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Growing Beyond the Pull of the Tribe in Kenya
Seniors Frida Gacheri, left, Eva Njeri and Janet Ndambuki say they are good friends, though from different tribes.
(By Emily Wax -- The Washington Post)
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"It's not like you can apply for a job or take a test using Sheng with your elders," said Kabue, a popular and energetic teacher. Kabue said she hoped her love of teaching African poetry and parables would help bring the girls together without Sheng.
That afternoon, Kabue told her ninth-grade class about her plan to hold an assembly honoring tribal songs.
Moving around the classroom, Kabue said she was disappointed that many teenagers seemed to want to forget their culture and instead adopt a sloppy soup of Swahili and English mixed with Western culture.
"Sheng unites you," she said, "but it frustrates your teacher of English because it's not correct usage.
"If you leave your culture," she added, borrowing a Swahili phrase, "then you are like a slave." Her class repeated the sentence in unison.
The next day, Kabue hosted an oral literature festival in a grassy field near the dorms. She had girls from each tribe form their own group and perform.
"Luos, come to the center, please," she called out. A neat line of girls with colorful African fabric wrapped around their waists started to sing songs about weddings and the hardships of farming, the dangers of malaria and the importance of working hard.
The other tribal groups took their turns, all singing songs with similar messages. The girls clapped each time, even though they couldn't understand each other's parables.
"It is really nice, anyway," Gloria said after her group's turn. "It's a time when everyone can feel included and share their culture."
At the end, though, the girls joined together and performed a hip-hop song in Sheng.
At first, Kabue made a pained face, but then she began to clap along and move her hips to the beat. "Wow, I don't even know those words," she confessed. "It's like they have a whole new language."
Ethnic Balance
The students inside the sprawling stone buildings on the campus of Alliance High and State House Girls wake up each morning at 5:30 and study for four hours every night. They earn among the highest scores on national exams.
