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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Valentine's Day Kenya

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St Valentine’s Day (Valentine’s Day, Valentine)

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

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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


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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

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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

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Worldwide use


WKD : Valentine's Day 2012


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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


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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

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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

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A traditional reed basket full of Valentine’s Day gifts
Photo © Patrick Wafula


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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

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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



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Related words

***** WKD : Valentine's Day 2012


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Nairobi Digest News

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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


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- Related -

***** The Haiku Clubs of Nairobi


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SPIDER Haiku Club

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SPIDER Haiku Club

Dear Haiku friends,

We are a newly registered haiku group under the name Spider. We are located in the Soweto Slums of Nairobi and in the neighbourhood of Bahati Community Centre.
In fact, we are a sub-branch of the Bamboochas. Right now it is raining here in Nairobi and this is our introduction haiku about the long rain:

The Long Rain:

gray sky all day
spattering sounds on the roofs
umbrellas over heads

We are so delighted to be part and parcel of the haiku movemnet. We look forward to enjoying haiku adventures together with all of you.

Our school's name is Brookfield Secondary school and as we have already stated our nickname in Spiders.

Thank you all!



The Spiders.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kenyasaijiki/message/99

SPIDER Haiku Club Records


........................................Brookfield Secondary School

nice looking students--
dressed in white and blue
smiling all the time

Patrick Wafula, April 2006

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THE SPIDERS HAIKU COLLECTION MARCH-APRIL 2006
KIGO: THE RAIN SEASON AND CHRISTMAS

Long Rains in Kenya.

people wear coats
gumboots and umbrellas
malaria is back

floods everywhere
houses are destroyed
emergency teams busy

cars are stuck
muddy clothes
laundries busy

Terry Lutivini


children play in puddles
muddy clothes
omo disappears from shops

*omo: detergent.

flowers blossom again
bougainvillea blooms pink
aromatic air

frogs emerge
termites flying in the drizzle
plenty of proteins

Lake Victoria is flooded
Ngege is back on our tables
Plenty of flies

*ngege: type of fish

soil erosion
flooded houses in Soweto
a woman drains her house

Patrick Wafula


Multi-coloured umbrellas
Floods all over the country
Mud all over

Fishermen happy
Plenty of fish in rivers
A lot flies all over

Farmers happy
Green vegetables in the garden
Healthy faces

Evening drizzle
Traffic jam on Jogoo Road
Mama Njeri is late

Enough water
No rationing of electricity
Heavy jackets


ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

CHRISTMAS IN KENYA

by Terry Lutivini

people are smart
new hairstyles new clothes
new clean shoes

new things
people go to church
dances everywhere

at Machakos bus station
all buses travel upcountry
congested buses

buses are full
many happy faces
music and dancing

people are drunk
music noise everywhere
a staggering drunk

full stomachs
domestic animals happy
dirty toilets

flurry of shoppers
cars all over the place
shops open

churches full
offerings and gifts in plenty
many smiling faces

too much traveling
accidents all over
traffic police busy

empty schools
empty offices
workers rest

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

Back to the Worldkigo Index

Brazier (jiko)

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Jiko (brazier) and makaa (charcoal)

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

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Explanation

The Kenyan jiko (brazier) is used all year round, in most parts of Kenya, for cooking meals of all types and sizes. It is heated with charcoal, which itself is also available all year round.

In the cool dry season, however, the jiko obtains an additional quality as a kigo -- it warms the cold house, even while it is being used for cooking. And when it cools off again after the meal has been prepared, the family gather round and enjoy the heat from it for another while.

The more luxurious Kenyan hotels and restaurants provide jikos for their guests in the evening on the outdoor terraces, so as to provide some heat against the chill at this time of year. The jiko as a heater has the quality of a fireplace, in that the heat is concentrated, and one can approach to warm one’s hands or feet -- but it also needs careful supervision, in case a child strays too near and gets burnt.


Charcoal embers glowing in a jiko
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

Kenyan charcoal is prepared in particular regions and brought to towns and cities, where it is sold in containers of various sizes :


Charcoal seller in Kibera, Nairobi
© PHOTO :　Ina’s Pics

Charcoal is particularly popular in rural regions and urban slums, where there is no electricity and hence, there are no electric cookers. It is also popular for jikos in general, as these can be moved anywhere and are often used, even by the wealthiest people, when there are festive meals to prepare, as these may require many stoves for the various dishes.

Text © Isabelle Prondzynski

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Cooking a special meal on a large jiko
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski


Very informative video here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92P6P4Uyq1o
France24-EN report, October 2007

More links here :
http://www.solutions-site.org/kids/stories/KScat2_sol60.htm
http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/paper/tech101/jikostove.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aidg/533788023/

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Worldwide use

India

I have come across very similar braziers in very similar climates in the evenings of India too, where hotel guests sitting on a terrace were provided with this kind of mobile heat.

Haiku :

This is how I remember ironing shirts in India, with an iron piece heated by charcoal fire ...

black-out again !
the ironing wallah grabs
for the charcoals

~ Gabi Greve


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Japan

. tadon 炭団 (たどん/ tandon たんどん ) charcoal briquette .
sumiuri, sumi-uri 炭売（すみうり）charcoal vendor, charcoal seller
and many more charcoal KIGO


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Things found on the way

Charcoal is used by the maize roasters along the roadsides of Kenyan towns and cities, such as this one :


Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

Charcoal irons are common in Kenya too, wherever there is no electricity.


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HAIKU

charcoal business --
the day’s supplies arrive
by bike

~ Isabelle Prondzynski

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my grandmother
spreading her hands over a jiko --
drizzly morning

my sister warming
a cold chick around a jiko --
drizzly evening

my father
roasting yams on a jiko --
dewy morning

~Esther Muthoni


neighbours waiting
for the wind to blow the jiko --
smokey room

traffic jam
caused by the charcoal lorry --
tired driver

family members
sitting around the jiko --
showery evening

charcoal seller
with a blackened face --
customers queue

~Peter Nguribu


clouds gathering,
the artisan struggles to finish the jiko --
imminent drizzle

~Patricia Nduta


Saturday evening
grandmother cooking githeri on a jiko --
red hot charcoal

Monday morning,
drying my uniforms on a jiko --
red hot charcoal

warming myself
around the jiko-
cold morning

~Onesmus Kyalo


my uncle
sits beside the hot jiko --
roasting meat

~Anne Wairimu


my mother
warming herself by the jiko --
drizzling morning

~Joseph Kilunda


cold night
crickets crying in fear --
charcoal crackling down

~Beryl Achieng


kids play around
a quickly burning jiko --
chilly morning

~ Judy


adding charcoal
to prepare dinner --
cold evening

~ Caroline Wanjiku


Cooking chapatis on a jiko
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

heating with jiko --
a busy man selling
roasted maize

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

~ Martin Kamau


a charcoal iron
as clothes silently relax --
cold evening

~ James Bundi


grandmother shivering --
our lit up jiko
warms the room

~ Beryl Achieng'


rainy afternoon
mother in the kitchen
the jiko promises heat

~ Anne Wairimu


long queues
people demanding charcoal --
early risers

~ Solomon Kilelu


May evening --
my younger brother
beside the jiko

~ Jedida Nduku


an artisan
carefully mending a jiko --
cold afternoon

~ Peter Nguribu


grandmother
beside a rusty jiko --
chilly morning

~John Mwangi


my uncle
sneezing and wiping eyes --
the jiko smoke

~ Catherine Njeri Maina

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in the grandfather’s hut
kettle on top of the jiko --
chilly morning

around charcoal burner
grandfather meets grandchildren --
story time

~ Maurice Opondo


much cold --
jiko lit with charcoal
warms people up

~ aineah otieno


chattering teeth
a chill breeze blows --
jiko the only saviour

~ shamim mbone


chilly morning
red hot charcoal in a jiko
breakfast session

cold evening --
family around the jiko
talking together

~ ayoma david


women in a queue
waiting to be served --
demand for charcoal

dizzy kids
around the jiko --
drops of rain on the dishes

~ hussein haji


around the jiko
grandmum gives stories --
cure for the cold

~ Ann Wanjiru


red hot charcoal
boiling coffee on it --
chilly morning

~ Duncan Omoto

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chilly June --
my little cat seats near
the jiko door

~ Kelvin Mukoselo


wind blows --
children point their
fingers around a jiko

children moving
around a jiko ---
enjoy legend stories

~ siboko yamame


late evening --
mummy lights a jiko
to cook ugali

~ Gladys Kathini


starlit night --
staring at the crescent moon
as I light the jiko

around the jiko
children talk and sing --
cold night

~ David Caleb Mutua

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Charcoal vendor at a local market
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

cold season again
charcoal in demand --
dealers busy

four paraded jikos
outside a Soweto hotel
slowly burning up

a young man watches
charcoals passing on fire
from one to the other

early in the morning
mother lights a jiko --
smoke chokes her

~ Anthony Njoroge Irungu


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Related words


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


***** Kotatsu, heated table Japan

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Cabbage

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Cabbage

***** Location: Kenya
***** Season: Short rains
***** Category: Plant

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Explanation

Even though heads of green cabbages are available throughout the year, it is noticeable that they are in plenty at the start of the short rains. Those who walk around will notice that heaps of cabbages can be seen in market places and on roadsides at this time. Although they are of different sizes, one will observe that they are relatively cheap and they are the preferred vegetables in most homes during this season.

Some grocers, to avoid the flooded markets, slice them and pack them into thin plastic bags and then hawk them around to those who cannot have access to the busy markets. This may be a problem for the village “mama mboga” (vegetable stall) who could suffer from this competition.

Text by Andrew Otinga

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Cabbage vendor on the way to the market


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MORE PHOTOS
by Caleb David Mutua






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Worldwide use

Japan

kigo for early summer

kyabetsu キャベツ cabbage
... kanran 甘藍 (かんらん) , tamana 玉菜（たまな）"leaves ball"

SAIJIKI
Summer Vegetables


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


cabbage heap-
a grocer winking
at me


Soweto slum-
a cabbage vendor calls
at the gate


muddy puddle-
the stench of a
rotten cabbage

Andrew Otinga


***** More Cabbage Haiku from Kenya


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Related words

*****

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Palm Sunday

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Palm Sunday and Lent

***** Location: Worldwide in Christian communities
***** Season: Spring (Northern Hemisphere),
. . . . . . . . . . . long rains (East Africa)
***** Category: Observance

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

Palm Sunday is the remembrance of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, and is celebrated by Christians worldwide on the Sunday before Easter. It is thus the last Sunday in Lent.

Palm Sunday is the joyful start of Holy Week, the week leading up to Christ’s passion and death on Good Friday. The joy of Palm Sunday quickly turns into betrayal, suffering and death. So, the celebration of Palm Sunday has a bitter-sweet flavour -- the same crowds who received Jesus so joyfully in Jerusalem that day, turned against him in violence within only a few hours.

Palm Sunday celebrations include the reading of the Gospel story, which recounts the entry into Jerusalem of Jesus Christ, riding on a donkey, and of the jubilant population, spreading palm fronds at his feet. In many European countries, there is a distribution to the congregation of palm crosses to take home -- these same palm crosses are burnt the following Ash Wednesday, to produce the ashes for the ashen crosses.

In Ethiopia, palm leaves are used to braid elaborate palm crosses for the faithful. In Kenya, Palm Sundays include processions with palm fronds, led by the church choirs, singing Palm Sunday hymns.


Palm Sunday procession at All Saints’ Cathedral, Nairobi, 1 April 2007

Text and photo : © Isabelle Prondzynski

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The difficulty of procuring palms for that day's ceremonies in unfavorable climates for palms led to the substitution of boughs of yew, willow or other native trees. The Sunday was often designated by the names of these trees, as Yew Sunday or by the general term Branch Sunday.

This, and much more information about Palm Sunday, here :


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Sunday

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Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Matthew 21 : 1 - 11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.’ This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

‘Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd* spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’
http://bible.oremus.org/

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Palm Sunday hymn

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
Hark! all the tribes Hosanna cry;
O Saviour meek, pursue Thy road
With palms and scattered garments strowed.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die!
O Christ! Thy triumph now begin
O’er captive death and conquered sin.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
The wingèd squadrons of the sky
Look down with sad and wondering eyes
To see the approaching sacrifice.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh;
The Father, on His sapphire throne,
Expects His own anointed Son.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
Bow Thy meek head to mortal pain,
Then take, O God, Thy power, and reign.

Words: Henry H. Milman, 1820
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/r/i/rideride.htm

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Palm Sunday procession at All Saints’ Cathedral, Nairobi, 1 April 2007
Photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

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Worldwide use


Palm Sunday - Palmsonntag


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

boarding the bus
with a palm cross --
Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday --
prayers and birdsong
mix and blend

© Isabelle Prondzynski (1 April 2007)

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Patrick Wafula on Palm Sunday 2011

A very unusual phenomenon has come up in Kayole on this Palm Sunday morning. I happened to walk across Soweto/Kayole this morning and was amazed by a totally new phenomenon: hawkers upon hawkers pushing wheelbarrows, carrying sackfuls or armfuls of fresh palm fronds for sale in the viscinity of or around the Church gates; the culmination of all these activities was Saba Saba Street in Kayole. One handful of fresh, blessed palm leaves, they said, was Kshs 10/-



Palm Sunday--
hawkers pushing wheelbarrow
full of palm leaves

Saba Saba street--
fresh palm leaves in hand, youth
stroll to church

on both sides, hawkers
selling fresh palm leaves--
Kanisani Gate

a lady-hawker
shouts twenty bob per handfull--
PCEA Church gate


This will enable us to know and understand why people in Nairobi are buying Palm leaves, from the Biblical point of vew's importance of palm leaves:
source : Palm Sunday / Wikipeida


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church gate--
he sorts out palm leaves
from grass

busy Sunday--
hawkers selling
high grade palms

Soweto road--
he adorns his car
with palms

road junction--
bodabodas decorated
with palms

Brian Mulando, 2011


Bodaboda are bicycles which are used to transport people from place to place.


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Today, Palm Sunday.
Then Good Friday five days hence.
Easter but a dream.

~ Lionel E. Deimel
http://deimel.org/poetry/church_year.htm

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Palm Sunday
a scattering of hailstones
in the wheelbarrow

~ Paul Conneally (United Kingdom)
http://www.asahi.com/english/haiku/060424.html


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. Lent / Palm Sunday / Easter 2011 　

two men lead
the crowd with a cross-
Kangundo road

~ yamame


Holy Thursday-
the priest wipes men's
dusty feet

~ Catherine Njeri Maina


flag post--
a picture of a shiny
Easter egg

~ Synaidah Kalahi


a priest walks
through the crowd--
Easter mass

~ Scholastica Mumbe


a dog dives for
the thrown goat skull--
Easter feast

~ Brian ETOLE


Easter feast--
delicious aroma of
roasted goat meat

~ BRIAN MULANDO


on the road--
he struggles with a cross
on his back

~ Jacklyne Anyoso


Palm Sunday--
she covers her head with
a palm leaf

~ Violet Wangira


Easter rush--
her new shoes squeak
as she runs

~ Elijah Juma


hosanna hosanna-
a young boy shouts as
he follows a multitude

~ Boniface Bonnke


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Palm Sunday / Easter 2012 　

Palm Sunday -
an early sound of
the church bell

fresh palm fronds
hung at the entrance -
matatu ride

in the mirror-
a drunk man waves
a palm frond

Andrew Otinga

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Related words

***** Ash Wednesday

***** Lent

***** Easter


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Carlile Kukai 2011

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Carlile Kukai, 11 June 2011


Isabelle Prondzynski reports:

Today, we held the tenth kukai of Kenya Saijiki, at Carlile College, Nairobi. This venue, organised for us by our Master of Ceremonies, Antony Njoroge, turned out to be the best we have so far had for a kukai. Specifically, we appreciated St Philip's Chapel, which we were allowed to use, as well as the spacious grounds where we held our ginkoo, and the hospitality of the Carlile College staff. In return, we were told that our group was very well behaved and a pleasure to host in the College.

I was slightly surprised at this reaction by the College authorities, as we were definitely a high-spirited, noisy lot, equipped with drums, energetic drummers, other percussion instruments, excellent singers and amazing actors. When the jury retired to judge the haiku, we were assailed by the screams of tortured humanity -- all part of a drama being acted out during the interval!

The morning started with welcomes, greetings and reports on activities carried out since the beginning of this year.

We were then joined by two Irish girls, Emma Dunwoody and Kirsten Brown. They had become curious about haiku and used the opportunity to ask the haiku club members questions about what is haiku and why write it?
Why choose a Japanese form of poetry in Kenya?
The haijin were articulate in their responses, telling the visitors about the history of haiku, both in Japan and in Kenya, the basic elements of a haiku, and the benefits they had experienced from writing haiku poems and from interacting with haijin in other parts of the world.

The haijin were then awarded prizes for their haiku in the "Lent / Palm Sunday / Easter" competition as well as that on the topic of "Markets". Each prize winning haijin explained the background to the haiku they had written, and they received generous applause.

This was followed by a series of presentations, showing the extraordinary wealth of talent to be found among the members of Kenya Saijiki in the wider cultural world -- dance, drama, recitation. The haijin had committed much of their spare time to preparing these presentations, and the enthusiasm they had brought to the practice sessions showed. Much fun was had by the performers themselves -- and at least as much fun by the audience!

One performance stands out.
This was a drama piece about the life of Matsuo Basho, the early master of haiku, in a Kenyan setting.
Here, Master Basho lives at home, enjoys writing haiku and is the host in a generous and hospitable household. His wife understands haiku very well, and while she is out and about, she joyfully informs her friends and acquaintances, such as a group of market women, about this new form of poetry. Invited to his homestead, Master Basho tells the women all about haiku, and they leave suitably impressed.
The church pastor and congregation too, hear about haiku and come as a group to Master Basho's house to be told more. Meanwhile, his daughter asks many questions, shows her first haiku to her father and becomes an ever better haijin, thanks to the loving care with which both her parents encourage her and answer her questions.

The acting in this story was extraordinary, and we enjoyed the haiku lessons while laughing out loud at many of the scenes.

Just one picture is already here, of Master Basho,
his wife and daughter discussing haiku :




After lunch, we set out on the habitual ginkoo, following which the jury retired and enjoyed going through the haiku while it rained for a while.

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The prizewinning haiku, announced as the sun reappeared,
were as follows :

1.
---
silent chapel --
chirping weaver birds
break the silence

~ Milkah Wanjiku (Bamboocha, F3)

2.
---
cool afternoon --
a dove flaps its wings
and flies away

~ John Kennedy (Peacock)

3.
---
wild palm --
a crow perches on the
rustling fronds

~ Beryl Achieng' (Bamboocha, F4)

4.
---
noon breeze --
again and again
the fronds sway

~ Duncan Karanja (Bamboocha, F4)

5.
---
parking lot --
she crushes a dry leaf
in her palm

~ Brian Etole (Peacock, F3)

6.
---
she tries to
describe an avocado tree --
tenth kukai

~ Bonface Kariuki (Peacock)

7.
---
warm afternoon --
avocado fruit crush
under his shoe

~ Barrack Elung'ata (Cock)

8.
---
cool breeze --
she lies on the grass
with legs interlocked

~ Monicah Ndunge (Peacock)

9.
---
scorching sun --
unfinished maize cob
besinde the dustbin

~ Noah Elijah (Peacock)

10.
----
avocado tree --
a student climbs up
in a hurry

~ Joseph Musango (Peacock)

11.
----
silent classroom --
he stares as the
busy students

~ Jacklyne Anyoso (Peacock, F4)

12.
----
rusted cabin --
a mouse moves
in a rush

~ Esther Obwamu (Peacock, F4)

13.
----
sweating --
a nail slips from a
constructor's palm

~ Eric Mwange (Bamboocha, F4)

14.
----
windy afternoon --
avocado fruit swings
over and over

~ Elijah Juma (Peacock, F2)

15.
----
trimmed fence --
a black butterfly rests
on a leaf

~ Sharon Akoth (Peacock, F3)

16.
----
dirty pool --
a tadpole's tail wags
and wags

~ Mercy Nthoki (Peacock, F4)

17.
----
sudden wind --
a bird balances on a
guava branch

~ Jescah Auma (Peacock, F2)

18.
----
cool breeze --
an avocado leaf drops on
a dusty mabati roof

~ Asava Kevin (Peacock, F3)

19.
----
heckling sound --
matatus loaded with passengers
pass by

~ Willis Wanga (Bamboocha, F2)

20.
----
water shortage --
she instructs students to use
only one plastic cup

~ Peter Kalivo (Bamboocha, F2)



Congratulations to all the prize winning haijin!


At the end of the afternoon, the haijin set out again for their homes.
All agreed that an excellent day had been had.

We look forward already to the next kukai, planned for early November in St. Mathew's Soweto school.

Big thanks to the many who contributed to this kukai, which was so enjoyable,

Isabelle.


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Patrick Wafula shares his impressions

10th Kukai--
a stray kitten walks
accross the pulpit

10th Kukai--
jugglers and dancers
in haiku

10th Kukai--
drama and haiku
on stage

10th Kukai--
white Irish guests
in attendance

Patrick

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***** The Haiku Clubs of Nairobi


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Poetic Haibun

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Poetic Haibun

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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”.

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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


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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

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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


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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

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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

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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

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Great. Haibun that goes with commitment to a noble cause. good idea.
kenneth daniels (Guyana)


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. Traffic Park Kukai
October 30, 2010 　


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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

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. Soweto Stage Market, Nairobi 　


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More Poetic Haibun

. DUST! MY NAME. by James Bundi 　


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