Paukwa? Pakawa!
Paukwa is a place dedicated to positive stories about Kenya. Our story house is named for the Swahili word that is an invitation to a story – Paukwa. It’s an age- old term, well known across East Africa. Paukwa invites one to remember the joy of stories from their childhood days and to get lost in new, familiar or unknown ideas about the daily things that surround us.
Each day ordinary Kenyans are pushing our nation forward. As volunteers, as SME owners, as creatives, teachers, farmers, counsellors, techwizards and more. There is a bigger story as they build our nation each day through their tenacity, hard work, positive attitude, search for excellence, and sheer hustle.
Through their efforts we all grow.
At Paukwa, we shine a spotlight on the everyday builders of our nation and the history we almost forgot.
This digital storybank celebrates memory, culture, modernity, but most of all, the positive. Dive in and discover a story of Kenya you didn’t know you never knew!
#KeExcellence
Kenyans - we are a people of ingenuity, tenacity, hard work, serious compassion, great humor, academic and sporting prowess. We kinda know it, but we often take for granted just how special we are. It may be our natural tendency to be modest about our successes - we prefer to say we are just surviving even when we’ve just closed the deal of a decade or when we're

Remember the story of...
Remember the story of...
Balmoi Abe: Building Sustainable Futures for Communities in Kenya
SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities, aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Some of its indicators include strengthening efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage, and to ensure access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing. Balmoi Abe, a trained architect and the Founder and Executive Director of Mambo Heritage, aligns with these indicators through his work. He...
Our audio stories
A note from our team
VALUE-BASED EDUCATION
One of the greatest joys of working at Paukwa is the energy that our team exudes and the enthusiasm we have to tell the stories of Kenya creatively. In February 2020 we embarked on a new journey – to create content for children. These are stories of ordinary Kenyans who have chosen to live their lives with purpose, are doing their best with what they have, or striving each day to give back to their communities in myriad ways. Our value-based education initiative gave us the opportunity to bring these stories to life through the Hummingbird Tales animated series and accompanying guidebooks. Each Kenyan child sitting at home or school can learn the values that promote our collective wellbeing and citizenry. So, take some time today or this week to share a screen (whether big or small) with a child or children and enjoy with them stories of Kenyans showing up and building the 254.
TEAM PAUKWA
A note from our team
WOMEN WE ARE INSPIRED BY
Celebrating the achievements of women in all spheres has been one of our key focuses. The word celebrate comes from the Latin word celebrare meaning to assemble and honour. Gathering is core to the etymology of the word celebration. It means celebrating women must include meaningfully cultivating spaces to acknowledge and honour each other. The poignancy of this kind of fellowship has not been lost on us. At Paukwa, it has meant reflecting on journeys of that show the complexity of life that is so fulfilling when one stays the course. The awe-inspiring tenacity and unbridled excellence of Kenyan women quite simply demand celebration as we have shown in out collection of #KeFemaleFirsts. We commit to holding space to recognise, embrace and speak life from the phenomenal women that inspire us.
TEAM PAUKWA
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