Kenya+Culture


 * General Information || Geography || History || Culture || Political System || Economics || Activities || Teacher's Page ||

__Kenya's Cultural Aspects __

**Education ** Minister for Education: Hon. Sam ONGERI

Education System: 8-4-4 (since 1985) > (8 years primary, 4 years secondary, 4 years college/university) > ﻿ Free Primary Education was introduced in January 2003. Duration of education: 8 years Starting age of education: 6 years Ending age of education: 13 years Enrollment in 2006*


 * || **Female** || **Male** || **Total** ||
 * **Primary** || Gross enrollment rate || 104.4 || 107.3 || 105.9 ||
 * ^  || Net enrollment rate || 76.1 || 74.8 || 75.5 ||
 * **Secondary** || Gross enrollment rate || 48.6 || 52.0 || 50.3 ||
 * ^  || Net enrollment rate || 42.0 || 43.3 || 42.7 ||

**Language of Kenya **

Africans speak in Swahili. Here are a few words we say in English along with the Swahili

English---Swahili **Hello---Jambo ** **Goodbye---Kwaheri ** **<span style="background-color: #000080; color: #808000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 18pt;">Please---Tafadhali ** **<span style="background-color: #000080; color: #808000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 18pt;">Thank You---Asante sana ** **<span style="background-color: #000080; color: #808000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 18pt;">Child---Toto ** **<span style="background-color: #000080; color: #808000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 18pt;">Yes---Ndio ** **<span style="background-color: #000080; color: #808000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 18pt;">No---Hapana ** **<span style="background-color: #000080; color: #808000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 18pt;">Today---Leo ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(Unit 1: Africa. Ready-to-use interdisciplinary lessons & activities for grades 5-12)

**<span style="background-color: #808000; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">Religion, Beliefs, and Traditions **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Religion: **<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Kenya is a country of diversity and so there are also many religious faiths in Kenya but there are no state religion. Christian community in Kenya is present in a significant number.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Traditions and Ceremonies:** Masai is the beginning of the rainy season is observed with a celebration which lasts for several days and includes singing, dancing, eating, and praying for the health of their animals. For the ritual dances, the performers die their hair red, paint black stripes on their bodies, and don ostrich-feather headdresses. The Kikuyu mark the start of the planting season with their own festivities. Their ceremonial dances are often performed by warriors wearing leopard or zebra skin robes and carrying spears and shields. The dancers dye their bodies blue, and paint them in white patterns. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Initiation ceremonies are important rites of passage, and they vary from tribe to tribe. Boys and girls undergo separate rituals, after which they are considered of marriageable age. Kikuyu boys, for example, are initiated at the age of eighteen. Their ears are pierced, their heads shaved, and their faces marked with white earth. Pokot girls are initiated at twelve years old, in a ceremony that involves singing, dancing, and decorating their bodies with ocher, red clay, and animal fat. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Weddings are important occasions throughout the country, and are celebrated with up to eight days of music, dance, and special foods.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Death Beliefs:** At death, Kenyans believe that one enters the spirit world, which has great influence in the world of the living. Many Kenyans believe in reincarnation, and children are thought to be the embodiment of the souls of a family's ancestors.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Would you like to read more? Here is a link that will offer you much more information on the [|Culture of Kenya - traditional, history, people, clothing, traditions, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social, dress, marriage, men, life, immigrants, wedding, tribe, population] []

**<span style="background-color: #808000; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">Holidays **


 * = New Year's Day ||= JAN 01 ||= JAN 01 ||
 * Good Friday || APR 02 || APR 22 ||
 * Easter Monday - Christian || APR 05 || APR 25 ||
 * May Day / Labor Day || MAY 01 || MAY 01 ||
 * Madaraka Day || JUN 01 || JUN 01 ||
 * Moi Day || OCT 10 || OCT 10 ||
 * Kenyatta Day || OCT 20 || OCT 20 ||
 * Jamhuri Day || DEC 12 || DEC 12 ||
 * Christmas - Christian || DEC 25 || DEC 25 ||
 * Day after Christmas, St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day || DEC 26 || DEC 26 ||
 * information gathered from http://www.worldtravelguide.net/kenya/public-holidays

**<span style="background-color: #808000; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">Music ** media type="youtube" key="iW2Ht2fuP2w?fs=1" height="385" width="480" align="center"

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">﻿ (You Tube)


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Kenya music is mainly based on drumming, humming, singing and dance. The National Museums of Kenya exhibits a wide variety of these musical instruments; drums, lyres, flutes and guitars. [[image:dance.jpg width="384" height="254" align="right"]]

**<span style="background-color: #808000; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">Favorite Foods of Kenya ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">The Basic Foods of Kenya include corn, lillet, sweet potatoes, collard greens, and beans as well as peanuts, plantains (bananas) and cassava (tapioca). The single most important food in Kenya is corn. It is the main ingredient that makes the national dish called ugali.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">and food stalls throughout Kenya.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">﻿ ﻿ Ugali--The national dish of Kenya is called ugali, which is a porridge made of cornmeal.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">﻿﻿ Sukuma wiki--is a favorite vegetable dish made of collard greens.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Goat Kebabs--goat meat served on sticks and grilled over an open fire are featured in hotels

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">in Africa are pineapples, bananas, mangos, and papayas. Puddings are very popular as well. A highly prized treat is called Peanut Butter Candy (//Countries and Their Cultures).//
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Fruits and Desserts--African meals are often ended with fresh fruits. The most well known fruits

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Mancala is an African Stone game. It is a game of strategy that requires skill and foresight. It is a popular game in some parts of Africa. In Kenya, the game is called Kigogo. It is believed that the game was played in Egypt at least 3,000 years ago! In the game, two players comptet against each other trying to accumulate as many stones as possible before one of the players clear
 * <span style="background-color: #808000; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">Kenya's Sports and Pastimes **
 * <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Leisure time in Kenya ofter centers around family and friends. There are a few traditions, especially in the villages, that remains popular. One of these traditions involves listening to stories. Storytellers travel from village to village and entertain people with their elaborate tales. The stories may last for an hour or two and many have animals as their main characters.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Games played in Kenya by children include Jacks and Checkers. Simplified versions of Jacks are played with stones and a ball. A well-known board game in Africa is called [|Mancala.] The game, often carved from hollowed out wood, involves distributing counters around the board in a way that can be captured by the opponent. Good Mancala players have considerable prestige and respect within the community.


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">The favorite sport in Kenya is soccer and boys spend much of hteir free time playing the game. In many villages, bundles of rags are used as a ball and any tree serves as a goal post. In cities, regular soccer equipment is used (//Countries and Their Cultures).//



**<span style="background-color: #808000; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">Kenya's Art ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Leather Storage Bags-- Several tribes make handsome leather objects. Leather plays an important role in Africa's culture. Many leather pieces are called saddlebags. The saddlebags carry important and valuable items daily. Many times they are decorated with beads or black geometric designs. [[image:bag.jpg width="185" height="163" align="right" caption="African Saddlebag"]]


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Textured African beads are made from clay and paints. Throughout Africa, both men and women make and wear elaborate jewelry. All ranging from necklaces, bracelets, ankle bracelets, earrings, and nose rings are all popular. Clay and glass beads are the most popular. Usually they develop two types of beads of which they refer to as either Plain Beads or Textured Beads. Plain beads refer to those that have a smooth surface and usually are round and smooth. The textured beads are ones where a portion of the surface has been cut away (//Countries and Their Cultures)//

<span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">References <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 27.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40pt; text-indent: -40pt;">Bloom, D. (1997). Unit 1: Africa. //Ready-to-use interdisciplinary lessons & activities for grades 5-12// (pp. 54-97). West Nyack, N.Y.: Center For Applied Research In Education. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 27.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40pt; text-indent: -40pt;">Culture of Kenya - traditional, history, people, clothing, traditions, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social, dress, marriage, men, life, immigrants, wedding, tribe, population. (n.d.). //Countries and Their Cultures//. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from []

Google Images. (n.d.). //Google Images//. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from http://images.google.com/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 27.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40pt; text-indent: -40pt;">Religion in Kenya. (n.d.). //World Map, Map of the World//. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from http://www.mapsofworld.com/kenya/religion/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 27.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40pt; text-indent: -40pt;">expertvillage. (n.d.). YouTube - Oldest African drumming footage ever. //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.//. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW2Ht2fuP2w

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">APA formatting by BibMe.org. //