As the Swahili saying goes, “Mwacha mila ni mtumwa”(one who abandons one’s culture is a slave), on Sunday, Mombasa was in a celebratory atmosphere as all roads led to the Wajomvu Cultural Festival in Jomvu Kuu village.
The Wajomvu community is a sub-tribe of the Swahili tribe. It is predominantly found along the coastline in Jomvu Kuu in the Jomvu constituency and Maunguja in the Kisauni constituency.
The women are famous for moulding pots using clay sand and incense sticks. The craft is passed from one generation to the other. The pots are famous for not cooling the food quickly, not harming the user, and being durable.
The community showcased its rich cultural heritage from a typical Wajomvu house, cuisines, dresses and pottery in the stupendous one-day festival.
Jomvu MP and Patron of the Wajomvu community Badi Twalib vowed to push for the construction of the Wajomvu Cultural Centre to showcase and preserve the traditions of the community so as not to become extinct.
“In the tourism circuit, tourists as they visit Mombasa tour places like Fort Jesus to learn about its history, they go to temples and Akamba Handicraft thus it is important to have Wajomvu Cultural Centre to attract tourists,” said Twalib.
The Centre, he expounded will commercialize the community pottery business to access international markets.
“We will lobby for the centre to be equipped with modern e equipment for them to do their clay weaving on a large scale. The traditional methods will remain,” stated the Legislator.
He calls for the recognition of the minority community by the government in its programs. The organizers of the event were lauded for their punctilious in organizing the marvelous event.
Twalib extolled Governor Abdulswamad Nassir for ensuring the festival is put in the county government’s yearly calendar of events.
“Every year it will be under the County Government like today,” he said.
Mwanahawa Mohammed, a resident of Jomvu Kuu in retrospect said the clay weaving business to make assorted household items including pots was started by two sisters who were eager to earn a living to complement their husbands’ incomes.
They inherited the skills from their mothers and they now earn their daily bread from clay weaving.
The elderly Jomvu women sweat blood to finish the work on the assorted clay products on time through the division of labour before they are transported to the Mwembe Tayari area in Mombasa CBD for sale.
“Our lives wholly depend on the pots they enable us to fulfil our basic needs. They have enormous benefits, if you cook your food through the pots is healthy compared to modern pots,” said Mohammed.
She regrets that their children are reluctant to learn the art as they prefer white-collar jobs, not blue-collar ones.
“They don’t want to get dirty, only a few have followed our footsteps others prefer to sit in offices.”
She urged the government to assist them in accessing markets and to set aside a facility to showcase their products.
Saumu Mazari, a traditional mat weaver said they will not leave their culture of knitting mats even in the face of modern mats.
She noted that urbanization has led to the unavailability of pliable reeds forcing them to travel to as far as Msambweni, Kwale County where they buy at exorbitant prices.
“We want a market for our mats as they face stiff competition from modern mats which are mainly imported,” she said.
Another mat weaver, Mariam Kombo said they were raised by the income from the mats and they pass the skills to their children. She hailed the Competency-Based Curriculum for introducing practical works at a tender age.
Zainab Badi explained how a Wajomvu matrimonial bedroom is arranged to foster love between the couple.
“There is a Kipepeo (a handheld fan made of pliable reeds and a stick) on hot days inscribed with beautiful Swahili sayings to welcome the husband home after work. The food is covered with a traditional food cover,” said Badi.
She added that married couples only sleep with Leso and the room is filled with oud fragrance.
By Sadik Hassan
