goes international high school choir iletters war on corruption should start at home we should try...

What You Say?

Kicker??????????

Page 8Sports

It was a rare opportunity for Nairobi’s State House Girls Choir to showcase their youthful talent when their song An African Woman was played last Sunday in South Africa as the world

celebrated Mothers Day.

PAGE 3 >>

High school choir goes international

Free with Sunday Nation

Sunday Nation May 15, 2011

Page 6Did You Know?

Page 5 Book Review...

By ANTHONY NJAGI

PAGE 3 >>

May 15, 2011sunday nation ��1

lettersWar on corruption should start at homeWe should try our best to get rid of cor-ruption in Kenya. We can do this by teach-ing our children at school and at home how to be honest. Parents and teachers should introduce strict rules and punish those who are not honest.This will help us have a generation of citi-zens who will not engage in corruption.I also want to suggest that young people should lead Kenya, not the old people we currently have. Young people should therefore be encouraged to run for presi-dent at a young age, just like Obama did.If we do what I have suggested, I believe Kenya will be a better place for me and you. Let’s all work as a team because unity is strength.Sharon Njoroge, Juja Preparatory School

Be careful about what you singAll music should be good but that is not always the case. You can dance to any beat, but you should not listen to just any words in a song. I believe music should entertain, inform and educate society. It is therefore disap-pointing when musicians sing songs full or dirty lan-guage and insults.

Before you sing a song, be sure you under-stand the meaning of the words. Some-times the words are slang or foreign. You could be repeating insults because you do not understand the language.Try and find out what the words mean before you sing them.Rukwaro Wambugu Ruzz.

Work at being positiveSometimes one faces a lot of challenges in life and it is easy to give up. One may even get the idea that it’s too late to change things when a things go wrong or mistakes are made.If one is lucky, you will come across positive people who will encourage you. Watch out for those who may give advise and make your situation worse.Having a strong spirit, I believe, is the medicine to negative thoughts.Nurture a positive spirit. You have to start by believing yourself and striving to do the right thing always and if you make a mis-

take, rather than see it as a negative thing, view it as a lesson learnt.

My message to the youth is that no matter what challenge we go through, we should never give up,

instead press on and strive to live positively, think positive and

above all, do things in a posi-tive way.

Purity W Mburu

pen pals

ELIJAH GICHUE, Mikunduri Secondary School P.O.BOX 155 Tigania East , Age: 19, Hobbies: listening to music, watching movie, swimming, and reading novels. Would like penpals from Denmark, Brit-ain, South Africa, Australia and Jamaica.

WINNIE ALUOCH Madiani Secondary School P.O. BOX, 31 Rarieda. Age: 19 Hob-bies: drawing, reading novels and danc-ing. Would like penpals from, Australia, USA , South Africa and Sweden.

AGNES WAYUA, Masinga Girls Second-ary School P.O. BOX, 7 Masinga . Age: 16 Hobbies: making fiends, dancing, listen-ing to music and reading novels. Would like penpals from Japan, USA, Britain, England and Sweden.

CAROLYNE MUNYWOKI, Bura Girls, P.O. BOX 81 Taita -Taveta. Age: 16. Hobbies: Traveling, dancing, playing football and singing. Would like penpals from Amer-ica, Kuwait, Sweden and UK.

AGNESS WAMBALO Nyilima School, P.O. BOX 22 Rarieda. Age: 19. Hobbies: lis-tening to music, reading novels, dancing, and making friends. Would like penpals from Venuzuela, Mexico, Kenya, UK and Mexico.

LILIAN AGONYA Ititbo Girls School High School, P.O. BOX 171,Kisii. Age: 17. Hob-bies: listening to music, Traveling listening to music and watching movies. Would like Penpals from Sweden, Libya, Britain and Canada.

VIOLET NYABIRA Itibo Girls School, P.O. BOX, 171 Kisii. Age: 16. Hobbies: Listening to Music, watching movies and sing-ing. Would like penpals from Germany, Nigeria, USA, South Africa, Thailand and Canada.

DENNIS KINOTI, Bishop Lawi Imathiu High School P.0.BOX, 1459 Meru . Age 17. Hobbies: Dancing, listening to music, traveling and reading. Would like penpals from Libya, Uganda, Britain and Switzer-land.

editor says...

our teamMANAGING EDITOR: Eric Obino EDITOR: Liz Gitonga-Wanjohi CONTRIBUTORS: Mworia Muchina, Fred Orido, Patricia Mundia, Samuel Muigai, Joash Osewe, John Muchiri, Tim Kamuzu Banda, Jim Guteta CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Kamau Wanyoike CHIEF GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Roger Mogusu DESIGNERS: Felix Miring’u, Joy Abisagi, Davis Mulyango, Anini Andrew, Ken Kusimba, Denis Makori, Nzisa Muli, Benjamin Situma, Peter Munene

Social media, which includes Facebook and Twitter, can be

really funny sometimes. On Twitter last week, some Kenyans decided to deeply discuss one topic; child-hood memories.

This is one topic that can really be funny, and it mostly shows you how far people have come. Some would remember times when there was only one TV set in the entire neighbourhood, and everybody went to watch that set on Sundays only. Others were writing about their experiences in school, mostly the naughty ones.

This brought a lot of memories into my mind and I couldn’t stop laughing at what I could be able to remember. It’s always good to sometimes go through some expe-riences for one to remember later.

Away from that, in today’s is-sue, we are focusing on young achievers, in this case young girls from State House Girls, Nairobi, with their new song on the African woman. Read on.

The rest of the stories are as juicy as ever. Have a lovely Sunday and week ahead.

Muchiri

young nation

fun facts

1. Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.

2. Water expands by about 10% as it freezes.

3. Polar bears are left handed.

4. A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.

5. Starfish don’t have brains.

- MERCY GAKII

May 15, 2011sunday nation2

The choir recorded the song after they presented it during the recent schools and colleges drama festival. They also performed the song at the African Woman Decade at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

During last weekend’s Mothers Day celebrations in Johannesburg, South Africa, the song was played in a con-ference, alongside music from the country’s great musicians like Rebecca Malope, Joyous Soweto Singers, Yvonne

Chaka Chaka, among others.The song talks about the empower-

ment of an African woman as a child, a girl, a wife and a mother. In the song, the young singers are saying though the African woman is already empowered, she needs a chance to defend her role.

The young and talented musicians have showcased what they can do, not only on the music festivals platform but also in the recording studios. Already the song is a signature tune on many

local radio stations and SABC in South Africa.

The debut song is composed and directed by Isaac Kaveleve, the school’s choir director.

The song begins with a soloist, Chris-tine Wanjeri, who was the best soprano soloist in 2009’s Kenya Music Festivals. Other singers include Abigale Mutheu, Linda Somba, Daisy Mwikali, Shail Kerubo and Patricia Chepkurui.

Cover: A section of the choir members.Above: The entire choir pose with their music director, Isaac Kaveleve (squatting).

« FROM THE COVER

ANTHONY NJAGI | NATION

Song was top in national music festivalsyoung nationMay 15, 2011

sunday nation ��3

Maryam Daud Ngema, 13Citadel Junior SchoolI don’t think he is dead be-cause the US government has not shown us his body on TV as they did with Saddam Hussein. I think they just want people to stop worrying and fearing Osama.

He was born on June 1, 1988 in Guad-alajara, Jalisco and first played in a recreation league when he was seven years old. His father, Javier Hern-andez Gutierrez, was a previous Mexican international striker.

He currently plays as a forward for a top English Premier League, being the first player from his country to do so. He plays with the name Chicharito (Spanish: little pea) on his shirt.

He previ-ously played for Mexican club Guadalajara. He made his debut for his national team in Septem-ber 2009 in a match against Colombia and represented them at last year’s World Cup, scoring twice.

He began playing with Chivas’ lower division team, Chivas Coras in Tepic, Nayarit in the 2005–06 seasons. In the 2009, Hernandez

finished as the joint-third top scorer, with eleven goals in 17 appearances. He started 2010 with eight goals in five games.

He finished as a joint-leader in the goal scoring chart for the 2010, with ten goals in eleven

games and after spent 5 matches without playing

because an injury he suffered. He moved to England and has made 122 appearances in

football scoring 49 times in total.

1. Who is this player?

2. What is his current club?3. Which country does he player for?

sports quiz

Answers on page 8

children and lawKNOW ABOUT FOSTER CARE

(what you say

A fortnight ago, US president Barrack Obama, announced that Al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, blamed for various bomb attacks in different parts of the world, is dead. AMINA KIBIRINGE talked to some children in Mombasa, who shared their views about the news.

Mohammed Abubakar, 16Serani Primary SchoolI am sad about the killing because Osama was the lion of the Muslims. He was always fighting to protect us. To me his killing is a form of oppression.

Sahib Yusuf, 12Serani Primary SchoolIt is good that Osama was killed. His life was all about terror and cruelty. I also learnt that he was the cause of bomb blast that occurred in 1998 and killed so many.

Abdulrahman Hamad Hashur, 14Citadel Junior SchoolI don’t think he is dead. They planned it to get rid of the fear that people have in Osama by pretending that he is dead.

Ahmed Mahmoud Shallo, 14Serani Primary SchoolI think he is still alive because when the US government was asked to produce his body they said they had thrown it to the sea.

By PATRICIA MUNDIA

Foster care can be simply defined as placing a child

in the temporary care of a family other than his/her own because of problems or chal-lenges that are taking place within the birth family, or while adoption is being final-ized.

According to the law, a child is placed in foster care with a person who is not the child’s parent, relative or guardian. This person is called a foster parent.

Foster care is intended to be for a short time before a child is given a permanent place to stay. This care I usu-ally given when, the child’s parents are not able or are unwilling to care for a child. Most of the time, it is done when the child is in danger of

abuse, neglect, orphaning or abandonment from the par-ents or guardian.

Whenever possible, a child should be placed with a foster parent who has the same cul-tural background as the child’s parents and who originates from the same area in Kenya as the child’s parents. Where a child’s religion is known, the child should be placed with a foster parent who is either of the same religion as the foster child, or who gives an under-taking that the child will be brought up in that religion.

Responsibilities of a Foster Parent to the foster Child

A foster parent has the same responsibilities in respect of the child’s main-tenance as if he/she was the parent of the child.

The other additional duties include:

1) Bringing up the child in accordance with the child’s religion,2) Looking after his health and allowing him to be medically examined,3) Allowing a children’s of-ficer to visit the home and see the child at any time,4) Notifying the Children’s Office where the child is missing and also of any serious illness, accident or any other kind of trouble. The children’s office should also be notified if the foster parent’s plan to change residence and address.The responsibilities come to

an end when an order is given by the Director or when the child attains 18 years.

Fayaz Iqbal, 15Serani Primary SchoolI am not happy that Osama was killed because he used to fight to defend the Muslims. Those who killed him were his enemies and enemies of the Muslims.

Ali Said, 14Serani Primary SchoolI feel sad about the killing of Osama bin Laden. I fear that those who used to train with him will want to revenge and start throwing bombs at other people.


ABBOTTABAD

Abbottabad is the city in Pakistan where Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group al-Qaeda, was killed by America’s Navy SEALS on May 2, 2011. Abbottabad was named after an officer, Major James Abbott, who served with the British army in 1838 when the region and India, were under British colonial rule. Abbott settled in Abbottabad and was its first Deputy Commissioner from 1849 to 1853.

ORIGIN OF WORDS

Title: STORIES THAT TEACHINTERVIEW BY: OKONGO NYANDUAKI SHEILA

My name is Agnes Nyaguthii and I’m in Standard Six at Kayole 1 Primary School. I am 12 years old. I love to read

because it helps me build up on my English. You’ll mostly find me indulging in stories that make me laugh. Laughter is good medicine especially when you need to take a break from school work. One of my all-time favourites is a book called ‘Stories That Teach’. It is a collection of nine very famous short stories. Let me highlight one of the stories that I found most interesting. In The Boy Who Cried “Wolf!” we get to meet Shankar, a shepherd who wanted to bring some excitement into his daily routine of tending the sheep. He decided to cause a false alarm by shouting “Wolf! Wolf!” and when the workers gathered around to help, all he could do was make fun of them by saying that they had all fallen for his trick. The next day he

did the same thing but this time a few workers showed up to help him only to discover that the boy had played the prank on them again. You see, the biggest lesson I learned from this story is that you can’t keep fooling people. They will eventually grow tired of your games and you might get rejected or even despised because of this. I wish Shankar had known this before he played that trick on the workers because the very next day, a real wolf appeared and it started to feed on his sheep. This time Shankar desperately needed the workers’ help but who could help him now that everyone thought he was a liar? Many of his sheep were killed that day, an event that could have been avoided. I encourage the Young Nation readers to find pleasure in reading not only English but also Kiswahili storybooks because they carry great lessons.

[email protected]

My favourite book

young na-tionyoung na-tion

JokesJanet: Which month do soldiers hate most?Angela. The month of March! Because they have to keep marching.

****************Elizer: What did the painter say to the wall?Joanne: One more crack like that and I’ll plaster you harder!

Twenty five orphaned girls aged between seven and 16 years of the Holy Mary Mother of Mercy home in Embakasi, received supplies

from Vistajet, a Swiss based private jet company and Phoenix Aviation. Among the supplies included blankets, bed sheets, sanitary towels, soap, lunch boxes, toiletries and food. The children could not hide their excitement and greeted the visi-tors with song and dance. The Orphanage was founded by Brother John Maria Maina and Sister Josephine Wanjiru in 2004. Brother John explained, “During my visits to the rural areas for various missions, I was touched by the sight of hungry chil-

dren clinging to elderly grandmothers.” That’s how he was prompted to start this home.

“I found out that there were many children orphaned by HIV and Aids liv-ing with aged grandmothers in different parts of the country. These grandmoth-ers have no money and many are sick and unable to look after the children who eventually drop out of school and fall victims to rape, child labour, early marriages and prostitution.” Joy Mwangi, a Flight Operations Officer at Phoenix Aviation thanked them for the good work.

Mini-feature

HELP FROM THE SKY FOR ORPHANAGE

Immaculate Adeti (left), Lucy Aluoch (second left) and Lucy Wambui (right), of Holy Mother of Mercy home in Embakasi, happily receive essentials from Joy Mwangi (second right), a flight operations officer at Phoenix Aviation.Photo/Correspondent


The rules of Sudoku are quite simple. You are presented with a 6x6 grid of boxes, some empty, some filled with numbers in the range of 1 to 6. That gives you 2 rows, 3 columns and also 2 larger squares of 2x3 boxes.The idea of Sudoku is to completely fill the empty grid squares with numbers in such a way that the following condi-tions hold true:1) Every row should contain the numbers 1 to 6 but should not repeat the numbers 1 to 6 at any point within that row.2) Every column should contain the numbers 1 to 6 but should not repeat the numbers 1 to 6 at any point within that column.3) Every 2x3 square should contain the numbers 1 to 6 but should not repeat the numbers 1 to 6 at any point within that square.

ACROSS1. An injection2. A detached or hinged cover of a container 4. A small piece or fragment 5. Excessive or extreme in degree 8. The first or lowest integer 9. To defeat severely or utterly 11. Alcoholic drink prepared from malt and falvoured with hops 12. A donkey 13. A large cask for holding liquids

DOWN1. Union of bones into a moveable or immoveable articulation 2. Thread or fabric made

of flax 3. The possesive form of it.4. The largest tributary of River Niger6. Instruments used for doing things especially if hand held 7. An occurrence 10. A prince or duke in Ethiopia

Once upon a time, a hunter went to the forest. He was search-ing for some strong sticks and

birds feathers with which to make his arrows.

After collecting a bundle of strong sticks, he went searching for the feathers.

He was already despairing in his search when he came upon a flock of birds that were merrily singing on trees.

When the birds saw the hunter approaching, they all fell silent and watched as he came.

“Dear birds,” the hunter said to them. “I’m in a great need and I need your assistance.”

“What do you want?” the birds asked him.

“I need some bird feathers to go and make a cushion for my head when I sleep,” the hunter lied to them.

The birds spoke among themselves and finally agreed to each contribute a feather to help the hunter. They each plucked a feather from their wings and gave them him.

As soon as the hunters had col-lected the feathers and gone, an owl that was sitting on a nearby tree started to reprimand the birds.

“What you’ve done is not a wise thing,” the owl said them.

“Why?” the birds chorused.

“You have helped an enemy with means to destroy you by giving him the feathers,” the owl said.

The birds laughed at the owl think-ing her selfish for not giving the hunter a feather.

“Is it because you failed to assist that man that you’re now riling us?” the parrot asked the owl.

The owl said, “Heed my words for I foresee you soon in a bug trouble with your generosity.”

But the birds evermore laughed at her. The owl left them to their mock-ing of her.

It came that one day, the hunter

returned to the forest again with a quiver full of arrows. He saw the birds in their merry-making and hid himself among the bushes.

He put an arrow on the bow, pulled and shot one after another killing several birds from the flock.

The remaining birds, seeing what had befallen their colleagues, took off and were sorry for having laughed at the owl.

Moral: Never give the enemy the means of destroying you.

PAUL KARIUKI

Easy Sudoku

Crossword

did you know?

An adult Atlas Moth doesn’t even have a mouth Moths are insects, which have thin, delicate wings, covered with tiny overlap-

ping scales that give them wonderful colours. Moths have duller colours and usually fly at night. However, the emperor moth flies by day.The Atlas moth, which has a wingspan from 25-30 cm, (At-tacus atlas) is a largest moth in the world.

In India, Atlas moths are cultivated for their silk, which has greater durability while their co-coons were once used as purses in Taiwan!

The female Atlas moth, which is usually larger and heavier than the male, lays l eggs 2.5 mm in diameter on the undersides of leaves. Dusty-green caterpillars hatch after about two weeks and feed voraciously on the foliage of certain citrus and other evergreen trees.

The caterpillars are adorned with fleshy spines along their backs, which are covered in a waxy white substance. After reaching a length of about 4.5 inches, the caterpillars pupate within the cocoon. The adult moths emerge after about four weeks and don’t eat at all throughout their adult life which lasts for about two weeks.

An adult Atlas Moth doesn’t even have a mouth and lives off fat reserves built up when it was a caterpil-lar. When adults mate and lay eggs they die shortly there-after.

ATLAS MOTH

its story time

Is thatwhere students study inside an

aeroplane?

Clueles

sClu

eless

:):)Felin

e Com

ics fo

r You

ng N

ation

I will work very hard to qualify for a place in

the best institution of higher learning.

?? ?

?

?Higher

learning?I do not

understand.

Answers on page 8

young nation

THE HUNTER AND THE BIRDS

1 2 3

5

6

7

9 10

2 3

4

6

13

12 13

11

8


young nationyoung nation

Color me

Spot the difference

MILAN CHEBETHappy birthday Milan as you turn two today. You are such a bless-ing in our lives and that’s why your second birthday cant go unnoticed. Best wishes from mum Nduku, brother Thierry, grand-parents Muema and Mary, uncles Kevo, Eric and friends. May you grow to be a God fearing girl.

FRANCIS MBUGUA MWAURA Happy birthday dear Francis. Have a great day. Best wishes from your elder brother Victor and the entire family, class-mates and friends. May you live to be an obedient and God fearing boy.

NAOMI NJERI NDUATI Happy belated birthday Naomi. You are now 13 years old. May you continue to be a blessing in our lives, as always, and also be a God-fearing person. Best wishes from dad Wamunga, mum Elizabeth, sister Mary Anne and the rest of the family. Also special wishes from your school, Bishop Perlo Centre.

MERCY WANJIKU NDIRANGUHappy birthday. You are now two years old. May you grow up as an obedient and God fearing girl. Best wishes from dad, mum, cucu, guka, aunties, cousins and all friends from Eldoret.

birthday wishes


solutionssports time...

By CHRIS MUSUMBA

To many children, the thrills of speeding is a reserve of the video games and play

stations and have no space and time in the real world.

Well, you are wrong. For instance, at nine years, Rolf Kihara is a master of riding and his KTM bike barely touches the ground when he is in a competition. That is what courage means.

Spurred on by recent past good perform-ance, Rolf has a burning ambition to win the Africa motor cross championship in Harare, Zimbabwe this August.

The Year Four pupil at Cavina School, Hurlingham, loves motocross and the higher he jumps the better for the East African champion.

“I just can’t wait to challenge the best

kids in Africa. Opponents from Zimbabwe and South Africa ride very fast so it will be exciting to ride at the highest level in Africa,” said Rolf, whose aggressive riding style has made him a darling of many spectators.

“I have always wanted to be like Cruze (Muigai). Hopefully, I will beat him and per-fect his many stunts,” said Rolf who will be turning 10 this October.

And Rolf’s passion for sports isn’t just limited to motor racing, he is an avid

participant in football and swim-ming in school.

“Football and swimming helps me with fitness as I prepare for motocross races. I usually practice

motocross during weekends and sometimes weekdays after school,” said

Rolf who plays Soccer in school for his house.

“I just enjoy playing around with the football. It is such a good fun,” continued

Rolf.Last year Rolf finished second overall in

50cc but won the East African Champion-ship in Kampala.

“I was so encouraged by being crowned the East African Champion. I now want to take on Africa’s best in Harare this August,” he said.

Rolf has always been available to assist his brother Dekker Kihara, who also rides in 50cc.

“Dekker has been very fast of late. He has come to grips with his KTM bike and we al-ways encourage each other,” said Rolf.

In 2011, Rolf moved up to the competitive 65cc and has won two out of three races so far.

David Murigi and Ryan Bailey are his op-ponents.

“I want ti win the 65cc then win all subse-quent classes as I grow older,” said Rolf.

1. Javier Hernandez2. Manchester United3. Mexico

SPORTS QUIZ

Above: Rolf Kihara in action at the Jamhuri Park. Below left: Rolf and his younger brother Dekker pose for a photo with their trophies. Photo/CHRIS OMOLLO

young nation

SKY IS THE LIMIT FOR MOTOR CROSS CHAMP

ACROSS:1. Jab 2. Lid 4. Bit 5. In-tense 8. One 9. Trounce 11. Ale 12. Ass 13. Vat

DOWN: 1. Joint 2. Linen 3. Its 4. Benue 6. Tools 7. Event 10. Ras

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU


goes international high school choir iletters war on corruption should start at home we should try...

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