Valentine’s chocolates
18:30 Hours: It was getting dark and twilight was fading into night, but colourful lights kept shooting into life from all buildings around, thus brightening the night. Night clubs, pubs and all entertainment joints were Valentine red in lighting and decoration.
I arrived at Miss L’s flat and knocked on the door. It was a high-rise building with several other tenants in it. As I stood outside her door waiting for it to be opened, I noticed that it was smeared with several stickers, all carrying HIV/AIDS messages. But the most outstanding sticker was the one with the President holding hands in a tight circle with people of all ages, classes and religions. And the poignant message on it was:
“Tuungane
Tuangamize
UKIMWI!”
“Let us unite
to eradicate
HIV/AIDS!”
I read this message over and over again as I waited for the door to be opened. Soon there was a click and the door opened. And before me, a beautifully dressed lady in jeans trousers, open shoes and red T-shirt, stood before me in the light-flooded sitting room, smiling sweetly, but her eyes were sad and lonely. That was Miss L. She had done a lot for the community — rescuing girls and women who suffered from HIV/AIDS stigmatization and discrimination. Our school had formed a network with her organization for the same reason; she had been the first girl in this part of Nairobi to publicly declare her HIV status.
I held the gift out to her and watched as pleasant shock and surprise engulfed her; she pouted the surprise. I silenced her with a hearty embrace and two pecks on both cheeks. The light that sparkled in her dark lonely eyes as she whispered:
“Do you mean you love me this much?” made my Valentine.
“Yes,” I said, “You deserve much much more. You have made a difference in so many lives here.” We released each other. “But I’m afraid I won’t stay. I’m taking my wife out to Nyama Villa and we have a family party later to-night.”
“I’m so grateful you thought of me, Pat. You’ve made my Valentine.”
“Don’t mention it”, I said and kissed her Happy Valentine.
Valentine’s date
with a HIV/AIDS person--
the radiance in her eyes
a red night
of eating chicken and dancing jazz —
dating my wife
church flower garden --
two little girls exchanging
red hibiscus flowers
~ Haibun and photo © Patrick Wafula
*****************************
HAIKU
St Valentine’s Day --
today the computer
is my only love
St Valentine’s Day --
all the church finery
for a wedding
St Valentine’s Day --
the church warden mourns
his late wife
Valentine’s Day --
a lovers’ quarrel going
round and round my head
Valentine's Day --
who may be thinking of me
right now?
~ Isabelle Prondzynski
from Japan, with KitKat chocolate
Valentine's Day -
I send you a sweet
postcard
~ Gabi Greve
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Valentine's day --
a girl's red tongue licks
a red ice cream
~ Dennis Wright
red flowers --
the leftovers colour
the market
~ Peninah Wanjiru
Valentine's day --
she covers her neck
with a red scarf
~ Ezekiel Mbira
sudden odour --
I stare at the roses
in the market
~ Meg Ndinda
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A traditional reed basket full of Valentine’s Day gifts
Photo © Patrick Wafula
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Valentine --
a little girl undusts
her fallen flowers
red decorations
on the pear vendor’s wheelbarrow --
Valentine’ Day
youthless church
for the morning service --
Valentine’s Day
~ Hussein Haji
a couple kiss
across the bus station--
Valentine’s day
~ Kelvin Mukoselo
Soweto market --
loudspeakers advertise
Valentine products
Valentine’s morning --
vendors arrange flowers
in the wheelbarrow
Valentine’s day --
a flower hawker whistles
from door to door
~ Caleb Mutua
Valentine’s card --
some sweet melody plays
in the pub
a chocolate pack
in heart-printed wrappers --
Valentine’s gift
Valentine’s Day --
bouquets of red roses
displayed in the shops
~ Gladys Kathini
Valentine's Day --
people in red clothes on their way
carrying flowers
~ Samuel Ndung'u
in a red suit
a man carrying flowers --
language of love
~ Raymond Otieno
stout lady
clutching red roses
clad in red
twenty bob each!
shouts a jovial hawker --
red bouquets
~ Catherine Njeri Maina
people in red
laughing and cheering in the pub --
Valentine’s night
~Walter Otieno
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Teddy bears for a Valentine!
Photo © Patrick Wafula
waiters in red
serving red wine --
Valentine's Day
couples in red
cluster around flower stalls --
red twilight
a couple quarrelling
over Valentine SMSes --
sulky faces
form one students
asking the English teacher --
what is Valentine
Muthurwa --
hawkers of Valentine’s gifts
block the pathways
Luthuli Avenue --
broken roses scattered
at zebra crossings
Valentine’s Eve --
the shoe vendor's stall
gradually turns red
~ Patrick Wafula
*****************************
Related words
***** WKD : Valentine's Day 2012
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
St Valentine’s Day (Valentine’s Day, Valentine)
***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Hot dry season
***** Category: Observance
*****************************
Explanation
Despite the little knowledge about its origin, the majority of Kenyans, especially the urban folks, believe Valentine to be the celebration of love. The colour red is the predominant mark for this day, and it is exhibited in flowers and clothes.
In Nairobi, St. Valentine's Day is highly commercialised. Flower, clothes, shoe and other accessory vendors and supermarkets, as well as hawkers, capitalise on this occasion and stock red coloured Valentine's items at strategic points to attract customer attention. Since red roses are expensive and in short supply, traders substitute them with plastic ones. Husbands and wives buy each other gifts and flowers and they dress in red; so do lovers. Couples go out to exclusive joints to spend a romantic moment together. Restaurants, hotels, pubs and resorts are decorated in red and special entertainments and menus are prepared to match their clients' needs.
The best climax about St Valentine's Day however is the renewal of love vows and re-affirming love and faithfulness to each other in our relationships.
A whirl of red synthetic roses with a bottle of grape drink
Text and photo © Patrick Wafula
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
This year, 2012, I was amazed by the ingenuity of Nairobi business people with regard to St. Valentine’s Day. This time round they went a notch higher with the Valentine affair. To start with, a couple of days prior to St. Valentine’s Day, they put up flower tents on almost every major street in the city centre. The flower tents were complete with smartly dressed sales people; the red flowers, which are usually synthetic (plastic), were this time round mingled with real fresh red roses. Secondly, to make it even more fabulous, the flowers were wrapped along with other beautiful gifts such as red teddy bears, chocolate, ribbons, or small, cute traditional reed baskets. The prices varied depending on the package. A whirl of real red roses cost as much as Kshs. 1,200. A teddy bear could even cost Kshs 2,000.
The supermarkets too were more creative. They set up Valentine stands right in the entrances, all shrouded in red. They offered very attractive Valentine packages with alluring gifts. All packages
included at least a red flower and ribbons. But some packages contained not just flowers and beautiful wrappings, but red wine, hot chocolate and huge teddy bears with fantastic love messages, such as “I am Thinking of You, My Thoughts Are Inside,” scribbled across them. A gift wrap with a bottle of wine, sweets and a chocolate bar cost around Kshs. 1,300.
Valentine’s Day stand at Tuskey’s, Moi Avenue
Nairobi city centre last evening was engulfed in romantic shopping sprees with supermarkets remaining open up to 9.00pm to serve their ravenous Valentine clientele. Hawkers too, strategically positioned all around the city, were making a kill; they sold the flowers and gifts at a more reduced price than the supermarkets.
Kenyans may not be as romantic as Nigerians, but I can assure you, they are pretentiously romantic: during day time, they harbour severe faces and religious behaviours, but at night, as darkness descends over the land, they turn vivacious, lascivious and openly romantic.
Valentine —
a red ribbon fluttering
on a matatu mirror
Moi Avenue —
an abandoned
red plastic flower
Text, haiku and photo © Patrick Wafula
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Unusually for a saint, St Valentine’s Day is not usually celebrated in church. The reason is that he lived so long ago, that no one is quite sure whether the stories about his life are true, or whether they have grown over the centuries without there being a firm basis of truth. On the other hand, when St Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday, the churches usually take the opportunity to talk about love, loyalty and faithfulness to one's partner.
It is to find red roses in Nairobi on St Valentine’s Day. Kenya produces the greatest number of roses exported in the world, many of which are red, and almost all of which come from around Lake Naivasha. But as the export trade is so strong for red roses around St Valentine's Day, there are usually insufficient of them left for Kenya itself! Every night, there are several Jumbo Jets flying out of Nairobi, loaded with nothing but flowers (mostly roses, as it happens)...
loading the plane --
surrounded by the scent
of St Valentine's
With its huge variety of other offerings in red, Kenya has truly made St Valentine's Day its very own festival.
Preparing an arrangement of red roses at City Market, Nairobi
Text, haiku and photo © Isabelle Prondzynski
*****************************
Worldwide use
WKD : Valentine's Day 2012
*****************************
Things found on the way
Haibun
In Nairobi ’s Kayole / Soweto slums where I live and work, February is usually a dry dusty month full of dusty breezes. But the sunrises are gloriously splendid. You wake up guaranteed a golden orange sun and an azure-blue sky. But on 14 February 2009, I celebrated a unique Valentine like none other I had ever had. I dated a person living with HIV/AIDS.
Valentine’s day--
red roses displayed
on dusty roadsides
17: 05 hours: I did not know what could be the best gift for my date as I closed and locked my office. I started off to our rendezvous — her flat. It was a lovely evening with a cool breeze sweeping across Soweto slum, mildly stirring up a little dust here and there, and sometimes a whole litter of polythene bags floated in the dark blue evening sky. Most of the young cute-looking people I met on the streets were either fully or half dressed in something red or at least had something red tagged somewhere on their cloth.
students crowding
a lush red coloured stall —
Valentine’s cards
Romanticism was slowly enveloping Kayole and Soweto slums in the twilight; the boldness of the uniformed students in pairs bargaining for Valentine Cards and gifts that were variously and creatively designed to offer variety totally mesmerized me; this scenario pushed me a notch higher on the Valentine Richter Scale. I was pressed for time. Not only was I required to accomplish my date with Miss L. (not her real name -- names are not mentioned here for confidentiality reasons), but I was also required to take my wife out on a date to Nyama Villa and later throw a late night family party with for our three daughters Faith, Esther and Liz.
Valentine ballads —
nostalgia for memories past
burns me up
Let me tell you more about my work. I work in a community secondary school based in Nairobi ’s Kayole Soweto slum. The school has a mixed population of both boys and girls of about 600 students aged between 13 and 18. But sometimes we receive extraordinary and unusual students not only in age, but also in background and experience. Some are aged over twenty and some are just below twenty but their experiences are flabbergasting. The oldest student we have ever received was Master R who was aged twenty-six in 2005. Master R completed his KCSE examination in 2008 and is now a teacher.
In fact, our school is a very special centre that mends broken dreams, lives, brains, hopes and hearts. For the seven years I have worked here, though, the year 2009 was an exceptional year for me. For the first time, we had two students, Miss M and Miss D sitting their KCSE exams with distended blessings in their wombs. And for the first time, we also had two students living with HIV/AIDS in our midst. They were Miss B and W. Of course I do not imply that we have never had teenage pregnancies in our school before; far from it. In fact, we do have them every year, even though our statistics for the last five years—2005-2009—show a sharp decline. The fact is that in 2009 we did not treat these cases in the usual tradition of expelling and stigmatizing. Instead, we showed sensitivity, understanding and moral as well as psychological support. We advised them to sit their exams and sternly cautioned all the other students against any form of discrimination and stigmatization. The question that triggered this was:
“Why haven’t we, as a society, ever expelled or stigmatized the boys or men who usually impregnate these girls? Why should the girls carry the burden of pregnancy alone, while the boy or man with whom they shared the pleasure of pro-creating is allowed to go on with his life totally uninterrupted?”
she is too large
to fit in between the desk —
her distended tummy
Thank God for our Government for endorsing this new policy. The girls can now sit their exams even if they are pregnant!
she tells a female teacher
that she’s older than her —
student mother
Our school also broke the record among community schools in 2009 for allowing two student mothers to study and sit their KCSE exams. The most outstanding was Miss E, who had been forcibly married off at the age of 16, due to poverty in their family. She had with much difficulty given birth to two children by the time we caught up with her in her matrimony. With the help of the authorities, we managed to extricate her from the abusive marriage. She joined our centre in 2007 and successfully sat for her KCSE exams in 2009. She had dropped out in Form 2. She had come to the centre with a broken heart, body and brain, as well as spirit, but she left the centre a healed, pretty girl in specs. She was very close to my wife.
sharing SMSes
from her ex-husband—
student mother
Generally, our students are the most beautiful-looking in the whole slum. With their resplendent uniforms and proud looks and posture, they usually attract so many others to the school. But underneath these beautiful faces and uniforms, are resilient spirits who have fought all forms of social and economic evils: drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, abject poverty, sex abuse and molestation, domestic violence and child labour. The year 2009 was also extraordinary because we had admitted the two students living with HIV/AIDS.
18:10 hours: At the market stall, I struggled undecidedly with Valentine’s cards and gifts to buy for my date. The cards and gifts, although all in red, differed in size, decorations and material and hence the variation in prices. In the background, ballads, vehicle honks and the usual market din and the hawkers’ monotonous sales slogans and stories blared on. I finally settled for a small but cute Valentine’s gift for Miss L. It was a nicely woven traditional basket made from wild date palm reeds. It had a huge fully bloomed red plastic rose at the centre with red ribbons fluttering all around the red rose and the basket. There was a simple love message scribbled on a rectangular paper glued to the side of the basket:
To Someone very SPECIAL,
On this Valentine :
I LOVE YOU!
Thinking of you : Valentine’s chocolates
18:30 Hours: It was getting dark and twilight was fading into night, but colourful lights kept shooting into life from all buildings around, thus brightening the night. Night clubs, pubs and all entertainment joints were Valentine red in lighting and decoration.
I arrived at Miss L’s flat and knocked on the door. It was a high-rise building with several other tenants in it. As I stood outside her door waiting for it to be opened, I noticed that it was smeared with several stickers, all carrying HIV/AIDS messages. But the most outstanding sticker was the one with the President holding hands in a tight circle with people of all ages, classes and religions. And the poignant message on it was:
“Tuungane
Tuangamize
UKIMWI!”
“Let us unite
to eradicate
HIV/AIDS!”
I read this message over and over again as I waited for the door to be opened. Soon there was a click and the door opened. And before me, a beautifully dressed lady in jeans trousers, open shoes and red T-shirt, stood before me in the light-flooded sitting room, smiling sweetly, but her eyes were sad and lonely. That was Miss L. She had done a lot for the community — rescuing girls and women who suffered from HIV/AIDS stigmatization and discrimination. Our school had formed a network with her organization for the same reason; she had been the first girl in this part of Nairobi to publicly declare her HIV status.
I held the gift out to her and watched as pleasant shock and surprise engulfed her; she pouted the surprise. I silenced her with a hearty embrace and two pecks on both cheeks. The light that sparkled in her dark lonely eyes as she whispered:
“Do you mean you love me this much?” made my Valentine.
“Yes,” I said, “You deserve much much more. You have made a difference in so many lives here.” We released each other. “But I’m afraid I won’t stay. I’m taking my wife out to Nyama Villa and we have a family party later to-night.”
“I’m so grateful you thought of me, Pat. You’ve made my Valentine.”
“Don’t mention it”, I said and kissed her Happy Valentine.
Valentine’s date
with a HIV/AIDS person--
the radiance in her eyes
a red night
of eating chicken and dancing jazz —
dating my wife
church flower garden --
two little girls exchanging
red hibiscus flowers
~ Haibun and photo © Patrick Wafula
*****************************
HAIKU
St Valentine’s Day --
today the computer
is my only love
St Valentine’s Day --
all the church finery
for a wedding
St Valentine’s Day --
the church warden mourns
his late wife
Valentine’s Day --
a lovers’ quarrel going
round and round my head
Valentine's Day --
who may be thinking of me
right now?
~ Isabelle Prondzynski
from Japan, with KitKat chocolate
Valentine's Day -
I send you a sweet
postcard
~ Gabi Greve
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Valentine's day --
a girl's red tongue licks
a red ice cream
~ Dennis Wright
red flowers --
the leftovers colour
the market
~ Peninah Wanjiru
Valentine's day --
she covers her neck
with a red scarf
~ Ezekiel Mbira
sudden odour --
I stare at the roses
in the market
~ Meg Ndinda
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A traditional reed basket full of Valentine’s Day gifts
Photo © Patrick Wafula
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Valentine --
a little girl undusts
her fallen flowers
red decorations
on the pear vendor’s wheelbarrow --
Valentine’ Day
youthless church
for the morning service --
Valentine’s Day
~ Hussein Haji
a couple kiss
across the bus station--
Valentine’s day
~ Kelvin Mukoselo
Soweto market --
loudspeakers advertise
Valentine products
Valentine’s morning --
vendors arrange flowers
in the wheelbarrow
Valentine’s day --
a flower hawker whistles
from door to door
~ Caleb Mutua
Valentine’s card --
some sweet melody plays
in the pub
a chocolate pack
in heart-printed wrappers --
Valentine’s gift
Valentine’s Day --
bouquets of red roses
displayed in the shops
~ Gladys Kathini
Valentine's Day --
people in red clothes on their way
carrying flowers
~ Samuel Ndung'u
in a red suit
a man carrying flowers --
language of love
~ Raymond Otieno
stout lady
clutching red roses
clad in red
twenty bob each!
shouts a jovial hawker --
red bouquets
~ Catherine Njeri Maina
people in red
laughing and cheering in the pub --
Valentine’s night
~Walter Otieno
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Teddy bears for a Valentine!
Photo © Patrick Wafula
waiters in red
serving red wine --
Valentine's Day
couples in red
cluster around flower stalls --
red twilight
a couple quarrelling
over Valentine SMSes --
sulky faces
form one students
asking the English teacher --
what is Valentine
Muthurwa --
hawkers of Valentine’s gifts
block the pathways
Luthuli Avenue --
broken roses scattered
at zebra crossings
Valentine’s Eve --
the shoe vendor's stall
gradually turns red
~ Patrick Wafula
*****************************
Related words
***** WKD : Valentine's Day 2012
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
11/06/2010
Poetic Haibun
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Poetic Haibun
*****************************
Explanation
At the Ninth Kukai of the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi, on 30 October 2010 at the Children’s Traffic Park, two members of the “Bamboochas”, the Bahati Haiku Poetry Club, gave a presentation which tried out something new. This presentation consisted of free verse by Beryl Achieng’ lamenting the current building spree and the disregard for nature being subjugated for the sake of new housing, contrasted with haiku observations by James Bundi.
Kukai at the Children’s Traffic Park
Photo © David Kimani Mwangi
We wondered what to call this new form of poetry, and decided on the name “poetic haibun”.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Construction and Development
In the developing times,
trees and natural resources at stake!
Caterpillars and bulldozers at work,
motion day and night to construct
new apartments on the virgin land.
Where is our nature?
cracked tarmac --
the weight of the old
excavator
The dust and ash inhaled
all in the name of money making!
What is the cost of nature
compared to rental expenditure?
We need a change for a living!
yawning --
the dusty air enters
my throat
Dumping sites full of withered flowers,
roots and logs of the uprooted trees.
No beauty, no fresh air,
no shade from trees,
our natural resources at stake!
bare roots --
the withered flower
falls off
We are sorry Mother Nature,
we promise to maintain you
in the best way we can -- even
if it is by writing haiku
to register our complaints.
free verse : Beryl Achieng
haiku : James Bundi
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
We should like to hear your views on this. To me, the free verse reads very Kenyan, very passionate, very committed. The haiku, on the other hand, read like haiku, calm and observant without being judgmental. We may have discovered a very Kenyan form of presenting haiku to an audience!
This is something we shall need to work on, as Kenya Saijiki progresses. Culture, in Kenya, is now written and studied -- but in public fora, it is oral and very popular indeed. If haiku is to win its place in mainstream cultural events in Kenya, it will have to gain an oral form in which it can be presented to a large public audience, where it might be in competition with other performances such as dance, song, drama and long poems. Some form of haibun is most likely to provide the answer.
We shall be interested to read your views.
Congratulations, Beryl and James, for having taken us to new ground in haiku presentation!
Isabelle Prondzynski
.................................................................................
Short biographies
Beryl Achieng’
My name is Beryl Achieng', aged 18 years, born on 29 May 1992. I am the chairperson of the Bamboochas Haiku Club from Bahati Secondary School in Kayole, Nairobi (Kenya). I joined the haiku club in the year 2007, after which our Sensei Mr. Patrick Wafula introduced us to haiku, and he has ever since been guiding us in our writing.
My inspiration for writing haiku comes from nature.
The poem "Construction and Development" was about the current situation in Kenya. It was the result of the current developments that have led to construction of many roads and apartment blocks in our area.
Beryl Achieng’
Photo © Caleb Mutua
. . . . .
James Bundi
My name is James Bundi, the co-ordinator of the Bamboochas Haiku Club of Bahati Secondary School in Kayole. I joined the haiku club in the year 2008. This is due to the fact that it opened a vast field to expose what I think I have in me; being creative and observant.
The latest issue was about Construction and Development. I got a push to write about this issue due to the harm made to flowers and trees in our neighbourhood to pave way for construction of apartments. I shared the idea with Beryl Achieng' who took the task of creating a poem while I wrote the haiku that appeared in between the poem's stanzas.
We did the editing together and this gave rise to the presentation, which became a haibun.
James Bundi
Photo © Caleb Mutua
*****************************
Reactions
May I join Isabelle in her praise of this work of art !
And haiku in combination with other art forms is indeed a great way to voice our complaints!
More of it please !!
Gabi
*****************************
That is a very beautiful and poetic indeed, and what a powerful writing! Poignant and passionate, and simply stunning peace of haikai. Bravo!
Thank you, Gabi san, for sharing this haibun with us.
Origa
http://origa.livejournal.com
*****************************
Indeed, Origa.
And I have to say, that I like the Kenyan way very much. In a similar way Arab do so too, which I like. It is working with striking colours. As a story writer I see a line floating up and down - tension and relaxation.
After passionate text or tension follow haiku helping to unwind and to deepen the prose.
Congratulations!
--Heike
*****************************
Great. Haibun that goes with commitment to a noble cause. good idea.
kenneth daniels (Guyana)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
. Traffic Park Kukai
October 30, 2010
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SOWETO VILLAGE
From the tiny pieces of paper,
to the vegetable peelings
and now a heap of dirt,
filthy and with unpleasant smell.
We need to breathe again!
filthy smell--
the increasing heap of
kitchen dumps
Everywhere we go it's dirt!
Bad smell from burst sewers
is not an exception;
each day a sewer flows
through paths and pavements.
We need to breathe again!
burst sewerage--
stepping on stones to
cross the road
Our environs are insured,
but how is it our health
disintegrates and dissociates?
Mend drainage systems, recycle
and reuse for a healthy life.
We need to breathe again!
whirling wind--
the tree seedlings are covered
by dirty papers
Januaray 2011
Kenya plastic bags on a tree : Environmental awareness at the 2010 Orchid Show, Sarit Centre Nairobi
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski
.................................................................................
. Soweto Stage Market, Nairobi
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
More Poetic Haibun
. DUST! MY NAME. by James Bundi
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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Poetic Haibun
*****************************
Explanation
At the Ninth Kukai of the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi, on 30 October 2010 at the Children’s Traffic Park, two members of the “Bamboochas”, the Bahati Haiku Poetry Club, gave a presentation which tried out something new. This presentation consisted of free verse by Beryl Achieng’ lamenting the current building spree and the disregard for nature being subjugated for the sake of new housing, contrasted with haiku observations by James Bundi.
Kukai at the Children’s Traffic Park
Photo © David Kimani Mwangi
We wondered what to call this new form of poetry, and decided on the name “poetic haibun”.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Construction and Development
In the developing times,
trees and natural resources at stake!
Caterpillars and bulldozers at work,
motion day and night to construct
new apartments on the virgin land.
Where is our nature?
cracked tarmac --
the weight of the old
excavator
The dust and ash inhaled
all in the name of money making!
What is the cost of nature
compared to rental expenditure?
We need a change for a living!
yawning --
the dusty air enters
my throat
Dumping sites full of withered flowers,
roots and logs of the uprooted trees.
No beauty, no fresh air,
no shade from trees,
our natural resources at stake!
bare roots --
the withered flower
falls off
We are sorry Mother Nature,
we promise to maintain you
in the best way we can -- even
if it is by writing haiku
to register our complaints.
free verse : Beryl Achieng
haiku : James Bundi
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
We should like to hear your views on this. To me, the free verse reads very Kenyan, very passionate, very committed. The haiku, on the other hand, read like haiku, calm and observant without being judgmental. We may have discovered a very Kenyan form of presenting haiku to an audience!
This is something we shall need to work on, as Kenya Saijiki progresses. Culture, in Kenya, is now written and studied -- but in public fora, it is oral and very popular indeed. If haiku is to win its place in mainstream cultural events in Kenya, it will have to gain an oral form in which it can be presented to a large public audience, where it might be in competition with other performances such as dance, song, drama and long poems. Some form of haibun is most likely to provide the answer.
We shall be interested to read your views.
Congratulations, Beryl and James, for having taken us to new ground in haiku presentation!
Isabelle Prondzynski
.................................................................................
Short biographies
Beryl Achieng’
My name is Beryl Achieng', aged 18 years, born on 29 May 1992. I am the chairperson of the Bamboochas Haiku Club from Bahati Secondary School in Kayole, Nairobi (Kenya). I joined the haiku club in the year 2007, after which our Sensei Mr. Patrick Wafula introduced us to haiku, and he has ever since been guiding us in our writing.
My inspiration for writing haiku comes from nature.
The poem "Construction and Development" was about the current situation in Kenya. It was the result of the current developments that have led to construction of many roads and apartment blocks in our area.
Beryl Achieng’
Photo © Caleb Mutua
. . . . .
James Bundi
My name is James Bundi, the co-ordinator of the Bamboochas Haiku Club of Bahati Secondary School in Kayole. I joined the haiku club in the year 2008. This is due to the fact that it opened a vast field to expose what I think I have in me; being creative and observant.
The latest issue was about Construction and Development. I got a push to write about this issue due to the harm made to flowers and trees in our neighbourhood to pave way for construction of apartments. I shared the idea with Beryl Achieng' who took the task of creating a poem while I wrote the haiku that appeared in between the poem's stanzas.
We did the editing together and this gave rise to the presentation, which became a haibun.
James Bundi
Photo © Caleb Mutua
*****************************
Reactions
May I join Isabelle in her praise of this work of art !
And haiku in combination with other art forms is indeed a great way to voice our complaints!
More of it please !!
Gabi
*****************************
That is a very beautiful and poetic indeed, and what a powerful writing! Poignant and passionate, and simply stunning peace of haikai. Bravo!
Thank you, Gabi san, for sharing this haibun with us.
Origa
http://origa.livejournal.com
*****************************
Indeed, Origa.
And I have to say, that I like the Kenyan way very much. In a similar way Arab do so too, which I like. It is working with striking colours. As a story writer I see a line floating up and down - tension and relaxation.
After passionate text or tension follow haiku helping to unwind and to deepen the prose.
Congratulations!
--Heike
*****************************
Great. Haibun that goes with commitment to a noble cause. good idea.
kenneth daniels (Guyana)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
. Traffic Park Kukai
October 30, 2010
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SOWETO VILLAGE
From the tiny pieces of paper,
to the vegetable peelings
and now a heap of dirt,
filthy and with unpleasant smell.
We need to breathe again!
filthy smell--
the increasing heap of
kitchen dumps
Everywhere we go it's dirt!
Bad smell from burst sewers
is not an exception;
each day a sewer flows
through paths and pavements.
We need to breathe again!
burst sewerage--
stepping on stones to
cross the road
Our environs are insured,
but how is it our health
disintegrates and dissociates?
Mend drainage systems, recycle
and reuse for a healthy life.
We need to breathe again!
whirling wind--
the tree seedlings are covered
by dirty papers
Januaray 2011
Kenya plastic bags on a tree : Environmental awareness at the 2010 Orchid Show, Sarit Centre Nairobi
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski
.................................................................................
. Soweto Stage Market, Nairobi
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
More Poetic Haibun
. DUST! MY NAME. by James Bundi
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
9/09/2010
Nairobi City
[ . BACK to worldkigo TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Nairobi City
***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Earth
*****************************
Explanation
Nairobi
is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi Province. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters".
However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is surrounded by several expanding villa suburbs.
Founded in 1899 as a simple rail depot on the railway linking Mombasa to Uganda, the town quickly grew to become the capital of British East Africa in 1907 and eventually the capital of a free Kenyan republic in 1963. During Kenya's colonial period, the city became a centre for the colony's coffee, tea and sisal industry.
Nairobi is also the capital of the Nairobi Province and of the Nairobi District. The city lies on the Nairobi River, in the south of the nation, and has an elevation of 1795 m above sea-level.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
From the Kenya Saijiki
***** . Nairobi Bomb Day (8 August 1998)
***** . Nairobi International Trade Fair
***** Jeevanjee Gardens and Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee
***** . Kayole and Patanisho
***** . Marikiti Market
Wakulima Market (Farmers' Market)
***** . Mkokoteni hand cart .
***** . Hamza terminus
***** . Langata cemetery
***** . Nairobi Animal Orphanage
*****************************
Worldwide use
*****************************
Things found on the way
Kibera
Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and a province and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa.
The neighbourhood is divided into a number of villages, including Kianda, Soweto East, Gatwekera, Kisumu Ndogo, Lindi, Laini Saba, Siranga, Makina and Mashimoni. Conditions in Kibera are extremely poor, and most of its residents lack access to basic services, including electricity and running water.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !
*****************************
HAIKU
Haiku from Patrick Wafula
Wakulima Market--
soiled porters offload mangoes
from lorries
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
.................................................................................
muddy pick-up trucks
queue to offload tomatoes--
Soweto Market
Soweto stage market --
women buy cabbages
vyondos are full
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
.................................................................................
even beggars
line up mangoes for sale--
Haile Selassie Avenue
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
.................................................................................
truants swimming
in a seasonal lake--
Jogoo Road
traffic lights
on Jogoo Road--
smell of hot tires
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
.................................................................................
Last week, some bulldozers and caterpillars cut down all the grevillea tress along Landhies Road in order to expand the road. My goodness, how naked or can I say bare, the road is now! Isabelle Sensei, you will never those beautiful trees again, they are gone forever.
saw-dust scented
air on Landhies road--
fallen grevilleas
a bulldozer bites log
after log to load the lorries--
sliced grevillea
Muthurwa food vendors
filling sacks with saw dust--
whirring power saw
The Muthurwa food vendors are collecting the saw dust to use it as fuel for cooking food on their braziers.
September 22, 2010
. . . CLICK here for Photos of grevillea flowers !
. . . CLICK here for Photos of the Muthurwa district !
. Landhies Road haiku
by Andrew Otinga
.................................................................................
Photo by Patrick Wafula
bare jacaranda branches
adorned in purple blossoms--
Moi Avenue
... CLICK HERE
for more photos of Moi Avenue from Patrick
.................................................................................
Patrick on January 2011, coming back from a trip
Nairobi sunset—
an orange sun sitting
on the Ngong Hills
Nairobi sunset—
flying crows littering
the orange dusk sky
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Doonholm road-
my tall shadow cast on
rusty mabati
Andrew Otinga
. . . CLICK here for Photos ! Donholm Nairobi
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Soweto market--
loud speakers advetise
Valentine products
Valentine morning--
vendors arrange flowers
in the wheelbarrow
Valentine day--
flower's hawker whistles
from door to door
Caleb Mutua, Kenya
Kenya Saijiki Forum February 2010
Muthurwa Market--
school girls gather around
success card vendors
Muthurwa Market--
the cabbage vendor juggles
a big one
Caleb Mutua, Kenya
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
soweto stage --
muddy water stuck on
displayed potatoes
muthurwa market --
a boy struggles to pull
a cart from mud
Sibiko Yamame Winslause
. . . CLICK here for Muthurwa Market Photos !
Soweto stage--
she slices pineaples
into a white bowl
Andrew Otinga
September 2010
Soweto market-
greenish mould sprouts over
a decayed tomato
Asava Kelvin
Soweto market-
a naked madman eats
a rotten watermelon
muthoki
September 2010
. SOWETO VILLAGE - poetic haibun
free verse : Beryl Achieng
haiku : James Bundi
. . . . .
Soweto market--
she sprinkles water
on withered vegetable
Douglas Nugi
July 2011
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
an old man
repairs an old bicycle
along thika road
Antony Njoroge
The expansion of Thika Road, a ten lane highway, considered the busiest highway in East Africa.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
. . . . .
Thika highway--
a boda boda motorbike
hit a truck
Thika highway--
the late schoolgirls are stuck
on the other side
Barrack Elungata
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Tom Mboya street--
city council officers chase
the mango hawkers
Caleb Mutua
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Muthurwa terminus--
a new peddler hawks
boiled maize
hussein haji
Muthurwa bus terminal
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
sunny afternoon -
a coiled spider web sparkles
on a Kayaba fence
Sibiko Yamame Winslause
. . . CLICK here for Kayaba Photos !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
At Masimba I witnessed a thief who had stolen a mobile phone and he was in the hands ofthe public:
Masimba stage-
blood stuck on the
stumbled blocks
Masimba stage-
blood trickling on his
left shoulder
Sibiko Yamame Winslause
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Machakos Country Bus Station
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Machakos terminus-
a short man advertising his
herbal merchandise
Andrew Otinga
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Donholm road-
my tall shadow cast on
rusty mabati
Andrew Otinga
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
. Uhuru Park .
and a concert by Ricardo Muti
July 9, 2011
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
the muddy path
coloured with flowers...
Kawangare
Anthony Njoroge
. . . CLICK here for Photos : Kawangware Slums!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
. Ngong Road
*****************************
Related words
Life in Nairobi
. . . Weekly collection of Caleb . . .
Place Names used in Haiku
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Urban Haiku - Worldwide
BACK to the TOP of this BLOG
BACK to the Worldkigo ABC Index
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Nairobi City
***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Earth
*****************************
Explanation
Nairobi
is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi Province. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters".
However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is surrounded by several expanding villa suburbs.
Founded in 1899 as a simple rail depot on the railway linking Mombasa to Uganda, the town quickly grew to become the capital of British East Africa in 1907 and eventually the capital of a free Kenyan republic in 1963. During Kenya's colonial period, the city became a centre for the colony's coffee, tea and sisal industry.
Nairobi is also the capital of the Nairobi Province and of the Nairobi District. The city lies on the Nairobi River, in the south of the nation, and has an elevation of 1795 m above sea-level.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
From the Kenya Saijiki
***** . Nairobi Bomb Day (8 August 1998)
***** . Nairobi International Trade Fair
***** Jeevanjee Gardens and Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee
***** . Kayole and Patanisho
***** . Marikiti Market
Wakulima Market (Farmers' Market)
***** . Mkokoteni hand cart .
***** . Hamza terminus
***** . Langata cemetery
***** . Nairobi Animal Orphanage
*****************************
Worldwide use
*****************************
Things found on the way
Kibera
Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and a province and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa.
The neighbourhood is divided into a number of villages, including Kianda, Soweto East, Gatwekera, Kisumu Ndogo, Lindi, Laini Saba, Siranga, Makina and Mashimoni. Conditions in Kibera are extremely poor, and most of its residents lack access to basic services, including electricity and running water.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !
*****************************
HAIKU
Haiku from Patrick Wafula
Wakulima Market--
soiled porters offload mangoes
from lorries
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
.................................................................................
muddy pick-up trucks
queue to offload tomatoes--
Soweto Market
Soweto stage market --
women buy cabbages
vyondos are full
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
.................................................................................
even beggars
line up mangoes for sale--
Haile Selassie Avenue
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
.................................................................................
truants swimming
in a seasonal lake--
Jogoo Road
traffic lights
on Jogoo Road--
smell of hot tires
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
.................................................................................
Last week, some bulldozers and caterpillars cut down all the grevillea tress along Landhies Road in order to expand the road. My goodness, how naked or can I say bare, the road is now! Isabelle Sensei, you will never those beautiful trees again, they are gone forever.
saw-dust scented
air on Landhies road--
fallen grevilleas
a bulldozer bites log
after log to load the lorries--
sliced grevillea
Muthurwa food vendors
filling sacks with saw dust--
whirring power saw
The Muthurwa food vendors are collecting the saw dust to use it as fuel for cooking food on their braziers.
September 22, 2010
. . . CLICK here for Photos of grevillea flowers !
. . . CLICK here for Photos of the Muthurwa district !
. Landhies Road haiku
by Andrew Otinga
.................................................................................
Photo by Patrick Wafula
bare jacaranda branches
adorned in purple blossoms--
Moi Avenue
... CLICK HERE
for more photos of Moi Avenue from Patrick
.................................................................................
Patrick on January 2011, coming back from a trip
Nairobi sunset—
an orange sun sitting
on the Ngong Hills
Nairobi sunset—
flying crows littering
the orange dusk sky
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Doonholm road-
my tall shadow cast on
rusty mabati
Andrew Otinga
. . . CLICK here for Photos ! Donholm Nairobi
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Soweto market--
loud speakers advetise
Valentine products
Valentine morning--
vendors arrange flowers
in the wheelbarrow
Valentine day--
flower's hawker whistles
from door to door
Caleb Mutua, Kenya
Kenya Saijiki Forum February 2010
Muthurwa Market--
school girls gather around
success card vendors
Muthurwa Market--
the cabbage vendor juggles
a big one
Caleb Mutua, Kenya
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
soweto stage --
muddy water stuck on
displayed potatoes
muthurwa market --
a boy struggles to pull
a cart from mud
Sibiko Yamame Winslause
. . . CLICK here for Muthurwa Market Photos !
Soweto stage--
she slices pineaples
into a white bowl
Andrew Otinga
September 2010
Soweto market-
greenish mould sprouts over
a decayed tomato
Asava Kelvin
Soweto market-
a naked madman eats
a rotten watermelon
muthoki
September 2010
. SOWETO VILLAGE - poetic haibun
free verse : Beryl Achieng
haiku : James Bundi
. . . . .
Soweto market--
she sprinkles water
on withered vegetable
Douglas Nugi
July 2011
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
an old man
repairs an old bicycle
along thika road
Antony Njoroge
The expansion of Thika Road, a ten lane highway, considered the busiest highway in East Africa.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
. . . . .
Thika highway--
a boda boda motorbike
hit a truck
Thika highway--
the late schoolgirls are stuck
on the other side
Barrack Elungata
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Tom Mboya street--
city council officers chase
the mango hawkers
Caleb Mutua
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Muthurwa terminus--
a new peddler hawks
boiled maize
hussein haji
Muthurwa bus terminal
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
sunny afternoon -
a coiled spider web sparkles
on a Kayaba fence
Sibiko Yamame Winslause
. . . CLICK here for Kayaba Photos !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
At Masimba I witnessed a thief who had stolen a mobile phone and he was in the hands ofthe public:
Masimba stage-
blood stuck on the
stumbled blocks
Masimba stage-
blood trickling on his
left shoulder
Sibiko Yamame Winslause
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Machakos Country Bus Station
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Machakos terminus-
a short man advertising his
herbal merchandise
Andrew Otinga
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Donholm road-
my tall shadow cast on
rusty mabati
Andrew Otinga
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
. Uhuru Park .
and a concert by Ricardo Muti
July 9, 2011
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
the muddy path
coloured with flowers...
Kawangare
Anthony Njoroge
. . . CLICK here for Photos : Kawangware Slums!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
. Ngong Road
*****************************
Related words
Life in Nairobi
. . . Weekly collection of Caleb . . .
Place Names used in Haiku
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Urban Haiku - Worldwide
BACK to the TOP of this BLOG
BACK to the Worldkigo ABC Index
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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