2018 Caine Prize Winner, Makena Onjerika, to give a tenth of her prize to street children

July 08, 2018 TWF Editor 0 Comments



The Kenyan winner of the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing, Makena Onjerika has said she will donate a tenth (£1,000) of her winnings to help rehabilitate street children in Kenya.

In her recent tweet she also said that she is hopefully working with others for the long term around children's affairs.

Speaking to BBC on how she will expend the remaining money, Onjerika said, "With the rest of the money I'll buy a car or maybe a motorcycle to get through traffic jams in Nairobi."

On why she chose to write about street children, she said she write about them because "Kenyans - me included - do not see street kids as children.

"There are children, and then there are 'chokora'," she added, explaining the derogatory Swahili term used by Kenyans which translates as "street urchins".

Onjerika, who is the fourth Kenyan to take the prize, won for her short story “Fanta Blackcurrant,” published in Wasafiri in 2017, in which a street child in Nairobi, who makes a living from sex trade is caught stealing and is beaten by local criminals.

Her story Fanta Blackcurrant was chosen from a shortlist of five.

Read or Listen to "Black Currant"

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