Patrick Wafula

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Patrick Wafula

Patrick Wafula helps establish the various haiku clubs in Nairobi.
Patrick Sensei, thank you !

BAHATI Haiku Club, Kenya
PEACOCK Haiku Club, Kenya
SPIDER Haiku Club, Kenya

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

Patrick Wafula's Bizzare Tales
"I love teaching children and writing stories for them. I also enjoy writing stories for the youth and adult. "

Read these fascinating tales online
http://bizzaretales.blogspot.com/


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HAIKU by Patrick Wafula

RONALD NGALA STREET, Nairobi



hooting matatus
dashing pedestrians
restlessness

March 2006

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Bourgainvillea



flowers blossom again-
bougainvillea
blooms pink

Dedicated to Madame Gabi and Madam Isabelle

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The Long Rain, April 2006



it is green all over-
farmers stoop on their farms
all morning


green fields
the green grasshopper
is back

Soweto stage market
women buy cabbages
vyondos are full

muddy shoes
muddy classrooms
students mop classrooms

muddy shoes
a queue at the shoeshine
muddy door mats

flooded Nairobi River
a drowned corpse
people mourn

muddy vehicles
queues at car wash
towing services busy

muddy roads
matatus are stuck
pensive faces

muddy shoes
muddy offices
cleaners stoop all day

green meadow
a hare eats grass leisurely
a browsing antelope

amarantus sprout again
women no longer buy veges
vegetable prices fall

flooded farms
soil erosion all over
a farmer builds gabbions

Makini School Bus stuck
pupils are late
worried faces

evening rain
rush hour in Nairobi
fare goes up

midday rain
she covers her head hair with juala
unhappy women

balmy morning
a robin leaps in the garden
dew on roses

frogs emerge-
termites flying
in the drizzle

Lake Victoria is flooded-
ngege is back
on our tables

...........................ngege: type of fish


the yellow butterfly-
hovering over
trees and flowers

farmers weed-
the wandering jew
sprouts again

rabits feed-
macdonald's eye
sprout again

farmers weed-
datura strumonium
sprouts again

cattle grow fat-
nappier grass grows
from the earth

flooded houses in Soweto-
a woman drains water
from her house

acacia leaves sprout-
students seat under
its shelter

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Soweto Stage Market, April 2006



at Soweto Stage Market-
women buy cabbages
vyondos are full

*vyondos* are kikuyu traditional baskest made of sisal and polythane papers.





at Soweto Stage Market-
Sowetans buy fresh tomatoes
to prepare lunch





mangoes are back-
hawkers push wheelbarrows
selling mangoes

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World Cup haiku, June 2006

men without tv sets
go out to watch world cup---
lonely wives at home

tv sets are bought from
electronics shops at Luthuli--
smiling Asians

two form one boys fight
over Ronaldihno's photo
the cane cracks

world cup has done it---
Erick Okello is absent
from school today

two form two boys
quarrel over Thiery's photo
noise in class

on Luthuli street---
a man carries a new huge
television set

excited fans mill
in the electronics shops--
televisions are bought

Germany beats Sweden--
pandemonium in Stuttgart
and bottles on the streets

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cold dawn
sleepy Soweto shrouded
in grey mist

March 2009


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Related words

***** Literature of Kenya


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Oranges

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Oranges and Mandarin Oranges

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

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Explanation

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Citrus sinensis -- Orange tree

Exotic, native to southern China, Vietnam

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

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

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

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


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Worldwide use


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

orange blossoms are around in February.


evening stroll
the scent of orange trees
lingering

Judith Gorgone
WKD Facebook, November 2009


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Japan


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



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


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

A cold drink, usually with ice cubes.

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Turkey

kigo for winter

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


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Things found on the way

Kenya

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

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


Bahati Secondary School students in a drama performance

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

Text and photo : Isabelle Prondzynski

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HAIKU

sunrise
in the orange grove --
heart singing in prayer

Isabelle Prondzynski

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mummy and daddy
sucking fresh orange juice
sharing a happy moment

Susan Wangui (Bamboocha)


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

Cyprian Awino (Bamboocha)


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

Solomon (Falcon)


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

Beatrice (Falcon)


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

Catherine Njeri (Bamboochas)


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

Hisseini Haji (Peacock)


jovial faces
sticky fingers and mouths --
orange snacks

Beth Mwangi (Peacock)


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

Anne Nechesa (Patron, Peacocks)


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

Patrick Wafula (Patron, Bamboochas)


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

Anthony Njoroge


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

Agnes Adhiambo (Peacock)


Soweto market-
a big orange attracts me
to the stall

Brian Mulando in August 2012


More ORANGES HAIKU from Kenya are here !

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tiny sour oranges--
a kabuki actor
with bleached hair

© Fay Aoyagi - Roadrunner Magazine

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winter picnic
another orange peel
hits the compost

oranges and sunshine
he runs his bare toes
through the grass

orange alert
children surround the bowl
of tangerines

Copyright © 2000-2005 by Heather Madrone .

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Related words

***** Mandarin Oranges, mikan　みかん、蜜柑

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


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

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


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

Click HERE for some photos


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Mud (matope)

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Mud (Swahili : matope)

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

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Explanation

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Isabelle Prondzynski

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. MORE PHOTOS
by Caleb David Mutua 　





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

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

© Flemming Bo Jensen

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


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

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


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Worldwide use

Japan

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


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

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


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

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

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

Quoted from
Secret Buddha Statues
by Gabi Greve






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

sleet in autumn -
born as a mud doll
this mud

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

Other translation versions are possible.
reference


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

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


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

mud smeared bodies
welcome the dawn
jouvert

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

Gillena Cox

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

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

~ Isabelle Prondzynski

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

monsoon …
rising from the mud
a buffalo's horns

~ Ella Wagemakers


rainy season –
a muddied welcome
on the doormat

~ max verhart


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

~ Kala Ramesh


ground-breaking
the politician poses
with a shovelful of mud

~ ed markowski


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

James Omwimwa (Peacock Haiku Poetry Club, Kenya)


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

Caleb Mutua (Peacock Haiku Poetry Club, Kenya)

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Soweto streets --
my feet slide
in mud

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

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

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

Caleb Mutua
December 2010


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February 2011

. Mud Haiku .
Sibiko Yamame


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

heavy downpour--
a termite sticks on
the muddy floor

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

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

James Bundi

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sunset —
a farmer scraps mud
from his hoe

Victor Obutho

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raising mud
to the pond's surface
a spring toad

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

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どろ人形にはお父さんもお母さんもいない 僕が育ててあげよう



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

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

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

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

Patrick Wafula
November 2012


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Related words


***** Brickmaking
non-seasonal haiku topic

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

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

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

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***** Dry mud
beginning of dry season

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

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

~Raymond Otieno 　 　　　


© Photo Isabelle Prondzynski


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

Catherine Njeri Maina


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


MORE
- Catherine in Murang'a


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

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

a young Bukusu
circumcisee smeared with mud --
circumcision rite

Text and haiku : Patrick Wafula, 2006

Bukusu Culture, Babukusu People Kenya Saijiki



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Meeting November 2006

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Meeting of the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi
November 2006

Objective

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

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


Photo : Patrick Wafula

Background

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

Patrons’ meeting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Haiku Clubs’ arrival

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

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

haiku members
smiling at each other --
meeting up again

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

Tujisaidie Community --
full of haiku fans
enjoying music

Oscar is very
happy because of the
reggae music


Photo : Isabelle Prondzynski

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

welcoming focus
talking as they share jokes
ready to begin

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

Peacocks winning
all the top prizes --
haiku meeting

is this haiku?
why not?
syllables uncountable

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

students listening
Madame Isabella speaking
everyone clapping

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

Computing meeting

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

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

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

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


Photo : Patrick Wafula

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

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

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

Haiku meeting

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

How many syllables, and how to count them?

Can one write about dreams?

How about newspaper or television reports?

What are the kigo of the current season?

Can one write about other seasons?

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

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

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Photo : Isabelle Prondzynski

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

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

Isabelle Prondzynski, November 2006

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A thank-you message to Kenya Saijiki in the evening

Dear Gabi, dear Patrons, dear teachers and haijin,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Agnes Adhiambo (Peacock)


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

David Caleb Mutua (Peacock)


children chasing
running everywhere in mud --
looking dirty

Anonymous


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

Paul Brown


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

Raymond Otieno (Bamboocha)


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

Anonymous (Falcon)

Greetings to you all, and profound thanks,

Isabelle.


Feed-back from the Director of WHC Worldkigo

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

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

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


Feed-back from India and the USA

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Congratulations to all involved, including you!

Well done!
Isabelle.

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Related words

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


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Maize, Green Maize

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Green Maize

***** Location: Kenya and neighbouring countries
***** Season: Cool dry season, hot dry season
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Maize harvested before it is quite ripe, while it is still fairly soft, is called Green Maize. This food is greatly enjoyed, as it is the first output of the staple grain during the season, and it can sometimes be the first harvested food after a period of hunger, even famine.

The maize cobs are sold in street markets, still covered by their inner leaves. They may also be sold freshly boiled or grilled, for immediate consumption on the spot.

Green maize is particularly appreciated for making soft mûkimû or gîtheri suitable for elderly people who may have lost some of their teeth. However, it is not suited for storage -- which means that the maize eaten for most of the year consists of the ripe grains, decobbed, sundried and stored in a safe place until needed.

The main page for maize, covering further maize related kigo in Kenya, may be found here :
Maize / Corn

Isabelle Prondzynski.

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Here is a delicious plate of gîtheri -- enjoy!


http://img1.travelblog.org/Photos/12529/67575/f/405255-githeri--my-favourite-food-0.jpg

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Worldwide use

The Kenyan Green Maize is equivalent to the yellow maize eaten as sweetcorn or corn on the cob in many other countries. The main difference is the maize variety -- Kenya maize being white rather than yellow, and therefore less sweet and more savoury in flavour.

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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

fresh grain of maize
on the dry Kayole street --
sharp eyes of the hen

~ Isabelle Prondzynski

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From Bahati Haiku Poetry Club (The Bamboochas) :

a swarm of houseflies
on cobs and leftovers--
green maize

~ David Wandera

蝿の群れ 青唐黍の 屑の上
hae no mure ao tookibi no kuzu no ue
Translation by Nakamura Sakuo


boiled maize --
jaws move up and down
chewing hard

~ Depporah Mocheche


a man
with his customer by his side
roasting maize

~ Walter Ochola


Green maize roaster, January 2005
Photo : Isabelle Prondzynski


at Soweto Market--
men unloading maize
from a blue lorry

~ Raymond Otieno

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at the fireside --
happy kids telling stories
as they roast maize

~ Kevin Safari

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early morning
kids chase weaverbirds
from their green maize

~ Patrick Wafula

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From Falcons Haiku Poetry Club (Lorna Waddington) :

maize in the garden
standing still on the farm
Kadima enjoys the taste

~ Susan


elephants enjoying
the villagers chasing them
beating drums

~ Simon


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warm steam from
the boiled maize sufuria--
evening showers

Hussein Haji


Sufuria cooking pot


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Related words

***** Maize / Corn as a kigo


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LORNA Haiku Club

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The FALCONS Haiku Club


The Lorna Waddington High School Haiku Club!

LORNA Haiku Club Records

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KIGO: THE LONG RAIN SEASON

A student-
Walking down a Soweto Street
His shoes squelching in mud

Outside our house-
Chicken peck grasshoppers
In the green grass

The white pelicans
Striding among cattle
In green pastures yonder

At Marikiti-
Trucks loaded with mangoes
Queue to offload

In the village-
Outside our mud house
Children play mtereso

*mtereso* a children’s game of sliding over mud.





At Soweto Market-
Crowds mill around
Buying fruits and veges

*veges* short for vegetables





A woman-
Looking very happy
Bites a juicy pear




Happy-looking women
Selling fresh pears
In market stalls



Happy-looking farmers
Delivering milk at KCC
Money is not a problem

*KCC* Kenya Co-operative Creameries.



Pastoralists smile-
Green pastures all over
Their livestock increase

Soiled farmers-
Planting maize and beans
Tired faces

A dark carpet
Covering the sky all day
Umbrellas vanish from shops

Happy-looking shopkeepers
Umbrellas and omo
Disappear from shops

*omo* A detergent.

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Collection from July 2006

in their torn shoes
the people walk chock chock--
rainfall
Catherine Muhonja


roads get flooded
and cars get stuck---
rainfall
Paul Musyoka


a vehicle is stuck
on the muddy Soweto road--
rainfall
Susan Wajau


a dashing car splashes
water on a lady in white
along the road
Rose Wanjiru Maina


helpless ants
struggling in a puddle--
rainfall
Joshua Luvinzu


rainy season
brings stagnant water---
mosquitoes buzz around
Kadima Zipporah


Kayole River--
flows in its curvy way
taking garbage away
Lilian Kiyaka


the rain falls--
Nairobi hawkers
have no job
Everlyne Ngang'a


a lot of mosquitoes
spreading malaria--
the rain
Ouko Hellen


mosquitoes multiply
and people rush for nets--
rainfall
Boniface Mutua


my child is drowning--
a woman screams loudly
from the riverbank
Domitillar Mutheu


Gikomba Market
is flooded and muddy--
hawkers hold their goods
Indombo Carolyne


flooded markets--
and hawkers carry
goods in hand
Ashraf Baraza


muddy Soweto streets--
villagers wearing boots
walk up and down
Jacklyne Aoko


cars dashing
on busy Valley Road
splash water on people
Erastus Mella


Baba Shiro is confounded
as his car is stuck in quagmire--
Shiro is sleepless
Patrick Gakuo

Note : Baba Shiro : Shiro's father


Wanjiku struggles
to trap water from their roof--
raining in Soweto
Hudson Mukanzi

Note : Wanjiku is a woman's name. Wanjiku also represents THE ordinary Kenyan citizen


muddy splashes
on people's clothes--
much washing
Mary Nabwire


moving cars
splash water on the road--
fuming pedestrians
Seline Aluoch


a frog jumping
across my feet as I draw
water from the river
Rebecca Akinyi


clouds become darker
and a spattering on the roofs--
the rainbow
Victor Amboko


shoes become
too heavy to lift--
rainfall in Soweto
Lilian Awino


a drunkard drowns
in flooded Kayole River--
burial rites
Billy Omalla


children slip and fall
mothers have plenty to wash--
omo
Irene Adisa


a black ant
drowned in a puddle--
this rain
Hillary Mbiti


a crawling baby
splashes her hand in a puddle--
mother concerned
Risper Kwamboka


children play in puddles
dirtifying themselves--
screaming mothers
Beatrice Anyango


a throng of children--
watching a chick drowned
in a puddle
Kamau M. Mathew


stagnant water--
frogs crock korrr korrr
all night
Johnson Mwangi


the rain causes
our vehicle to get stuck--
my mother is angry
Nyambura Serah


lightning strikes
as the silvery drops fall--
John caries his umbrella
Timothy


umbrella over my head
as I go to the market--
this rain
Timothy


a black ant--
drowned in water
in a basin
Beatrice Wangari


Muli's house is flooded
as it rains in Soweto--
shouts of help
Ian Kamau


my feet slide
in mud on Soweto streets--
rain
John Mutahi

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Meeting of the Haiku Clubs of Nairobi
November 2006

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Related words

***** Bahati Haiku Club, Nairobi


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Form One Entrants

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Form One entrants and monolisation

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Hot dry season
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

The Kenyan school year starts in January. New students entering Form One of secondary school (usually aged 14 or over), register in January and start classes at the beginning of February.

This is a very big step for a Kenyan student. Form One entry, in modern Kenya, functions as the equivalent of circumcision, i.e. entry into adulthood. People may or may not practice circumcision or other rites of passage -- either way, initial research has found that the transition between primary school and secondary school has come to resemble these older practices. This is expressed by massive parties (so-called “bashes”) held by the youth, largely without adult supervision, as well as by the short-term victimisation (so-called “monolisation”) of the new Form One students by their predecessors. Sometimes, things can go wrong (see article below).

The end of primary school is achieved by a national examination, the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). Only about 50 percent of students passing this examination find places in secondary schools -- the other 50 percent dropping out either because they have not achieved the necessary points for the limited number of places, or because they cannot raise the necessary fees.

While primary education (eight years, from age 6 to age 14 or over) is now free of charge in Kenya, secondary education is subsidised but fee-paying. Many bright students, who cannot find a scholarship or a sponsor, drop out at this stage, even though they might have had the points to enter a recognised secondary school.

Bahati High School, in Kayole, Nairobi, being run by volunteers, is able to provide education at low cost, and can therefore offer places to the children of the community without being selective as regards points. This school started the Bamboochas Haiku Poetry Club at the start of 2006. Now, one year later, is the first time that the Bamboochas have welcomed new Form One entrants.

This coincides with the exciting moment when the school is building a corrugated iron laboratory as its contribution to recognition as an exam centre for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) from the end of 2007.

Secondary school involves many changes for the new entrants. The style of the uniform changes (dresses are replaced by skirts, shorts by trousers, checked cloth is out while plain colours are in, both girls and boys wear ties), many new subjects appear (history, geography, the sciences), English becomes the language of instruction for all, and this may be the first time that the students meet classmates from other parts of the country, speaking a different mother tongue.

All the haiku collected below were written by the Form One entrants themselves -- brand new haijin. They convey the atmosphere so well -- please enjoy reading their work!


Bahati High School

Text and photo : © Isabelle Prondzynski

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School where boys have to be 'men'
Daily Nation, 15 February 2007
By: PATRICK MUTHURI and MUCHEMI WACHIRA

The excitement that comes with joining Form One was evident on the faces of the young students as they were guided by their parents through the gates of Kiriani Boys Secondary School in Meru South District last week. They were excited to be joining secondary school and many of the parents had toiled hard to meet the many expenses that come with sending children to high school.

The usual words of advise for the students to take their studies seriously could be heard as the parents bid their children goodbye and left them behind.

But 25 of the parents could not believe their eyes when three days later, their children arrived home, carrying all their belongings and a letter from the principal, Mr Ngaruthi Kithinji, saying they could not be allowed in the school because they were not circumcised. They were lost for words.

Even if they were to take their sons to be circumcised, it would take no less than a month for them to heal enough to resume studies. Meanwhile, other students would be going on with learning.

But Mr Kithinji said the presence of the uncircumcised boys in the school could lead to unrest. "There was a lot of screaming and disturbances when your son was discovered to be the way he is. Just like you cannot keep your elder son who is uncircumcised in the same room with your younger son, this also applies in the dorms," Mr Kithinji said. He told the parents of the affected children to have them circumcised in two weeks and take them back to school when they get well.

The parents are now appealing to the Government to intervene.

Trouble started on their first night in school. The older boys ordered the newcomers to strip naked so that they could be inspected. Those who were not circumcised spent the whole night going through all manner of torture and insults. Says one of the boys: "The first night was very bad. We were never given a chance to rest or sleep even after the long journey. They started shouting and asking us silly questions like are you a man or a woman?"

The following day, they reported the matter to the principal, who instead of assisting them, sent them home.

The Meru South district commissioner, Mr William Kiprono, ordered the immediate reinstatement of the students, saying it was wrong to take such a discriminative action. "Circumcision is a cultural thing not accepted in some societies. It's wrong to chase students from a public school because it is not government policy," said Mr Kiprono, while apologising to the students and their parents. "The bullies were the ones to be sent off and not the other way round," he said.

But even as Education minister George Saitoti was condemning the action by the headteacher, the students demonstrated in his support yesterday afternoon.
... //www.nationmedia.com/

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

By Patrick Wafula
Patron of the Bamboocha Haiku Club, Bahati High School

The New Bamboochas, who number about 40, have been taking their first lesson in haiku this week. First, it was Form One West, then Form One East. On Ash Wednesday (21 February 2007), I spent the lunch hour with Form One West, giving them their first haiku lesson. It was a great joy and experience. We wrote the first haiku together as a class; the rest were written individually.

Form One East took their lesson three days later. The new haijin have been writing about the new school year and their experiences in Bahati High School. They are such a bundle of joy! Some of their experiences are hilarious, others are pitious, but each of these experiences are true.

Fasting and Prayer day (Wednesday 21/02/07)

The Form One West had their first prayer and fasting experience and they wrote about it in their very first haiku the next day :

Mr. Wafula
taking photos of
the new lab

in the school kitchen --
Sharon happily biting
a huge chapati

from the kitchen,
delicious scent of chapati --
a rumbling stomach

a student
giving a testimony...
hymns are sung

Mr. Wafula
praying for sponsorships...
moment of silence

Mr. Wafula
taking photos --
students praying

~ Class


Patrick Wafula Sensei with his camera
Photo (c) Isabelle Prondzynski


in the kitchen --
people eat chapati
revenging for Wed

~ Timothy Wambugu

(On Thursday, students were eating chapati to compensate for what they missed to eat the previous day during the fasting and prayer)


first year in Bahati
prayers and fasting --
my grumbling stomach

~ Josephat Mwangi

students making noise --
their cries as Mr. Macharia
beats them

students dozing
during History lesson --
the teacher's shouts

~ Steven Nzomo


a teacher with a sad face
going back to the staffroom...
what stupid students

~ Shadrack Masai Mwengi

in the sitting room --
we happily take breakfast
with my family

~ Mercy Karanin

Mr. Ogembo writing
on the blackboard --
students laughing

last lesson to lunch...
bored students wait to go
for lunch

students laugh
as Mr. Ogembo says gaii...
geography lesson

~ Samuel Ndung'u

Mr. Macharia in class...
students sleeping on the desk
and they get strokes

~ Gerald Kariuki

students rejoice
around the new laboratory --
praise for Isabelle

~ Caren Cheptoo

students laugh
and cheer up --
last lesson to break

~ Vivian Adhiambo

in class
Beatrice cries like a baby --
corporal punishment

~ Jonah Kamande


at the school kitchen
people carry plates and spoons --
chapati in hand

at home --
my brother happily runs
to me for a kiss

at the shop --
a long queue of people
waiting to buy goods

everybody quietly settled,
writing and reading stories --
library lesson

~ Anne Wairimu


Constructing the new laboratory
Photo (c) Patrick Wafula



NEW SCHOOL YEAR HAIKU (Form One East)

new different
school rules…
Discipline Prefects

smell of my
new school ID…
smell of sewage

~ Christine Minae

first time
to wear trousers…
my new uniform

in the school kitchen,
big transparent chapatis…
smell of food

~ Peter Mwangi

new school lab --
teacher lights the Bunsen burner,
for students doing experiments

many students
of different tribes --
Bahati High School

many rules to keep --
if you break one,
punishment

~ Dorothy Nthenya


first day
in Bahati High School --
different daily menu

meeting
and making new friends…
first day in Bahati

~ Brian Mwangi


school kitchen --
much tasteless
rice

first day in Bahati --
smell of new
textbooks

first time
to wear a tie --
Bahati High

~ Rose Mwikali


many tribes of students --
my first day in
Bahati High School

first time to
own school ID --
Bahati High school

first time
to meet Discipline Prefects …
Bahati High School

in the lab,
Rose holding a gas jar …
first Chemistry Lesson

~ Eunice Mwema


first time in school kitchen --
many students enjoying
different menu

first day in Bahati --
many new classrooms
with different arrangements

first day in Bahati --
students in the lab,
smell of chemicals

~ Truphosah .I. Osendi

many different subjects…
first time in Bahati
High School

many new students
confused like lost
sheep in a forest

greedy Form Four
students in the kitchen --
first day in High School

~ Michael Bwoga

confused like a maggot
in a demolished toilet --
first day in High School

~ Sheillah Shikawa

many tribes of students --
communication problems
between Luo, Kikuyu, Kamba and Luhya

~ Rhodah Ndindah

smell of my
new uniforms --
first day in Form One

first day
in High School --
meeting different tribes

in Bahati School,
talking nicely to students --
Discipline Prefects

seventh week
in Bahati School --
new lab built

first time
to carry student ID --
Bahati School

~ Maxiwell Omondi

black water
flowing down along Soweto --
smell of sewage

many new faces,
different languages --
first time at Bahati

many new
scaring subjects --
biology, geography

~ Catherine Wanjiku


hardworking teachers,
teaching all the subjects --
students nodding

~ Jane Mumbua

students struggle
to keep school rules --
speaking English all the time

~ Nelius Muthoni

time keeper
ringing the bell --
lesson after lesson

~ Alice Wambui

ndengu and chapati,
ndengu and chapati for lunch --
rumble of my stomach

first time
to see black water --
sewage river

~ Patrick

time keeper
ringing the bell --
change of lessons

in our class,
calculations --
first Maths lesson

first time to see
scientific calculator --
first Math lesson

Discipline Prefects
in Bahati School --
many rules to keep

~ George Onyango

James holding
a ruled exercise book --
second Math lesson

~ Ashitwa Douglas

in Bahati School,
Discipline Prefects --
respect

new black
and blue uniforms --
rule of smartness

different daily menu --
day after day
in the kitchen

first day in
Bahati High School --
miss my primary friends

new school,
new faces --
curious feelings

~ Alice Nyambura


Fasting and praying -- the Bahati students
Photo (c) Patrick Wafula

cooks serving
too little food --
sulky faces

first day
in High School --
equipped lab

many students
with different talents --
karate team

~ Raphael

on the assembly
the school is attentive --
raising the flag

in the kitchen --
students queue at the door
waiting to be served

ringing of the bell
by the time keeper…
change of lessons

~ Risper

black skirt blue blouse
blue tie black shoes white socks --
my new uniforms

~ Joyce Atolwa

first time
to learn Biology --
smell of my new uniform

smell of new books --
rules to follow
and keep

~ Caroline Ndegwa

hardworking teachers
of Bahati High School—
no idle lesson

new classroom
arrangements --
first day in Bahati

~ Lagat Amos

in the school office --
Mr. Wafula give us five five
for noise-making

Kamba, Luo, Luhya
and Kikuyu all meet --
Bahati School

~ George Ngamau

first time
to see Luhyas --
Bahati School

in school kitchen --
the chef gives me soup
without chapati

first time
to see a microscope --
school lab

senior students
steal form one books --
monolisation

~ Steven Nzomo


first time to see
many discipline prefects --
Bahati school

~ Mary Wangari

many students
with different talents --
the volleyball team

so many rules
to remember and keep --
discipline

~ Cynthia Adhiambo

girls wearing skirts
and boys wearing trousers --
new uniforms

~ Nancy Kamene

school kitchen --
meat stew tasting
delicious in my mouth

~ Moses Makule

many students
with different talents --
the football team

~ Muhia

in the lab
our teacher mixing chemicals --
first chem. practical

school kitchen,
watery rice with no fat --
rumble of my stomach

~ Joseph Mumo


the good feel and smell
of my new student ID --
first year in Bahati

~ Anonymous

first time to cross
the sewage river by bridge --
way to Bahati High

rice and cabbage
rice and cabbage for lunch…
rumble of my stomach

~ Grace Ruguru

second day --
welcomed with strokes (from Mr. Wafula)
for noise-making

new subjects,
harsh teachers,
and kind students

in the kitchen—
tasteless rice without
fat and spoon

~ Serah Wanjiku

first time
to join a drama club --
Bahati High

first time
to have school ID --
Bahati school

first time to wear
a skirt, blouse and tie --
Bahati uniform

~ Serah Mbuthi

bad smell of sewage,
but Christian students --
first day in Bahati High

smell of new books,
discipline prefects
and hardworking teachers

many different rules to keep --
different toilets,
different daily menu

~ Rachael Wangechi

many surprising…
subjects keep me reading
all the time

first time to mix
with students of many tribes --
learning in Bahati

first time
to be photographed --
school ID

~ Winnie Wairimu

Kamau holding
a test tube --
new laboratory

~ Robert Foro

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Related words

***** Start of School Year, School Year starts (Kenya)

***** School exams KCSE / KCPE (Kenya)

***** Ash Wednesday


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Demolitions

nnnnnnnnnnnn TOP nnnnnnnnnnnnn

Demolitions in Patanisho

***** Location: Kayole, Nairobi (Kenya)
***** Season: Non-seasonal Haiku Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

In the night from 23 to 24 November 2006, the houses that bordered Jacaranda and Patanisho in Kayole were demolished, leaving hundreds of families homeless.

The land where these demolitions took place, has an interesting and chequered history. Taken from the local people by the British colonialists; sold by them before Independence (1963) to a group of Kiambu Dandora Farmers; one smaller section hived off and allocated to a prominent businessman politician; fought over by the farmers, the politician’s widow and a further politician from a different party; finally grabbed by a gang of youths and sold by them to innocent and rather less innocent outsiders -- there is sufficient stuff here for a full-length novel.

The politician’s widow eventually went to court and won her case. She started to develop the empty section of her land, but wanted access also to those other parts which had been occupied and sold off by the gang. After giving the residents notice four times unsuccessfully, she asked for help from the forces of law and order.

It is thus that the police and the bulldozers arrived in the night of 23 October 2006, ordering people leave the houses immediately, and starting to demolish the structures on the land in question. The gangs turned up very soon, and they were armed. A fierce battle ensued, and one of the policemen was shot and severely injured and taken to Kenyatta National Hospital.


Photo : Patrick Wafula

The people who lost their houses include some of the young gang members and grabbers, and some of the cheated buyers, who had purchased the land innocently (but had failed to insist on title deeds). All of them suffered in the demolitions, particularly as a result of the violence caused by the gang members, and some of them suffered severe financial loss.

At the end of the story, the rule of law has prevailed, but at a cost. If it makes their business more difficult for the gang members and land grabbers, some of the price may have been worth paying... However, as the haibun and haiku below will show, innocent people suffered, and those who saw them were moved to write down their observations and their words of sympathy.

Isabelle Prondzynski.

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HAIBUN

It was on Thursday night and all was quiet. The frogs were singing their last chorus and gave humanity a chance to enjoy the rest of the night. Suddenly after midnight :

bullets crack -
the night withers
dreams disappear

Only the families that were being affected knew what was happening. For the rest of us :

fear of unknown
with soundless prayers
lay trembling

As I woke up in the morning, hoping to find the fruits of the more than four hours of gunshot, I was amazed just to see men in blue (the police) and two bulldozers. As I watched the act of the machine,

the fork went up
the houses come down
tears for breakfast

This reminded me of fifteens years ago, when living in Kangemi,

fifteen years
the ghost still alive
making desolate

when our homes were demolished. The unfolding of the painful experience made tears to flow down my eyes and so were those of everybody else around me who imagined what was about to become a painful experience.

tears water --
the muddy green land
curses all over

Kiambu is the famous name given to the particular area that was demolished (it is very different from Kiambu district). This took place after one tycoon’s widow won the case over the land dispute and now she wants to put up housing estates. Young men and women from Soweto slums had occupied some of the land.

As I write this report, the former occupants have being told to clear up, before all that is within the zone is declared as belonging to the private developer. I hope I have shed some light on the whole issue. On behalf of our parents, brothers and sisters that were affected I say thanks for your concern and prayers.

© Antony Njoroge, 2006

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

pick-ups full of
house-holds leave Patanisho...
new refugees

bulldozers pile
rubble onto lorries...
desperate screams

mothers and children
drenched in downpour...
houses gone

fires in the open
as mothers prepare supper...
cries of hungry children

ruthless policemen
shoot in the air...
fleeing residents

on the roadside,
refugees sit with luggage...
helplessness


Photo : Patrick Wafula

a woman screams,
trying to stop the bulldozer...
police drag her away

Patrick Wafula

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tearful eyes ..
houses demolished
leaving many homeless

Duncan (Butterfly Haiku Club)

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houses and property
destroyed by bulldozers...
houseless tenants

Jasper Ratemo (Butterfly Haiku Club)

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people crying
their building is brought down
people crowded

building down
as men hit the walls
stones everywhere

Adelaide Luvandale

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Related words

***** Jamhuri Day

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

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Day of the African Child

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Day of the African Child

***** Location: Kenya, Africa, worldwide
***** Season: Cool dry season
***** Category: Observances

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Explanation

The Day of the African Child (16 June)

This is a noticeable observance in Kenya. It is preceded by a build-up of several months. During this time, children practise the performances they will put on that day, adults prepare petitions or speeches, and fund-raising walks and other preparatory activities take place. Even this lead-up is well reported, as events usually happens in the city centre of Nairobi, where they draw attention to the cause of the African Child, who is being and will be celebrated.

The Day itself will have newspaper articles and TV reports on the celebrations and the speeches, as well as the many improvements still needed in the life of the African child -- education for all, an end to violence against children, water, food and sanitation for the health of children, as well as reflections on life in countries where war, kidnappings and child labour blight children’s lives.

Isabelle Prondzynski


http://www.eastandard.net/images/sato/hmpg170606.jpg

A girl sheds tears during the celebration to mark the Day of the African Child in Naivasha yesterday. Vice President Moody Awori was the chief guest.
Picture by Antony Kilonzi

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Harm children no more: Why Africa must rediscover Soweto
By Yvonne Chaka Chaka

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern and Southern and Africa Yvonne Chaka Chaka, a South African musician and businesswoman, offers reflections and a call to action on the Day of the African Child


http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/images/ibc_southafrica_dayafricanc.jpg

For those old enough to remember, Soweto symbolizes courage. In 1976 during apartheid, young people my age, (I was 11), angry at being taught Afrikaans – seen as the language of oppression – decided to protest. On 16 June, 10,000 of them, mostly school children, took to Soweto’s streets in peaceful demonstrations.

The authorities responded with force. Armed police lobbed tear gas into the crowd and the students retaliated with rocks. When the mayhem was over, 152 children lay dead. The protests continued into 1977, by which time over 700 young lives had been lost. On 26 June that year, the government revoked the teaching of Afrikaans in all-black schools, a triumph for the anti-apartheid movement.

Fifteen years later, in 1991, the Organization of African Unity immortalized the Soweto Uprising by declaring 16 June the Day of the African Child. This declaration marked an official recognition of the children’s contributions to the struggle against apartheid.

This year’s Day of the African Child has as its theme, ‘Stop Violence against Children.’

Incidents of young girls, especially orphans, being raped or molested are reported every day in the media. The perpetrators – often fathers, uncles or neighbours – go unpunished because law-enforcement officers regard these crimes as domestic matters. For these children, though, the family – that sanctuary of peace and safety – has become a haven of impunity and a source of horror.

Where institutions do provide safety for abused children exist, they are woefully inadequate or poorly funded. The violence that is prevalent in the home, in fact, may simply be transferred to the institution.

We need an iron-clad resolve from the highest levels of political leadership. When they memorialized 16 June in 1991, our presidents were in effect saying, “Never again will Africa’s children be violated, abused and mowed down in the manner of the Soweto massacre.” That resolve needs to be rediscovered. Ceremony alone is simply not good enough.

Violence begets violence.
Only strong, robust action against the cycle of violence will fit the tribute that Soweto’s young heroes truly deserve.

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/southafrica_34550.html

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Celebrations in the Pumwani slums, Nairobi

All over the continent, the Day of the African Child was celebrated yesterday, 16 June 2006, in memory of the peaceful demonstration of children in Soweto, South Africa, 30 years ago.

By Morten Bonde Pedersen

In another African metropol, Nairobi, St. John’s Community Centre this week had arranged for celebrations throughout the week. The event peaked on the 16th when children from entire Pumwani were invited for a day of theater, music, performance and speeches.

Parallel to the ongoing events children from the slums took part in various activities, e.g. having their hair done and their nails and faces painted by cosmetology students from Nairobi who had all volunteered for the event.


http://ms.inforce.dk/graphics/Kenya/Pictures/DayoftheAfricanChild3.jpg

http://www.ms.dk/sw39291.asp

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The celebrations -- a schedule for 2003

UNICEF is a member of the National Steering Committee for the Day of the African Child. The Committee is chaired by the Children's Department and has a membership of about 20 NGOs. This year, the Department of Civil Registration joined the Committee because of the birth registration theme. In the week prior to Day of the African Child various activities have been planned that will include :

* 7th June - An NGO - 'Dagoretti 4 Kids'- holds an informal march and rally to protest child labour and substance abuse. The local civil registrar will talk about birth registration.

* 9th June - Week- long activities to mark the day will be launched by the Asst. Minister, Home Affairs, in Maraktwet District at a rally focusing on birth registration. Marakwet District has one of the lowest birth registration rates.

* From 10th June training of birth registration agents and social mobilization for the community-based system of civil registration at the locational level will begin in Marakwet and Keiyo districts. These activities are supported by UNICEF KCO as part of the vital statistics project.

* Between 10th and 11th June - Children's Department Launches the Guidelines on the care of orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. The guidelines were developed by the Government in collaboration with NGO partners, the National Aids Control Programme and UNICEF.

* 11th June - ANPPCAN holds a public baraza (rally) in the Kibera slums to talk about child rights.

* 12 - 15 th June - The Girl Child Network and Plan Kenya will hold workshops for children on child rights in all the Districts where Plan has projects.

* 12 - 13th June - 'The Chambers of Justice', a human rights foundation holds an exhibition at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre on 'Investing in Children'. The significance of birth registration for investment in children will be highlighted. The exhibition will kick off the petitioning process for the 'Cancel-Debts- for-the-Child' campaign. The campaign is spearheaded by the Chambers and has the support of 20 NGOs and several Government Departments. UNICEF is one of the supporters of the campaign, which was launched on April 6, 2003 by the Minister for Home Affairs.

* 14th June - A pleasure/educational train ride for children to Naivasha organized by the NGO- Juhudi Children club.

* 16th June - Public Rally in Nairobi on birth registration. Proposed venue - Starehe Boys Centre. The Minister for Home Affairs, Hon. Moody Awori, will officiate. The UNICEF Kenya Representative will speak at the rally. A supplement on birth registration will be placed in one of the country’s leading dailies.
This will be sponsored by JICA (Japan International Co-operation Agency)
www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/dac2003inesaro.doc


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

chattering school girls --
a child leads a blind man
jangling his shillings

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Related words

***** Missing Children’s Day


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

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