MKU Don’s Research Project Exhibited in Jamafest Cultural Fair in Tanzania
JAMAFEST (Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki Festival) is an annual event organised by the six East African community countries with the aim of promoting East Africa’s diverse cultural heritage. It is jointly organized on rotational bases at various countries of the East African community member states which are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Students from Murang’a Teachers Training College were purposively identified through their Physical Education lecturer in June 2019 under the guidance of the traditional games research project leader, Prof. Peter Wanderi of Mount Kenya University.
The purposively identified students were then trained on particular traditional games which they had prior knowledge about. Four out of the initial team of 10 students were selected and participated in the Jamafest Exhibitions in Dar es salaam, Tanzania between 20th and 29th September 2019.
They exhibited 2 traditional games, namely mbirûri / mbira (the Wakikuyu name for the boys’ spinning-cone game, which is also referred to as mbira by the Wakamba, pia by the Wataita and kaungulu by Wameru communities of Kenya). The second game that was exhibited was ochako (a Wagusii name for the girls’ stone tossing game which is also referred to as ndama and kora by Wakikuyu and Wadholuo communities respectively).
The participation of the four students in the 2019 Jamafest in Dar es slam, Tanzania (who were accompanied by their Physical Education lecturer) was a teamwork effort through the support of the Ministry of Culture (Kenya), Mount Kenya University and Muranga Teachers Training College. Prof. Peter Wanderi, the project leader, has extensively researched and published on the traditional games of Africa including publishing a text-book entitled, “The Indigenous Games of the People of the Coastal Region of Kenya. A Cultural and Educational Appraisal”
