The little grassroots people can change this world“ Prof. Wangari Maathai
KAAAL Conversations an Afrocentric monthly discourse centered on people and organisations impacting lives and making a difference in their communities with art and social transformation ideas, will be holding in March with Dr.Utheri and Eng.Oku Kanayo as special guests.
KAAAL which stands for Kemet Awards for Achievement in African Languages (KAAAL) holds the monthly KAAAL Conversations discourse as a means of keeping African achievers in the front-burner of global discussions and featured renowned African literary icon Prof. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o on its maiden edition.
The next Conversation taking place on the 5th of March by 1800 German time will feature and honour the work of Dr. Utheri and Oku Kanayo the founders of Children In Freedom School. Both of them quit their well-paying jobs at Hewlett Packard and the University of Cambridge respectively, and came back to Kenya to grow a scholarship programme that they had been running for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
What they discovered was that the children were unable to express themselves confidently, were not able to identify their talents and articulate their dreams, lacked critical thinking and were ignorant of the global world.
Oku and Utheri quickly realized that paying school fees was not enough and the children needed to be nurtured mainly in positive Black African identity and self-efficacy; the grounding principles of self-love, dignity, and innovation.
The Afrocentric Children in Freedom School is the first of its kind in East Africa. In this school children are taught about their histories and are taught in different mother tongues. “If you know all the languages of the world, but not your mother tongue, that is enslavement. Knowing your mother tongue, and all other languages too, is empowerment.”(Prof. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o)
Dr. Utheri and Oku Kanayo are decolonizing the mindset of our children at an early age so that they can grown into Utambuzi (Self-awareness), Udadisi (Inquisitiveness), Ubunifu (Creativity), Bidii (Hard work & Excellence) and Ubuntu: “I am because we are”.
Join us for this important conversation virtually via Zoom and Facebook as we discuss on how we as children of Mother Africa can decolonize our education systems
KAAAL Conversations is being hosted by Dr Rahab Njeri and Rose Wambui Kamande founders of KAAAL ; Odilia Anyachi Okonga of International African School and Vamba Sherif the co-founders. International Woman Space, Black Community Coalition for Justice and Self Defense are part of the facilitators of the March Conversation with All Africa Media Network as media partners.
