THE MWAMOGUSII COMPOUND

THE MWAMOGUSII COMPOUNDT

It started on the 3 April,2020.It was established because they wanted to preserve the culture of the Abagusii and to teach competence based curriculum lessons.Henri gardens and cultural resort centre derived its name from the father of the director of the resort whose name is Henri.The resort entails a museum,bird sanctuary,biogas plant,fish pond,bee keeping,swimming pool,indigenous plants and competence based curriculum programs.The importance of keeping the Gusii culture is to remain relevant and to preserve it for future generations.

THE MWAMOGUSII COMPOUND

It entailed:

Egesa which is the father’s house,Esaiga is the boy’s house,Irungu is a place where girls slept,Obweri is the cow’s homestead.

In the past a Gusii man was using sticks to count his animals.Aman would know if one of his cows was missing if one stick would remain in his hand after all the cows had entered the Obweri.

INSIDE THE ENYOMBA

At the center of the ENYOMBA there was a hole (Egetukora) which had a center pot (Ekeguru) supported by Entereko (where the pot was kept) .The pot contained alcohol (Ebusa) and old men used to sit around the it to drink the Ebusa using the Gusii straw (Orokore) which had a filter called Egeseso.

The Henri gardens and cultural resort center was established on 3 April,2020. The main reason for establishing it was to host indigenous birds, bees, plants and cultural artifacts. It also facilitates CBC programs. the farm sit on 20 acres with evenly distributed resources that is; bee keeping, fish rearing, livestock rearing, a biogas digester that produces bio-energy. Henri is a family name. The farm is owned individually but looks forward to getting government funds.

Henri gardens has a manager by the name Johnes Otuoma Momwacha.We we’re taken through by the steward of the cultural sector Vincent Onsisa.We were shown the households, utensils, defense weapons and musical instruments. There were different huts for different people.The hut had different seating positions for different people.He showed us how to grind millet.After there we left to the farm of bees.He told us the life cycle of a bee.

We were also taught about fish rearing mainly about Tilapia. We were given the feeding hours of the fish of which are morning and evening session. They reared turkeys, ducks, hens, dove and geese. In livestock rearing there were types of pigs e.g guinea pig, there were rabbits, cows and goats.

The visit was really enjoyable, we learnt a lot on the Kisii culture.

Prepared by: Thomas, Grace, Diana, Cleophas, James.

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-The religion of Hinduism developed all across the Indus River Valley civilization as far as 3500 B.C.and spread throughout the region with the nomadic movement of the Aryan people that came through.They had hymns called Vedas helped to preserve the ideas and structure of the religion.

-The Hindus Trinity gods combine to create ,preserve ,destroy and re -create the world to maintain an eternal cycle.They consisted of 64 gods of which were Brahma-who was believed as the creator of the universe,Vishnu-was believed as the preserver of the universe and Shiva-was believed as the destroyer.

-As we were continuing with the discovery of the origin of Hinduism,we made a visit to Shir Sachiyay Mala Temple II which was established by the parents of Nishey (their son ).The establisher choose goddess SACHAIMAA (the holy mother) to be their goddess to worship.The main role of this goddess is to protect their families.

-They have specific day of worshipping which are Tuesday and Saturday.They usually perform puja In Shrine created at home or temple.They also perform yoga in which they practice mental and physical calming to get closer to their god.

-Their goddess consist of HANUMAN DADA-god of strength and power.Their society is based on Varnas ,or social groups ,which have the duty to work in harmony .Historically this was called Caste System and also include the untouchables,an out-casted group.

-On the other hand they had groups of people such as Brahmins(priests and teachers), Kshatriyas(rulers and soldiers), Vaishya’s(merchants and farmers) and Shudras(manual workers).However the Vedas say time and life move in a cycle ,almost like in a circle.After death, a person’s soul leaves the body.It is reborn, or reincarnated.The soul returns to earth and enters a new body.It could be either in person, an animal or even a plant.This constant cycle of birth and rebirth is known as Samsara.Each new birth is measured by Karma.Good acts give a person good karma.

–For one to become a Hindu he/she must be a pure vegetarian,meaning they don’t consume meat,fish or any other animal product.Although cows are believed to be sacred.One Hindu goddess is even usually shown in the form of a cow.

In conclusion,Hinduism is totally different from Christianity.

-Published by LEILAH,WALLACE,AMOS,HENRY,FRANKLINS AND ELKANA.

Their are two theories that explain the origin of gusii. The modern theory and traditional theory.Modern theory explain that they came from Congo forest.Traditional theory explains they came from Egypt.From Egypt they came some men called,Mogusii,Mokuria,Momeru and Moragori.Mogusii and his brothers arrived at Kisumu.Here at Kisumu Mogusii is mother died.She died at chicken coop .In kisii gesumu.Gesumu was a small house situated beside a big house.After she was buried he left the place.They named the place Kisumu after the Kisii word gesumu.Here at Kisumu their were kids born at the port they were named as Kemunto and those born at the other side of lake Victoria were named as Kwamboka.Mogusii went to Kabianga,here at Kabianga they planted crops and kept livestock.As they were at this place their livestock started dying and their children. They left the place and named it Kabianga from the word(ka bianga).They went to Ekorongo.Here at Ekorongo Mogusii had six houses namely;Mogetutu,Monyaribari,Monchari,Mobasi,Mobachoge and Mogirango.Mogetutu had only female children.Her cowives loughed at her and she decided to leave them and go away.She took her youngest daughter is dowry and went.She arrived at a place called Bogisero.At Bogisero she married and gave birth to a son.Her relatives requested to come and visit the baby but Mogetutu said the baby was too young.Mogetutu always said in Kisii the baby was enkundi.Finally it was time to visit the baby. They came and enjoyed themselves.Now it was time ,the baby was brought.Her reratives said the baby was too big. In Kisii they said (ritutu).At Bogisero crops grew very well. The relatives were given a lot of food and went back to their homes. They started visiting Mogetutu and live their children there.that is why Bogetutu is known as aplace of all types of Kisii.

A long time ago,It was believed that Mogusii lived in Egypt (misri).He migrated from there with the Abakuria (omokuria), Abuluya (omoragori) and Ameru (omomeru).They carried wheat on their way.They went to Sudan,Uganda and then to Kenya.They settled in Kano plains where the mother of Mogusii lived in gesumu. She died there and the place was called Kisumu.

Children who were born at port Kisumu (ekemunto) were called Kemunto and those who were born during crossing the lake were called Kwamboka. They went to Sondu , Ahero and then to Kabianga.They settled there because the place had a tree called (Omosabakwa) which showed that the place was fertile. Mogusii married there six wifes namely momachoge , monyaribari , mogirango , mogetutu , mobasi and mochari. Momachoge brought bomachoge , monyaribari brought nyaribari , mogirango brought bogirango , mogetutu brought bogetutu , mobasi brought bobasi and mochari brought bochari.

Animals and people started dying and they called the place kabianga . They went to Ikorongo and settled there.Mogetutu did not have male children so she moved from there to Bogisero. She married another woman who had a male child (enkundi) and the name Nyakundi originated from there.

The tools that mogusii was using were as follows. A traditional straw (orokore) which was used by men in drinking alcohol from the same pot. It had a sieve (egeseso) for filtering the alcohol during drinking. A pot (enyongo) which was used for fetching water and it was where men drank alcohol from.Egetono which was used for cooking. A shield (enguba) which was used for protection during war.A Thermos (omochere) which was used for keeping drinks.Omonyonjo which was used for keeping wheat. A traditional stool (egeteni) which was used for sitting.

My name is Cleophas Momanyi Ombese.My first two names are driven from my uncle who died long time ago.He was the second born in his family but the first one to die.His name was cleophas Momanyi Osano.Osano was his father’s name.As I was told the name Momanyi was derived from the word Omomanyi which means a Maasai person in our local language.My Village name is called Obote Obichage simply because it was named after a politician.

Continue reading “Meaning of my Name” →

My name is Nyaboke Catherine Bichage 2021. I was born in Keumbu at a place called Eremo which means a place of brave people. My first name Catherine,i was named it after the death of grandmother’s mother which means Intelligent woman.

The second name Nyaboke, i was given it by grandfather who died long time ago.

My kisii name is mongina. The name mongina means the First Lady to be born in a family.I was given this name after the death of my grandmother. My village is called matangi. The word matangi came to existence when the forefathers discovered that the place was watery and the collection of water was done through tanks now they came up with the word.

My name is James Anyoka. The name Anyoka was given to me which was a name of my grandfather Was given the name because he was a hard working man who always made good decisions. I come from a village called Eremo which means land of brave people who avoided idleness by working had in farming and kept animals