One Who Dreams is Called a Prophet – Part One | WALKING STICKS

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Banner Art detail: Sadiq Somjee, "Ndata Stick Exchange"

A walking stick is a helping hand of the elder on which he/she leans for support. It embodies wisdom, patience, nature and reliance as in Utu: I am because you are.

Mzee Kofia Miguu is the third walking stick that Alama encounters. It is carried by the Mukwe elder in white clothes who, like Alama, is on a walk to hear stories of peace spoken by other people in the music of their mother tongues. The Mukwe are not the Jua’s enemies, but being different, they are held with suspicion and at a distance. Mzee Kofia Miguu in Swahili means Elder Hatted Legs for the stick looks like it is wearing a hat and has two legs.

Alama exchanges 10 sticks during his journey; each one changes the gait of his walking. He feels the insights each represents in the rhythms of his walking. As his father, a poet, told him: “your mind may not hear or remember but your body will."