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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
19 views8 pages

Trabalho Inglês.

Information about kanya

Uploaded by

tobiasoroquette
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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produced top world athletes for many decades

No one really greets each other with “Jambo” anymore. In fact, use that word and
everyone automatically knows you are a tourist or foreigner. This is not a good thing if
your intention is to blend in with the locals.

Opt for “kawaida” (normal) forms of greetings like “niaje” for younger people or “habari”
when you are addressing an older person. Alternatively, just go with “hi” as English is
one of the official languages in the country, and you will be greeted back accordingly.

2. Alcohol is a way of life

After a long day at work, many Kenyans will flock their local bars or nightclubs in
Nairobi for a cold beer while catching up with friends or to watch a game. Kenyans also
love to make an alcoholic drink they call “Dawa”. This is a cocktail whose main
ingredient is vodka. Alcohol brings Kenyans together.

If there are major football games (especially European premier league games) on
television, you will be sure to find Kenyans crowded in night spots enjoying their
alcohol and “Nyama choma” while watching these games. And just like they love to talk
about politics, you can never miss a Kenyan who wants to talk about football, over a
drink or two.

4. Polygamy is legal in Kenya


Kenya’s parliament passed a bill that allows its men to marry multiple wives in March of
2014. This bill that was officially signed into law, finally recognized what had for a long
time been a cultural practice in the country.
The bill was supported by many male Members of Parliament, and it allows Kenyan
men to take more wives without consulting existing spouses.
The passing of the bill was met with anger by female members of parliament who
stormed out of the building in protest and disgust. However, with the bill having being
passed anyway, polygamy is now a common practice in the country and it is done
openly among many Kenyans especially in the rural communities, and has become a
tradition.
6. For the Luo Community, mourning the dead is an
elaborate affair
Mourning the dead is an extravagant ceremony among the Luo people of Kenya. The
Luo have explained this as a way of showing respect to the dead, a final befitting send-
off. When a Luo dies, mourning starts immediately, and can last for several days or
even weeks. The mourning is defined by singing and dancing that is meant to chase
away the spirits of death.
The extravagance of a mourning ceremony will depend on many factors including the
gender of the deceased, the age, marital and social status, the circumstance of their
death, and even the area they come from.
The family of the bereaved will go ahead and even hire “professional” mourners to liven
up the mourning in a bid to avoid gossip and embarrassment to the family if the event
doesn’t appear lively enough.

7. For the Maasai Community, Enuoto, an event of shaving


the Morans, is a once in a lifetime ceremony
The Maasai are one of the most popular tribes of Kenya especially with tourists, as
they are the one group that has maintained many of their traditions.

In our article the top 10 Facts about the Maasai People of Kenya, I went into detail to
explain many of their traditions. They do however have many more traditions, one of
which includes the shaving of the Morans (Warriors), an event that sees young Maasai
warriors transition into senior community warriors. This event is referred to as “Enuoto”.
Enuoto is a once in a lifetime ceremony that is performed every ten years.
Before the ceremony, the Morans are not allowed to do things independently from their
age mates. On the day of the ceremony, the Moran age-set are donned with ochre-red
plaited hair, colourful beads, and painted faces, and they arrive at the ceremony
carrying sticks and humming traditional songs. They then go to a set river where they
wash the red ochre paints off their hair and faces, and then head back to the venue of
the ceremony. Here, they get their hairs shaved, usually by their mothers, after which
the “Oloibonis” (community elders) spits on their faces as a sign of blessings.
-Adumu, a tradicional dança dos saltos Maasai
Entre os guerreiros Maasai quem pula mais alto ganha atenção das jovens. Adumu is
the world famous traditional jumping dance performed by the iconic Maasai tribe of
Tanzania and Kenya. In the Ewangan Village of the Maasai Mara National Reserve,
young Maasai warriors, wearing their colorful kangas, demonstrate the adumu, their
world famous jumping dance, probably performed for visiting tourists. The adumu is
part of the Eunoto, a long-observed ritual coming of age ceremony that includes 10
days or more of singing, dancing, and traditions. It may sound easy, but reaching
heights like that in jumping requires a lot of strength and physical conditioning. But why
do they jump so high? Among Maasai warriors, the one who jumps the highest wins the
attention of young girls.

8. For the Kipsigis Community, land is given to their


unmarried
Unlike many Kenyan communities whose cultures do not allow their women to be given
land, the situation is different when it comes to the Kipsigis community. In this
community, women can be allocated land by their parents or brothers in the case
where they fail to get married. When a woman has reached her prime age and with no
potential suitors chasing after her, her family is allowed to give her a piece of land to
settle on where she can farm and build a house for herself. If she gets children, they
are the ones that inherit that piece of land in the event that she passes on.

Because their are diferente tribes there are many types of food

Entenda-se que a base alimentar queniana é de farinhas, grãos, ovos, óleo, leite,
tomates, coentros e açúcar de cana. Isto porque é o que a terra dá e o mais acessível
para todas as camadas sociais.

-sukuma wiki

The ingredients are fried with tomatoes, red onions and spices, and it’s best eaten with
your hands.

-Mandazi

The ingredients typically used to make mandazi include water, sugar, flour, yeast, and
milk. Coconut milk is also commonly added for sweetness. Basically it’s a fried bread.

For the Bukusu Community, traditional circumcision is still the


norm
Circumcision (cutting off of foreskin) is a rite of passage for many Kenyan men. The
way it is done varies with whether you live in the city or in the village, and it also varies
greatly from one community to the other.

Circumcision however becomes more interesting when you start to compare how
different communities do it.

For the Bukusu, a sub-tribe of the Luhya community, the young initiates (usually boys
between the ages of 12 to 14) are woken up at 3 am in the morning, and escorted to a
river. They are then made to strip and stay in the water until their bodies become
numb. Mud is then applied all over their bodies. The entire village then gathers around
them (no women are allowed close to the river) as they stand with their feet firmly on
the ground, eyes facing the sky, and arms resting on their sides as they are being
circumcised.
During the circumcision, you are not allowed to flinch, wince or cringe, because by
doing so, you will be committing the ultimate form of cowardice and you then become
the laughing stock of the village. Additionally, no girl will want to marry you to avoid the
reputation of having married a coward. Unbelievable? Believe it!

For the Luo Community, wife inheritance is still a thing


There is a Luo proverb that says “Dhako chogo morudore gik libamba jok modong’to
gweno”. This translates to “A woman is the middle bone that the clan chews after her
husband’s death”, and is the proverb from which wife inheritance is built.

This might be shocking to you as a tourist visiting a community like this, and it is
demeaning to women (in my opinion), but it is actually a tradition that has been there
for a very long time.

The dangers of this tradition is the spread of HIV/AIDs infections among a big number
of members of the community, which has seen many families lose their parents,
children, or siblings, leaving homes deserted.

Sport
The national sport of Kenya is football.

As in many countries, it is football that grabs the national sport trophy in Kenya. The
main reason for that is the poverty of the country, and football is famous for being very
easy to play. Everyone, even the disadvantaged kids, can enjoy playing and
sometimes even watching football in Kenya.

Cricket

Cricket is also a popular sport in Kenya because of English influence.

Music
The music of Kenya is one of the most diverse in the continent. It is an assortment of
popular music forms, in addition to multiple types of folk music derived from the
country's more than 40 ethnic groups. Some of the most popular genres are Benga,
Hip-hop, Reggae, Rock, Taarab and Folk music.

Tarab. Taarab, meaning “having joy with music” in Arabic, is a popular genre in Kenya
and Tanzania that illustrates influence from the Middle East, South Asia, Sub-Saharan
Africa, and beyond.

The guitar is the most popular instrument in the Kenyan popular music. Guitar rhythms
are very complex and include both native beats and imported ones, especially the
Congolese cavacha rhythm; music usually involves the interplay of multiple parts and,
more recently, showy guitar solos.
Lyrics are most often in Swahili or native languages, like Kalenjin though radio will
generally not play music in one of the ethnic languages.

Benga

Benga music has been popular since the late 1960s, especially around Lake Victoria.
The word benga is occasionally used to refer to any kind of pop music: bass, guitar and
percussion are the usual instruments.

Kenya Music Festival is an annual event under the Ministry of Education that
identifies and nurtures artistic talents in music, dance and elocution.

The Kenyan National Music Festival takes place in Nairobi, Kenya at the Kenyatta
International Conference Center or Jumba Kuu la Mikutano la Kimataifa la Kenyatta.
This festival happens in August every year, and is a time when the entertainment
sector enjoys a rise in popularity.

The music champions, those who took top honors in the previous series of
competitions, are invited to perform in their respective categories of music and dance.
These categories include set pieces, traditional songs, choral music, choral verses, and
original songs. This event is organized primarily for the benefit of students, to give them
a chance to display their talents and the hard work they have dedicated to their musical
and artistic abilities.

The winners of each category of the festival are then invited to give their performance
before the president at the state house. Their performance is crowned as Kenya's
cultural choir of the year, known in Swahili as Kwaya ya Mwaka ya Utamaduni Nchini
Kenya, and they are also invited to entertain guests during certain national holidays
and events.

Clothes
Kenya doesn't really have a national dress that characterizes traditions, ethnic tastes,
culture and rituals of the whole country. Mostly that's because of more than 70 ethnic
communities (Kikuyu, Luo, Luhya, Kamba, Kalenjin, Masai etc.) who live in Kenya.
They all have some unique traditions in clothing. Though some clothes and fabrics can
be called traditional for Kenya.

Here are some typically Kenyan pieces of clothing.

Kitenge is very colorful and bright, so it is popular not only in Kenya but in many other
African countries. This dress is not considered to be an official Kenyan clothing, but it is
widely popular in this country. People often wear kitenge in ordinary life, for ceremonies
and non-official events.

Another part of Kenyan national dress is "khanga". It is a piece of cloth about 1.5
meters (4 ft 11 in) by 1 meter (3 ft 3 in). Its pattern consists of different sayings printed
on the fabric. These sayings are in Swahili or English. Women in Kenya wear khanga
around the torso and waist.
One of the most well-known in Kenya and around the world tribes called Masai people
has its traditional clothing. This dress is also considered to be the national attire of
Kenya. The Masaiare dress consists of usually red kanga and a lot of bright
decorations: necklaces, bracelets, and bead headdresses. Masai men wear a red-
checked Shuka (it is a classic Masai blanket) and carry a distinctive ball-ended club.

When to talk about traditional footwear in Kenya we should name the sandals made of
natural materials. They're smooth and convenient. Sometimes pieces of motorcycle
tires are used as a sole.

Kenyan people wear very short haircuts; they often shave their heads – same men and
women. And very often men dye their hair with red ochre. Drawings on a face are very
popular, Kenyans do that for ceremonies and other important events.

In general, the traditional dress of Kenya has lots of variants, because almost every
tribe has their own idea how the national attire should look. Still, Kenyan national
clothing is very bright, colored and heavily decorated.

Curiosities

5. Kaa chonjo” is a phrase you need to understand


“Kaa chonjo” means always be alert. You have to always be alert when in Kenya, for
many reasons. I am listing it as one of the 10 Kenyan traditions you should know
about because being always alert in Kenya has become a way of life.

The first African woman to win a Nobel


peace prize was Kenyan
Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to win a Nobel peace prize in
2004. Sadly, she passed away in cancer in 2011. But she will always be
remembered.

More than 60 languages are spoken in


the country
There are many ethnic groups in Kenya and most of them speak their own
languages besides the two official languages of Swahili and English.
Agriculture is an important part of the
country’s economy
A majority of the locals work within agriculture. Coffee is one of the most valued
of Kenyan exports. Other agricultural exports include tea and flowers.

Coffee is big business in Kenya, and every year more than 110,187,000 is
produced and exported to various countries, including the US.

In fact, it is so valuable for the locals that most Kenyans don’t drink coffee, but
instead, they will have a cup of tea. Only a small amount of the coffee produced
is sold domestically.

There are two distinct seasons


The climate can be divided into two distinct seasons, namely rainy season and
dry season. The nature will be very green and lush right after the rain period is
finished.

Education is free
Primary education is free and compulsory. Second education can also be taken
without payment, but it’s not mandatory. Primary education is normally from the
age of 8 until 14.

Mount Kenya is the second-highest mountain in


Africa
Another interesting fact about Kenya is that after Mount Kilimanjaro in
neighbouring Tanzania, Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa.

Kenya’s national animal is the East African Lion


The national animal of Kenya is the East African lion, a species currently
considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The African Lion is one of the Big 5, joining other magnificent African animals
including the African leopard, the African elephant, the Cape buffalo, and the
rhinoceros.

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