Author: Teddy Warria
Publisher: Teddy Warria
Email: warria@africastalking.com
A story about the Luos, Africa by an African is what Teddy Warria’s latest book is all about. Aptly titled Son of the Nile, the well-travelled author has weaved his story through poems to share his genealogy, Luo heritage and history of the Nilotes whose original home was in South Sudan before their ancestors chose to travel down the longest river in the world to settle in parts of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania around Lake Victoria, the second largest lake in the world.
Indeed, like former United States First Lady, Michelle Obama, says: “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.” And it is that spirit that Warria narrates his story poetically and interesting in the easy to read 260-page book that was launched on International Poetry Day, in March, at a colourful evening event in Nairobi.
Longest river
According to Warria’s eldest brother, Rev. Dr. Dan Warria: “His story is also my, my family’s, my people, is yours and everybody’s. He traces his origin with respect to his roots and family’s ethnologically among and beyond the Luos, an indigenous folk that is mainly encountered in different east African families.”
In the entire story, River Nile that flows northwards from East Africa across Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt before flowing into the Mediterranean Sea, plays a major role for the Luos (also called Jo Ramogi or Nyikwa Ramogi), and in that regard also for Teddy’s narrative.
The iconic river is over 6,000 Km, long and is over 3Km, wide and 20 metres deep and is famous due to its historical diversity and several major cities like Jinja, Juba, Khartoum, Aslam and Cairo along its shores.
Poetry at its best
It is interesting how Teddy employs poetry to beautifully narrate the dynamics of the different inter-personal relationships. Says Rev Warria: “The story/narrative before us requires some concentration to fully fathom the content, how everybody and everything is related to each other and interwoven. The train of thought in this book is well presented; the book is poetically refreshing and fills one with joy to read.”
Son of the Nile is a testament of the author’s life story with quotable quotes from the who-is-who in the world with accompanying high quality photos of him with some of the personalities like President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, current United States President Joe Biden and his predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton plus former South African President, Nelson Mandela among others.
The book also gives the author’s exploratory account of his life experience as influenced by many other narratives which truly gives us a sense of who he is, his view of his activist-philanthropic life and influential relationships.
Son of the Nile is essential for anyone interested in the use of narratives in the fight for social justice especially in Africa, says Ajwang Warria, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
In the foreword by Anne Martine Kappel, Founder of True North Leadership, described the book as a testimony of love: “It is the testimony of Ubuntu, of our inter connectedness. The universe is a place Teddy invites you and me to step into the world of possibilities, a world where we can create synergy of meeting and action together.”
Testimony of love
The refreshing must-read poetry book is broken down into several chapters under the following titles: Prologue – Wuod Luo; I am From the Nile; Map of the Nile in Ancient Egypt; The River Nile Map, location and Coordinates; Part II, Nyithind Luo – In Praise of the Children of Luo; Pakruok (praising oneself); and The Epilogue – poetry, truth-telling and reconciliation.
Teddy quotes one of his heroes, former South African President, Nelson Mandela saying: “In the life of any individual, family, community or society, memory is of fundamental importance. It is the fabric of identity.”
Throughout the book, the poem is the centerpiece and is inspirational for each of us to tell our story. Like an immersion into an entire life’s work, bringing with it poems by other composers, insights from key gatherings, the perspective of Teddy told by others, other stories, The Luo community Documentary, and the photos to also help readers to understand how they too can tell their own stories.
So far, the book has received very positive reviews. President and Creative Director of Climate Advocates Unidas, David Shiverick Smith says: “My years living in Kenya as a young man forever changed by life’s arc. My first reception of Son of the Nile was via audio recording. I relaxed and closed my eyes, and was taken on a deeply spiritual journey, the voice of Mr Teddy Warria washing over me like a dep and might river. Thank you for the deeply affecting experience of this significant work.”
On his part, Francis Okomo-Okello, the chairman of TPS East Africa PLC (Serena Group of Hotels), says: “Teddy’s poetic prose, simple in its form and yet sophisticated in its conceptualization and execution, speaks to the power of human connectedness based on shared universal human values including modesty, gratitude, courage, empathy, curiosity and collaboration and how these values could dovetail into human development."
Teddy is an African entrepreneur, author and youth advocate. He is passionate about human development and works with the youth of Africa; he is a founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Africa 2.0 in Kenya. He has also authored the introductory biography of the late Sarah Ogwel Onyango, the grandmother of former US President Barack Obama (2014); and also former Cabinet Minister Susan Wakhungu-Gichuki’s ‘s biography, Wisdom of the Elders – Personal Reflections of Over 70 Kenyans Who Have Lived Through Changing Times (2014)
In his parting shot, the author says: “Time is like a river. You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment in life.”
Comments