Wakenya Cultural Centre Rome

WAKENYA ASSOCIATION IN ITALY OPENS A CULTURAL CENTRE IN ROME

2011-10-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

Kenyans in Italy and Rome in particular are now feeling more at home following the opening of a Kenyan Cultural Center.

The Center, which is located along Via Giovanni Lanza 122, near Largo Brancaccio, is a favorite meeting “Tea Room” for Kenyans who live in the Eternal City and its environs.
Since its official opening by Kenya’s Ambassador to Italy, H. E. Josephine Gaita on 12th December 2010, the Center has become a bee-hive of activities such as birthday parties and social meetings for Kenyans and their friends.

H.E Ambassador Gaita cuts the ribbon to officially open the Wakenya Cultural Center

To drain down the stressful burdens of every month, the Center organizes two special days for ‘shaky leggy’ (dancing the stress out). Every first Saturday is reserved for the young to dance in their modern styles while every last Saturday is left for the ‘not so young’ with their old is gold music, ‘zilizopendwa’ as Kenyans refer to them.

Why and how did this idea come about? According to Mr. Wilson Kamami Mwangi, the Chairman of Wakenya Association in Italy, the opening of the Center had long been overdue. “The population of Kenyans in Italy grew very fast from the year 2000. As a result, there was a felt need for Kenyans to identify themselves under one umbrella and to look for a social place where they could be meeting freely.”

This in 2005 led to the formation of an association for Kenyans in Italy. Kenyans began to have monthly meetings and celebrate Holy Mass at San Pio V Church, along Via Madonna del Riposo.
As the number of Kenyans continued to grow, the church hall could no longer contain them. This eventually motivated the Wakenya Association to look for a spacious place for meetings and socialization.

Upon entering the Center, one’s attention is immediately drawn to the phrase “Najivunia kuwa Mkenya” (Am proud to be Kenyan), printed on a leso with Kenyan colors. A leso is a popular East African cloth with bright colours, bold designs and multiple uses.

Besides the people who give the Center a Kenyan taste with their languages, the Center is also made uniquely Kenyan by the combination of Kenyan music, food and drinks. However, the Center is exclusively for members only. Anyone who wishes to frequent the place needs to apply for membership.

The Centre is a concrete sign of the unity of Kenyans. It is a place where they meet and share their experiences and expectations, their joys, fears, and emotions. Indeed, it is a breakthrough for this community in Italy. The Center is a real ‘Nyumbani’ or a home away from home.
Apart from being a place where Kenyans in Rome relax and feel at home, the Center is also a place for reflection on issues affecting Kenyans in Italy and back home. The Wakenya Association in Italy is organizing debates and conferences to be held at the Center. The first conference will be held on 8th May 2011 (Mother’s day), when Kenyan women will discuss some of the challenges facing them as women and mothers in Rome. Important speakers including Kenya’s Ambassador to Italy will join the debate.

The Wakenya Association in Italy is currently planning to help its members invest in viable commercial activities in Italy. Members of the Association believe that through unity and clear objectives, they can make great achievements.

THE KENYAN CULTURAL CENTER – ROME
Address: Via Giovanni Lanza, 122, near Largo Brancaccio
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Friday: 12: 00 – 23: 00
Saturday: 12: 00 – 02:00
Sunday: 12:00 – 23:00
Monday: Closed
For more information about the Center, please visit http://www.kenyansinitaly.org/

By Fr.Peter Waweru

MADARAKA DAY CELEBRATIONS IN ROME

2011-07-21T03:03:00.000-07:00

UPCOMING EVENTS

2011-06-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

21st August 2011: "OLD IS GOLD" JAM SESSION"Have you ever been to Carnivore Nairobi on a Sunday nite for soul? Remember how it felt? Well here is an opportunity to enjoy a soul session dubbed "Old is gold" Jam Session!. Mark your calenders - 21st August 2011 as from 3pm to 8pm! See you there!

27th August 2011: AUGUST BIRTHDAYS: Birthdays Parties for Catherine Muchina Jane Catherine Mwangi (mama Jemimah) and our members born in August. Starting with supper at 7.30pm and continuing with our end of Month Hits till 2.00am. see you at the centre.

Wakenya Cultural Centre History

2011-06-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

The History of what has come to be a hive of Kenyan activities in Rome is born slighly after the brith of a united Wakenya Association in Rome.

17th of January 2011, Kenyans gathered at Collegio San Pietro in Rome and agreed to work together as a united group, bringing together what used to be called, Association of Clergy, Religious and Laity in Rome and AKI (Association of Kenyans in Italy). From, there bigger ideas were born and discussed.

In its first AGM held on the 16th May 2010 at the same place of the great merge, Kenyans agreed among other things to come up with a place in Rome that they would call theirs and where they could hold their cultural events.
The leaders of the group went hunting for a place and in the same year in October, a place was found in the center of Rome, specifically at Via Giovanni Lanza, 122.

Works to adopt the new place to the Kenyan taste were completed by the end of November 2010 and on the 12th December 2011, H.E Ambassador Josephine W. Gaita led Kenyans into the inauguration ceremony that coincided with the Jamhuri day celebrations.

Since then, Kenyans have found Via Giovanni Lanza to be a home away from home. In there, they meet, in there they read their own literature, in there they eat their own foods,in there they listen to their own music and Kenyan radios. The center has also become a place where Kenyans meet for prayers. Several birthday celebrations have been carried out there since its opening.

Kenyans have also celebrated big days there including the S.Valentine day, the women's day and recently the Madaraka day on the 5th June 2011.

As in the word of H.E Ambassador Gaita, the Cultural Center is a real milestone for the Kenyan Community in Italy.

Let us all contribute to the success of this center.