If you never went to any of the Kenya-Stockholm functions over the week-end, you can now get a quick report of what happened. The evening opened at the “Awuonda Memorial” at Hornstull which was well organized. There was plenty of food and if you have been missing the Kenyan stuff, it was easy making a choice for a fill. The food crew was led by Mrs Hellen Opwapo assisted by Mrs Jane Owili and Mrs Nancy Osumba. It was great work with every imaginable sample including fried tilapia fish.
I arrived late although on time to catch up with the speeches. I had delayed at a “Book talk” because of the curiosity the audience had in topics raised in the book.
I found when Awuonda’s Swedish girlfriend had already left so I had no opportunity to chat with her. Mr. Joshua Oyugi, the Chairperson of the Committee, presented a fantastic eulogy of the late Mr. Awuonda, going through his education, relocation to London, family building and relocation to Sweden before giving the mourners a brief run-down of Mr. Awuonda as a personality.
According to Mr. Oyugi, Awuonda had great difficulties in the process of his education especially after his father, who worked with Kenya Railways, was transferred from Nairobi to Kisumu. Despite his difficulties, Awuonda did manage to leave Kenya to pursue his studies abroad after working briefly with the Daily Nation Newspaper. He wrote for many newspapers as a freelancer, co-produced a documentary on Benga music while he also did research about Lake Victoria in Kisumu. Oyugi said that the product of the research was a well written thesis that needed very little adjustment to convert it into work for a Phd project.
Mr. Oyugi said that Awuonda was a man who knew how to take care of himself and who was also very principled. He said that at times, Awuonda used to go to Elizabeth’s salon to have his hair washed and blow-dried. Lenza Odhiambo, who was at the meeting, confirmed to the audience that this was true. Lenza did some time at the Salon and went further to narrate how Awuonda used to come and take a relaxing posture at the Salon as a matter of past time. Oyugi said that Awuonda used to go to the sauna as part of his program of taking care of himself as the audience listened with attention.
Awuonda: “Life Goes On”
Dr. Otieno Wariaro was then given the privilege to address the mourners in his capacity as the eldest Kenyan who was present and as someone who knew and visited Mr. Awuonda in hospital on several occasions. Daktari said that Awuonda was very strong even though he suffered a lot of pain. He said that the late journalist remained focused while he also managed to write a book review for the January 2009 issue of the prestigious New African magazine.
He said that 12 hours before he died, Awuonda was optimistic and did manage to say that “life goes on”. According to Wariaro, Awuonda had plans of publishing a book titled “The Life of an African Immigrant in Sweden” but death cut his plans short.
I am looking into the possibility of exploring this plan by accessing some written script Awuonda may have written about the book with a view to realizing this noble dream for Awuonda posthumously. It was a very moving brief by Dr. Wariaro who said that the death of Mr. Awuonda was both tragic and unfortunate because it happened on the same day when Obama, a Kenyan-American, was being inaugurated as President of the United States of America.
Others who addressed the mourners were Mrs Hellen Opwapo, Mr. Oyuga Odada, Mr. Ken Aroka and Mr. Gerry Changa Midenyo.
Mr. Odada said that people have a tendency of saying good things after a person has died and encouraged those present to say those things when a person is still alive. He said that whatever good things people were saying after death were of no big help if they were also not said when the person was alive.
Pictures of Mr. Awuonda had been neatly displayed on a table strategically placed at the entrance. They were nice pictures which depicted Awuonda’s early life up to the time he was hospitalized. The Awuonda Funeral Committee had done a great job in remembering this great son of Kenya who had departed.
I did chip in to talk about my contacts with Mr. Awuonda way back in 1995. I told the mourners that the evolution of a writer of Awuonda’s caliber takes time because serious writing is like a call. I said that it is like being called “to serve Jesus Christ”. I then underlined the difficulties of playing the role of “society’s mirror”, noting the inherent conflicts, misunderstandings, disagreements and other dangers in the business. I had the opportunity to discuss some of these issues with Mr. Awuonda.
There was plenty of good music with “DJ Ken” spinning for the night. He had brought with him a heavy music system which kept the crowd jumping on and off the floor to shake stuff. The attendance was moderate and the Kenyan Embassy was represented by Mrs Catherine Kiboi, the administrative Attaché. Despite minor interruptive theatrics during speeches, the event was good while the atmosphere remained somber in unison with the mourning mood.
The event was meant to end at mid-night and as the clock ticked, I left base together with Mzee Gerry Midenyo to find out what was happening at Sätra. We were driven to “The first ever Kenya-video mix” by a good friend who left us right at the entrance of the Redline Disco where a red carpet had been rolled. We were taken in “under tight security” as we joined other Kenyans to have fun for the evening. Once again, we were lucky because the big attraction had not yet started. A brief report will be filed shortly.
Okoth Osewe
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