Apollo Joshua Ayienga Awori is one of the sons of the prominent Awori family. Joshua and his siblings dominated various disciplines in the country and left indelible footprints in academia, politics, commerce, sports, engineering and even journalism.
Born to parents who taught for a living, Joshua was tutored by his mother from his early years and when he was of school-going age, his parents enrolled him in the best of schools.
In the over eighty years that he lived, Joshua saw the tides of Kenyan culture change with time and influence from pre-colonial period all the way through the turbulent colonial times to the fast-paced and ever-changing 21st century.
So, by virtue of age and experience, Joshua rightfully earned the title of elder. He was honoured with the privilege of sharing his personal reflections in the compilation Wisdom of the Elders for this matter. While concluding his reflection, Joshua warned us sternly on the danger of neglecting our history, tradition and the wise ways of our elders in a pitiful utterance, “forgetting our heritage is like forgetting ourselves. We become empty shells with nothing to refer back to.”
Over ten years since Awori made this stark reminder, the growing impact of technology-enabled globalisation confirms his fears on the deterioration of our traditions while serving as a reminder to us to treasure our cultural values and take pride in our heritage, which has guided us this far.