Ndoka ethye kana ka yoa (Changing Rooms)

It was held that feeding Kana ka yoa (children of hunger) would spread famine. In a family of 10, only my Great grandmother, Munanie and her brother survived the Zaa ya ngomanisye (a famine that took place in the 1890s). Left with no other choice, they wandered, trying to find whatever they could to survive. Munanie was eventually invited by a child of her age into a family she came by. She was placed in a room overnight, given food, but forced herself not to eat because she knew she was being observed to know if she was Kana ka Yoa. A few days later she moved to a nearby village where Christian missionaries lived. They welcomed her and provided for everyone, outside the beliefs, taboos or the socially constructed notions of the Kamba people

In this work, I look at the behaviors around human thinking. More specifically, I examine the familiar spaces that are created when traditional or religious beliefs, narrations or fashions are consumed unquestionably as given within a particular culture or time. I am investigating these frameworks in my lineage in comparison to what is happening in my environment today. I observe that even in the face of political, economic, industrial and technological advancements, we are likely to find patterns that repeat in the course of time and that the more time lapses the more we remain the same. The box manifests otherwise, it changes form and size. Changing Rooms is designated as a place to consider the possibilities of formulating an integrated framework of thinking that involves self-engagement, reflective thinking, building understanding and collecting information.

 
Kaloki Nyamai