#UnboundKenya: Asante Sana!
I have always loved the energy coming through Nairobi. We can feel it in the air when we walk on the sidewalks, when we drive through the streets, or when we meet old friends or strangers for the first time: there is a dynamic engagement, a continuous state of action, discovery. They say New York is the city that never sleeps; I can share that Nairobi is another city that really never sleeps — where the energy for life is constantly on the move.
I woke up in the morning of the Unbound: Twitter Thoughts for the Heart and Mind book launch with gratitude, joy and excitement. I took a quick breakfast — really a power mango juice — and hopped on a taxi to finally discover the dedicated local bookshop, Nuria Bookstore, that had gracefully accepted to get on this literary journey with me and carry Unbound for Kenya’s readers.
I walked down Along Moi avenue, avoiding minor potholes in the street, exchanging smiles and greetings with other travelers along the road and trying to find my way to the bookshop. It took me some time to find Nuria. Nuria was not just there, visibly standing along the avenue. Finding Nuria was not going to be an easy task for a fresh traveler. It took me a moment to realize that it would take more than sight to find it: just like Ali Baba’s cave in “One Thousand and One Nights” it would take a devoted focus, a strong desire and a faithful traveler to find it. After much searching, and steps going back and forth, up and down the streets, there was Nuria — hiding in plain sight, between shops, laughs and music, inside the corridors of a commercial building with a green sign hanging from the ceiling, welcoming you into its poetic heaven: Karibu!
I walked in and greeted everyone. The gratitude, the joy of seeing Unbound standing on the shelf as I entered, ready to be picked up by avid readers for a journey was palpable. The team, Bulle (Owner) and Chief (Senior Marketing Executive) and young readers welcomed me in the shop. We laughed, talked, and went for a walk in the CBD (Nairobi Central Business District). Here was my Nairobi communal baptism.
The same evening, we gathered together for the official launch of Unbound in Nairobi, Kenya. We dived into the structure, and meaning of the book: readers were intrigued by the format of the book which captured many of my online poetry and lyrical journey into a paperback. We talked about the writing process, the content, the inspiration and the overall creative space — which can only be unlocked when we give our hearts and minds fully to the art, the process, with trust.
The Nairobi journey continued as I met and exchange thoughts and books with Kenyan authors, including with Kenyan businesswoman and trailblazer Gina Din, author of Daughter of Africa, whose story of purpose, love and resilience resonated and deeply inspire me; I engaged with “Business Conquest” author, Ian Dennis, and poet and performer Qui Qarre, author of “Tears of the Pen.”
The #UnboundNairobi book tour was made special by meeting my Zahara’s Dream Inc. sisters and a group of special women, hosted in a women’s circle by an incredible woman and sister, Dr. Musonda Xoliswa Mumba, a mover, writer and thinker. We sat together, under the baobab, shared our experiences of joy and pain, of healing and overcoming. We talked and listened without passing judgment — enveloping ourselves in the moment, going through pieces of Unbound, diving into the meaning and power of language and sisterhood to hold us together and move forward.
I am grateful, Kenya, for this experience of the Unbound book tour. Thank you for the love, increased friendship, fraternity and sisterhood. I continue with a heart full of gratitude to the next chapter of the journey.
Asante (Unbound)
Asante for the good times.
Asante for the bad times.
Asante for the trials.
Asante for the errors.
Asante for the joy.
Asante for the pain
for the great times and the hard times
have taught us the resilience
to hope
to faith forward
to continue
to grow
and to overcome
Asante Sana.
Verlaine-Diane
