LAST POETRY NITE

Yesterday was the last poetry nite for this year i.e. Kwani Open Mic that happens every first Tuesday of every month at Club Soundd. I am quite impressed with the way the literary street is growing in Kenya because i am a fan of literature and the written word. I however feel nothing for visual (that's why i watch my movies with sub-titles) yes i just got busted! Live with it. I would much rather read than listen and watch. The greatest movies i like are those with written creativity not necessarily the action. A movie/series maybe badly acted but well written, i will still love it.Take for example Entourage, i do not think the actors are brilliant but the series has serious punchlines (www.arigoldquotes.com).

 

Anyway i was saying, i attended the last open mic which was sort of a competition. The presentations were well better than any other time i have been there. The worst thing about this poetry nite, is that it is free style. I read a bit about poems and writing them and i have realized i may never be able to write a poem until i commit myself to studying how a poem should be written. And yes it is not easy.

 

One of the sites that offers reprieve is www.poetrymagic.co.uk, i find it quite resourceful. Most of those guys up there on stage, have probably never heard the word Etymology. Yet the beauty of literature is destroyed when language is used languidly without proper understanding the usage and meaning of the words.

 

However, it is a good starting point. I believe that the literary street will grow. I have with me a copy of Collections of East Africa poems published circa 1973, the poetry is beautiful. I was talking to my friend who did a degree in Literature, the saddest thing is she is now a banker and i wondered is it fair enough for our state to invest in such degrees if nobody uses them? Why do people study literature in Kenya? 

 

By the numbers that show up every other month for Kwani Open Mic shows that there is indeed a hunger for Literature in Kenya, the number of books on sale i am sure is doing well. I am just really hoping  somebody finds it in himself/herself to invest in this field.

 

 

 

 

WOMEN MENTORING WOMEN (WMW) WALK

Learn more about it here;

 

http://vitalvoicesonline.org.

 

http://storymojaafrica.co.ke/main/2008/11/women-mentoring-women-walk-2/

 

http://vitalvoicesonline.org/blog/2008/11/29/kenya-trip-day-2-women-mentoring-women/

I have just realized that i attend some events that are bloggable but i do not blog about them.

 

So on Saturday, 29th November 2008 about 200 (give or take 100) of about the ages 20-60 (again give or take), i am not very good with details gathered at the Kenya Wildlife Service for a short walk at the Nairobi Nature Walk.Each mentee was paired up with a mentor. There was a shortage of mentors though so many ended up with 2 or 3 mentees. I am really hoping that more women will volunteer to be mentors as it is clearly there a lot of young girls willing to be mentored.

 

This is a walk we are told happened in about 7-8 countries at the same day (well not time). The walk is an idea developed by Geraldine Laybourne who incorporated mentoring into her busy schedule by inviting young women to join her on her daily walks through Central Park,. [Source]

 

A woman from the ages 21-30 was considered a mentee (well apart from Hope Mwinzi the chairperson of the Young Women and Business Professional Club) and beyond that age a mentor (it didn't work, a lot of these women turned up as mentors).

 

What i realized was there are thousands of people who want to be mentored and so for those of you that are business minded, this is an area you can tap in.I learnt a lot from my mentor, luckily she happened to be in the same field that i am in and we jelled really easily. She was a natural leader and gave me a lot of insights that could have taken 5 books to deliver all in two hours. Until then i had not realized the power of mentorship or having someone older and wiser talk to you about stuff that you sweat on. She could easily have said ":ooh shut, what is it that you are you are worried about?", she didn't. She listened, asked questions and when i was done talking, she gave me 5 alternatives to what i thought was an issue.

 

Muthoni Garland (www.storymojaafrica.co.ke ) and Nyokabi Njuguna (http://www.marketingstrategies.co.ke) are two women with horse power. They took the event, made it a reality and even got us a few freebies. I don't know what can give someone that kind of energy .

 

Overall, it was a really great event and i look forward to having it next year.