Superstars

By William Nazareth

Today's word of the day: superstars. What I found interesting was that so many of the kids were chasing me down during the day, during breaks, after the sessions, etc. There were very many kids who wanted to show off and perform in solos or small groups. 

Two girls in particular, Gift and Alice, had appeared in their "Sunday best" outfits, and had a collection of songs and poems that they seemed to have prepared specifically to be recorded for video. While most of the songs and poems were in Swahili, I asked Faraha and Zawadi, our adult guides, what the poems were about. One poem that Gift recited was about welcoming visitors to the country of Kenya.  One of the songs that Alice sang seemed to have the same theme.

One poem in particular, performed by Gift, seemed to address the typical gender roles that were a part of their tribe, as it talked about women washing dishes and taking care of family members. I will be getting the translation for the poem soon and am excited to hear exactly what it was about!

Other than that, the kids seemed to feel comfortable in front of the camera after several days with us.  We filmed many of the songs and skits today, so tomorrow, we shall see what we have for our final day of footage!