This presentation contains facts about Kenya like brief history, tourist spots, Kenyan foods, and an overview to few Kenyan writes and their work/s.

2. Located in East Africa on the
Equator

3. Largest city- NAIROBI

4. Official Languages:
English and Swahili
Currency: Kenyan Shilling

5. Population: 44.35 million as of 2013
Named after Mount Kenya: tallest mountain in the
country

6. BRIEF TIMELINE HISTORY
800 AD- Arabs sailed to Kenya
and traded with Persians.
1498- Vasca de Gama,the first
European, reached Kenya.
19th Century- British controlled
Kenya.

7. 1952- Mau Mau was formed, a
secret group that kills European
and African collaborators.
Dec. 12, 1963- Kenya gained
independence.
1964- Republic of Kenya is
formed with Jomo Kenyatta as
president.

8. Jomo Kenyatta- Founding
Father of Kenya nation
Kenyatta- A Swahili word
which
means light of Kenya.

9. Culture
Religion:
Protestant 45%, Roman
Catholic 33%, Muslim 10%,
indigenous beliefs 10%, other
2%.
Kenyans are group-orientated
rather than individualistic.

10. Harambee
(coming from the Bantu word
meaning “to pull together”) defines
the people’s approach to others in
life. The concept is essentially
about mutual assistance, mutual
effort, mutual responsibility and
community self-reliance.

11. Extended family is the basis of
the social structure. It includes
relatives on both sides of the
family as well as close friends.
When people marry, they join
their families, thus ensuring that
there will always be a group to
turn to in times of need.

12. - When greeting an elder or
someone of higher status, grasp the
right wrist with the left hand while
shaking hands to demonstrate
respect.
- The most common greeting is
“Jambo?” (“How are you?”), which is
generally said immediately prior to the
handshake.

13. - Women over the age of 21 are
often addressed as “Mama” and
men over the age of 35 are often
addressed as “Mzee”. Children
generally refer to adults as Aunt
or Uncle, even if there is not a
familial relationship.

14. Dining Etiquette:
- Do not begin eating until the eldest
male has been served and started
eating.
- Beverages are not generally served
with meals since Kenyans think it is
impolite to eat and drink at the same
time. They are generally served at the
completion of the meal.

15. Irio is a combination of
potatoes, green peas and kernels
of corn mashed up into a heavy
nutritious starch. It’s often
enjoyed with beans, stew, meat
or just with some sukuma wiki.

16. Sukuma Wiki
Along with ugali, sukuma wiki
(known as collard greens in English)
is a staple vegetable in the Kenyan
diet. It is normally sliced very thin,
and fried in oil, along with onions
and tomatoes. Many Kenyans eat
ugali and sukuma wiki as a standard
meal.

17. Chapatis
Originally from the influence of
Indians, flatbread chapatis are popular
in Kenyaover They are rolled out and
fried in oil until becoming crispy on the
outside and gooey on the inside.
Sometimes they are eaten as a snack
with tea, and other times along with
stew or vegetables.

18. Ugali
- The staple and most common
food in Kenya is a cornmeal
starch made into a thick paste
known as ugali. It is heavy and
hearty and goes down well with
fried vegetables or any kind of
meat stew.

19. Tourist Attractions
1. Masai Mara National Reserve

20. - Each year the Masai Mara National
Reserve is visited by thousands of
tourists who come here to watch the
exceptional population of game and the
annual migration of zebra and
wildebeest. The “Great Migration”
takes place every year from July to
October when millions of wildebeest
and zebra migrate from the Serengeti in

21. 2. Lake nakuru

22. - Lake Nakuru is a very shallow
lake in central Kenya. The lake’s
abundance of algae attracts vast
quantities of lesser flamingos,
sometimes more than one million at
once. Often called the greatest bird
spectacle on earth, the flamingos are
one of Kenya’s top attractions.

23. Tsavo National Park

24. - Tsavo is the largest national park in
Kenya and one of the largest in the
world. Due to its size the park was
divided into Tsavo West and Tsavo
East. The Tsavo West has spectacular
scenery with a rolling volcanic
landscape while Tsavo East has more
open savannah than its western
sibling.

25. Malindi

26. - Malindi provides a very nice
introduction to the coastal tourist
attractions in Kenya with its
extensive coral reefs and beautiful
beaches. There are surfing,
snorkeling, deep-sea fishing and
other water sports. The Malindi
Marine National Park is protected
and has fine beaches clear water and
very colorful fish.

28. -an epic poem in Swahili language
- written by a man named Mwengo
Utendi Wa Tambuka
(The Story of Tambuka) also known
as Kyuo Kya Herekali
( The book of Heraclius)

29. The Utendi wa Tambuka is a prime
example of the Swahili poetic form
of utenzi. Utenzi verse form
consists of four-line stanzas, with
each line having eight syllables.
Most Swahili words have
penultimate stress, resulting in
every line having at least
penultimate stress.

30. “Bisimillahi kut̠ubu
yina la Mola Wahhabu
Arraḥamani eribu
na Arraḥimu ukyowa”
First three lines all end in -bu. The last
syllable of the fourth line ends in the
vowel a, and this sound is found at the
end of every stanza of the poem. When
recited, this last syllable is sustained for
some time and given emphasis.

31. The plot depicts a religious war
between the Byzantines and the
Muslims. The Prophet sends a letter
to East Roman
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, in which
he tells him that the Byzantine belief
that Jesus is the son of God is incorrect.
they refuse to be converted and are
executed.

32. Heraclius declares his intent to persevere in
his adherence to Christianity on the grounds
that the Byzantines have inherited their
belief from their ancestors. The Muslims
attack and, after epic struggles, eventually
defeat the Byzantines. Heraclius' minister
and his associates are captured and once
again given the choice to accept Islam or
die; they refuse to be converted and are
executed.

33. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

34. - An icon of not only Kenyan but
African literature, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
casts a large shadow over the canon of
literary works in Kenya, and his
forthright opinions about language,
publishing and writing make him a vital
presence within the African literary
world.

35. Weep Not, Child
-First major novel in English by an East
African.
-tells the story of a family and how it is
affected by the open antagonisms
between natives and colonists. When
the novel opens, the family is poor but
happy and harmonious; the course of
the novel traces the disintegration of
the family.

36. The protagonist, Njoroge, is a
young boy who wants more than
anything to receive an education
and is thrilled to attend a
missionary school. His father,
Ngotho, is a tenant farmer on
land owned by Jacobo, a
wealthy African farmer.

37. Ngotho works for the British Mr.
Howlands on a tea plantation
that is Ngotho’s ancestral land.
He waits patiently for the time
when the gods will fulfill the
prophecy and deliver his people
from their oppression. His older
son, Boro, has returned from
military service in World War II,

38. bitter, disillusioned, and having
learned of the white man’s
violence.
Boro loathes his father’s
passivity. In an effort to appease
Boro, Ngotho becomes involved
with a strike and leads an
attack on Jacobo, who attempts
to quell the strikers.

39. Consequently, Ngotho loses his
job. Boro becomes a guerrilla
leader and political activist who
ultimately kills both Howlands
and Jacobo. Although Boro is
arrested and sentenced to be
hanged, Ngotho confesses to
killing Jacobo and is tortured
and killed.

40. He finally decides to leave town
and makes an attempt to take
his own life, but his two
mothers are able to bring him
back from the brink. The novel
closes with Njoroge's utter sense
of hopelessness.

41. “Aaa! You could never tell what
these people would do. In spite of
the fact that they were all white,
they killed one another with
poison, fire and big bombs that
destroyed the land.”
Excerpt from Weep Not My Child

42. His most celebrated work remains A
Grain of Wheat, which focuses on the
Kenyan struggle for independence, and
weaves a complex web of betrayal,
deceit and bitter rivalry beneath the
seemingly celebratory occasion of
Kenya’s independence.

43. Grace Ogot

44. - East Africa's best-known
woman author, Grace Emily
Akinyi Ogot (born 1930) wrote
novels and short stories. She
also became an important
political figure in modern
Kenya.
- First African female writer to
be published in English.

45. The Promised Land
A young farmer and his wife
who have migrated to Tanzania
from Kenya become embroiled in
issues of personal jealousy and
materialism, and a
melodramatic tale of tribal
hatreds ensues.

46. The novel explores Ogot's
concept of the ideal African
wife: obedient and submissive
to her husband; family and
community orientated; and
committed to non-materialist
goals. The style is
distinctively ironic giving the
story power and relevance.

47. Excerpt from The Promised Land
“Why waste your tears? The men
have chosen the job themselves.
They are neither Slaves nor
prisoners; they are just normal men
who come to town to earn money to
buy things for their wives,”
explained Ochola, seeing his wife
looking at the labourers and
weeping for them.

48. Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

49. - Named "Woman of the Year"
by Eve Magazine in Kenya in
2004 for her contribution to the
country's literature and arts.
She won the 2003 Caine Prize
for African Writing for her story
"Weight of Whispers", which
considers an
aristocratic Rwandan refugee in
Kenya.

50. Weight of Whisper
This is the story of a man who
once had the universe at his
feet. A man used to glamour,
refined food, beautiful women
and who travelled the globe on a
whim. Boniface was once a royal
prince of a French speaking
African country.

51. He finds himself suddenly
thrown into a world of
dissarray when the political
situation in his homeland
brutally flings him into an
Anglophone country in exile.
Kenya no less.

52. The collection of teeth on the
man’s face is a splendid brown. I
have never seen such teeth before.
Refusing all instruction, my eyes
focus on dental contours and
craters. Denuded of any superficial
pretence; no braces, no fillings, no
toothbrush, it is a place where small
scavengers thrive. “Evidence!” The
man giggles.
Excerpt from Weight of Whisper

53. Sources:
wikipedia.org
theculturetrip.com/africa/kenya/articles/kir
inyaga-rising-ten-of-the-best-kenyan-
writers/
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/c
ountries/kenya.html
http://gobackpacking.com/travel-
guides/kenya/kenyan-food-typical-
traditional-cuisine/
http://buzzkenya.com/kenyan-foods/
http://www.touropia.com/tourist-
attractions-in-kenya/
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1593
36.Weep_Not_Child
http://www.africanbookscollective.com/boo
ks/the-promised-land
http://www.gallardo.net/gen-
t/weight_of_whispers.pdf