Today our class was privileged enough to experience a lecture by Dr. Ochieng’ K’Olewe titled “Folktale and Storytelling Tradition from Kenya”. This was by far my favorite guest speaker we have had so far. He was a very knowledgeable and entertaining speaker and was an excellent storyteller. I especially enjoyed his use of the traditional drum and how he got the class involved in singing. His lecture was very engaging and extremely fun. Dr. Ochieng’ K’Olewe enriched our knowledge of folk and fairy tales by providing us with engaging traditional tales from Kenya and through the use of music. What stood out for me was that in Africa the tales are told at night when there is no light so that the voice of the story teller becomes more prominent and the focus is strictly guided to the teller’s voice. Story tellers are prominently Aunts and Grandmothers. We learned that the importance of the tales lie in entertainment, the musical aspect, carries values, beliefs, and taboos, teach morality, meant to celebrate and emphasize the importance of wits, and is used to provide an understanding for the “stuff” phenomenon. Dr. Ochieng’ K’Olewe also mentioned the value of riddles. Riddles can be told anytime of the day, are based on things you can see and teach the importance of language and competence. In Africa the community and society may not be as safe as we would like it to be so the riddles teach children how to use their wits to outsmart any threats they may come across. They must learn to think on their feet and out do others.
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