China meets Kenya through writing

Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro has said Kenyan and Chinese ties are deepening and widening. Presiding over a writing competition awards ceremony at the College of Insurance in Nairobi yesterday, the speaker who was accompanied by Kericho Senator Stephen Sang, said a reading culture and writing is important for development of a country.

The My China/Kenya Story Writing contest launched in March attracted 328 entries, where the 32 best were selected and published in a book bearing the two languages.

“The presidents of the two countries have been exchanging visits, which have borne infrastructural developments in Kenya, most importantly the Standard Gauge Railway,” said Ethuro adding that “but this relationship cannot only be built physically, but also through personal ties and thoughts on paper.”

And that is what the contestants strived to communicate through their entries, with 201 English entries and 127 Chinese. The participants were drawn from the Chinese community, companies, media houses and Confucius institutes in Kenya.

The Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, Liu Xianfa said the participating stories have a variety of forms and themes, including narrations, argumentative writings, proses and modern poems.

“All these stories, centering on the main theme have expounded from different angles the writers understanding and perspectives of the other country’s history and culture and customs,” said the Ambassador. The Confucius Institute Chinese Choir of University of Nairobi inspired imagination with their rendition of the evergreen Kenyan song of international repute, Jambo Kenya, of the Hakuna Matata fame.

Ruth Njeri’s story, My China Journey and William Shang Wen Giang’s Kisumu is my Life took the first spot. The contest was organised by the Chinese Embassy in partnership with Kenya-China Economic and Trade Association and Kenya Overseas Chinese Associations in Kenya.