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MY PLAYFUL CHILDHOOD

Writer's picture: qweshungaqweshunga

Updated: May 2, 2024

I once told my friend that I was sad on Christmas eve despite the festivity because I

accidentally broke my father's coffee mug. She simply laughed and said, "Anti you have omweshungo".

I am 19 years old but playfulness still bears a significant better of me and my childhood

friends can testify. 

   Growing up we played a number of games like dodgeball also known as kwepena

but since it's 2021 and everyone seems to make everything look fancy, I will write it as

Qwe-pena.Other games included bladder, sonko, police case, ekibobo Kiri mu nyumba,

kappa egoba goba, skipping, suubi baati, wheelbarrow race, simple ring locally called

sipolingi and many others. All these games had a positive impact on my childhood

friends and I while we grew. Aside from the main fact that we played these games for

leisure, we learnt that team building is key to winning in games like suubi baati. 

As I take you on this mysterious journey down my memory lane I hope that you will see

the importance these games had to me. 

 

    Being a child that was learning so much from a world that had so much to offer , the

songs my elder friends sung while we were skipping taught me how to count at least

until fifteen. I recall the song went like "Blue e band e bye bye zero a zero for a zero is a

rap is a rap under , I am a girl these are the things I'm supposed to do, salute for the

king and bow for the queen , close your eyes and count fifteen, 1,2,3,4,5,6....until 15"

I may not have sung the song word for word as it should be but that is what I remember.

        Then, speaking of kwepena, I recall this as a game that once helped me resolve a

conflict with a boy whom we played with called Kizito. Honestly, I do not recall how the

conflict came about but I remember that I was the one in wrong and I was too timid to

apologize to him. So, I thought to myself, the only way I could resolve this was if I

protected him from being hit by the ball while we played kwepena creating an " I will

take a bullet or grenade for you" kind of scenario. However , on the bright side I think it

worked. 


        One of the games that we as kids introduced was "the party" Now I bet you think

that we were some fancy kids that collected kikumi coins among ourselves to buy

balloons and sweets but I am sorry to tell you that it's not what you think. On those days we were to have "the party",two of the eldest kids among us would buy biscuits and I hoping you remember jolly jus. While the elder kids prepared what we called "'the cake" because there is no party without cake, we the younger ones caught grasshoppers to pass time as we patiently waiting for cake. This cake had three main ingredients which were water, biscuits and jolly jus. The biscuits would be crushed on a banana leaf and mixed with jolly jus juice to finally be molded into a tiny three tier cake which we would all feast on . Looking back at this make me realise that games like this fostered unity and togetherness.


        Reminiscing my playful childhood helps me realise that we were children that

created our own happiness and above all games like skipping kept us fit . 

It is unfortunate that the children in this generation are being raised within four walls and now with COVID-19, getting a chance to interact with other children is almost

impossible. That is why they have all adapted to playing games (indoor games only) on

digital devices and watching cartoons 24/7 which may hinder their creative ability from blooming. 

       

   Dear reader, I don't know about you , but participating in this competition has

given me a splendid walk down memory lane so thank you for this opportunity.


From Aluka Helen Manuela.

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