Cultural exchages with a local tribe

Wow! I think it’s fair to say that yesterday was pretty special and won’t be forgotten by anyone in the team for a while, if ever.  The morning saw us complete the coach education course, but the true highlight was the reception given to us by Dun, our local contact, and his clan at their farm in the afternoon.  I’ll return to the morning session after expanding upon the remarkable afternoon we had.

Dun had invited us over to come and view his farm.  While we were expecting a rural setting, being a farm and all, two miles up the narrow dirt track that lead to it we began to realise how remote our destination was.  I suspect very few 20-seater buses have been up that track before and the paintwork of our wagon took a bit of a battering.  The carriage of local children following us grew the further we went, until we eventually pulled in at a clearing surrounded by five or six mud huts with straw roofs.  “We’re here” proclaimed Dun.  We jumped off the bus, giving a few wrist bands to the kids before being introduced to those members of Dun’s family that were in the immediate vicinity. 

(Dun and David)

Dun proceeded to show us around the village, which included another clearing of around 6 or 7 huts.  He explained how the huts were constructed, using sticks, mud and cow dung, and showed us inside a couple.  They are surprisingly cool inside, given the strength of the sunshine beating down on the exterior.  We were then led to Dun’s father’s house where we were introduced to just some of his family. Dun’s family are part of Bakhasokho Clan from the Samia district in Busia country.  Originally of Ugandan ascendency, Dun’s great grandfather moved the clan to its current location in the 1890s.  The clan has a traditional family structure, with men still allowed to have more than one wife.  The result of this is a huge extended network of family members, many of which were present for our visit, although it did make the introductions somewhat protracted.

(Just some of our entourage)

Carl formally introduced the CWB team and then Dun’s father gave us an official welcome to their home and farmland, making us friends of the clan in a manner that only a clan elder can.  After all of the formalities, we were taken to the hut that acts as a distillery for the local brew, changa.  We were of course obliged to try some.  It’s made from sugarcane, but closely resembled drinking straight vodka.  It certainly packed a punch.  Formalities over, we sat down to lunch as guests of honour.  We were provided with a feast of beef, pork, chicken and ugali*.  The food was excellent and certainly gave us a flavour of traditional local cuisine. 

The highlight of the afternoon came after lunch, as we were entertained by traditional Kenyan dancers.  As they danced and sang, the CWB team were encouraged to take to their feet and participate.  It’s fair to say that most of us lack natural rhythm, with a fair amount of ‘drunk uncle at a wedding’ dancing going on.  Saf’s gyrating hip thrusts in particular had the on looking clanswomen in hysterics.  Fittingly, the dancers also performed a couple of numbers that included HIV/AIDS messages. 

(traditional dancers)

(David and Carl getting some dad dancing out)

After the privilege of having centuries old traditional dances performed in our honour, CWB were asked to do a performance back to the clan.  In true British style, we delved deep into our cultural heritage and responded with a mass rendition of the Hokey-Kokey, involving the 60 or so local kids that had come to investigate the Mazungas.  Thankfully, this was well received by our hosts.  We then presented some gifts to Dun, his mother and one of his grandmothers who had cooked our food and his father as a token of our thanks for the wonderful reception they had put on for us throughout the afternoon.  The whole village had provided an unconditional and heartfelt welcome to us and I think a few of team had to pinch themselves at times to convince themselves of exactly where we were spending our Sunday afternoon.  It was a magical experience to spend an afternoon with a peaceful rural community with a traditional clan structure, strong leaders and completely removed from all of the distractions of city life, particularly for the children.  A far cry from our lives back in the UK.

("ooooooooohhhh the Hokey-Kokeeeey")

Our unforgettable afternoon was preceded by the second part of our coach education session.  Given that it was both a Sunday and a national holiday, we were surprised to see all of the coaches we had trained on Saturday returning.  We got the coaches coaching, getting them to run drills they had been taught the previous day, as well as setting up and running Kwik-Cricket games.  They had obviously retained much of the knowledge we had bestowed, which is reassuring to see.  The majority of the coaches will also be present at our cricket festival on Tuesday, so we hope to see them helping with the tuition of the students taking part.  However, it does at least appear that the first roots of cricket development in this part of Kenya are beginning to take hold, driven by the enthusiasm of the teachers that attended our coach education session. 

(the unconventional coaching technique of getting the new coaches to throw the ball of David)

(the coaches with their certificates)

Callum (also, thanks to Ian for the historical research about the clan’s background)

*local stodgy maize-based stable food