Category: People
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It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Or Is It?
We all know what Christmas is about: the pomp and the colour, family, sumptuous meals, the games and the laughter – the most wonderful time of the year. But not if you are the one cooking, and scrubbing, huddling your younger cousins together and simply being turned into the errand girl. That was me in…
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The Rise and Fall of Machakos Bus Station
Traffic on Landhies Road is flowing smoothly when I cross at Nacico Plaza. I have to dash across at the bump, where vehicles are forced to slow down to avoid a gaping pothole. Mali-Mali shops are just opening, dusting off Christmas decorations that are in season, including plastic Christmas trees and lengths of blinking lights…
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Searching For The City’s Vibe: A Photo Essay
On Google Images, Nairobi is a city with stories of a built environment. Occasionally the photo story begins with the silhouette of a zebra or giraffe, but ends with Nairobi’s skyline and expressway – so in essence, according to this widely used search engine, Nairobi is predominantly a concrete jungle. But this city of brick…
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An 80s Christmas in the Village
One problem with adulting, is that we forget what Christmas really meant to our younger selves. I remember Christmas as that time of the year when the sun
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Trapped In Nairobi For Christmas
One of the holidays I will never forget is Christmas of 2015. It left me in a muddle and practically imprisoned in the city. I usually book a ticket around December 15, right after confirming with my employer when we would be breaking for the holidays. But in this particular year, I was convinced by…
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Bashing Dunes In The Kalahari
There’s a wooden sign outside a quad bike spot in Swakopmund that best describes the reason I chose to tour Namibia; it says ‘Desert Explorers’ – and for all of seven days that’s what I was, away from the push and pull of work where I had been impatiently waiting for words to pour out…
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The Magic of Football: Peculiar Rituals From Around The World
Many rituals are performed around the game of football, and especially so around a major contest like the World Cup that recently concluded in Qatar. The juju practitioners are said to have had their hands full for the entire 28 days that the football showcase lasted. It applies to other popular events around the world…
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Drinking in Qatar
“I know how to get cheap alcohol in Qatar,” Brian, my Uber driver said in response to my sympathies for those attending the dry World Cup in Qatar. “As for the quality of the booze, I will let you and your liver be the judge. But mine is still functional.” The rain was thinning out…
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Remembering Harambee Stars’ Talismanic Jujuman
For a man who brought colour and pomp to matches featuring the national team Harambee Stars and his favourite club from western Kenya, AFC Leopards, it was unfortunate that he had to lose his life so crudely and cheaply; hacked to death by a machete-wielding gang outside his house like a common criminal. Isaac Juma…
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Debunk Speaks To Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
YVONNE ADHIAMBO OWUOR is an award-winning author whose novels, Dust and The Dragonfly Sea, have been widely praised for their examination of the entire gamut of human experience, from love and beauty to violence and grief. Her writing journey began when she won the 2003 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story, “Weight…