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!
#KePlaces
Paukwa is all about storytelling; that’s our superpower. We like to revisit the known and tell you about the otherwise. Our focus as you may have guessed by now is Kenya, and despite being confined to our homes during this time, we thought, what better way to stay active than to take another journey around the country? This time we will be visiting different cities and towns in Kenya.
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!
#KePhotographers
From the time the first images were captured on film in the early 1800s photography has been a way of immortalizing life. Life in pictures. Time in photos. History made immortal. Since its inception the art and science of photography has gone through many iterations: Daguerreotypes, Brownie Boxes, 35mms, Instant Polaroids, DSLRs, iPhones. From separate gadgets that required the flash to be held up high and the photographer ensconced under
Remember the story of...
Haile Selassie Road
Prophets, prophetesses and seers were well-known and highly respected in traditional African culture. Across different Kenyan communities, there were those who foretold of the coming of the British, and with them a long, iron snake that would spit fire. In the 1890s the British government sought to lease fertile lands in the then East Africa Protectorate (present day Kenya and Uganda) to British settlers, particularly around the Lake...
Our audio stories
A note from our team
CULTURE AND HERITAGE
One of our favourite things about writing stories at Paukwa is that there’s always something new to learn about Kenya. Sometimes it's through retelling the narratives that we have come to accept, and other times it's just about appreciating the people and the places that make us proud. We’re constantly challenging the norms and asking ourselves how we can celebrate different facets of Kenyan history and culture. Through our #OnlyInKenya story series, we learnt that one of the reasons that Kenyan communities told stories was to explain the unexplainable. Take the Crying Stone for instance, Ikhongo Murwi. The Luhya community has a story that explains why it cries from time to time. Creativity at its best, we’d say. And that’s just one of many incredible stories from Western Kenya. There are more of those in Paukwa’s repository which have been specially curated to spotlight trailblazers, hidden gems, and creations that hail from this region.
TEAM PAUKWA
A note from our team
THE BEAUTY OF KENYA
Our flag, coat of arms, and national anthem are the symbols of our national unity. Within these symbols lies the story of our nation’s founding, our shared values, and our hope for the future. #KeSymbols takes a closer look at the creative process behind the creation of these unifiers. Have you ever noticed that the Maasai shield features across the board in either visual or lyrical form? There is diversity in every facet of our beautiful nation, from the population’s rich cultural heritage to the vast landscape covered in unique physical features. Not to mention the treasure trove that is our history! #KeSafari is a story journey into these distinctive aspects that make up Kenya, starting off in County 001 and concluding in County 047. Take a journey across Kenya with us via stories or on our Podcast Series.
TEAM PAUKWA
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