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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 001428 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E, AF/PD AND ECA 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PREF KPAO SO KE
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - Writers Program's Somali Outreach 
 
NAIROBI 00001428  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. Four American writers conducted an extremely successful outreach 
visit to Somali youth during an ECA- and University of Iowa's 
International Writers Program-sponsored June 9-18 trip to Kenya. 
While they also did Kenya-specific programming on the same trip, 
this message highlights the outreach to Somalis in Kenya.  The group 
conducted a session in Eastleigh, Nairobi's majority-Somali 
neighborhood, and followed with a three-day excursion to the Dadaab 
refugee camps, home to over 270,000 Somalis.  The Somali 
participants uniformly praised the program, citing it as an example 
of a donor nation's efforts to recognize their rich cultural 
background, and interact with a marginalized population who rarely 
enjoys an opportunity to engage in cultural exchange.  End summary. 
 
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Eastleigh, Dadaab 
Represent Nation of Poets 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. A group of four distinguished American writers - Chris Merrill, 
Eliot Weinberger, Tom Sleigh, and Terese Svoboda - visited Kenya 
from June 9-18 under the auspices of the University of Iowa Writing 
Program's reading tour program, a cultural exchange organized by 
ECA.  The writers read from their works, and provided feedback on 
compositions written by Somalis.  While the group did many 
Kenya-specific programs on the same trip, this message focuses on 
the tremendously successful and groundbreaking outreach to Somali 
youth. 
 
¶3. On the group's first full day in Kenya, it conducted a session 
with approximately 15 Somalis in Eastleigh, Nairobi's Somali 
enclave.  While more than one of the participants introduced 
themselves as "aspiring poets" or "junior writers," the visiting 
Americans were extremely impressed with these representatives of "a 
nation of poets."  Several of the Somalis' works had to do with 
peace and reconciliation, illustrating the degree to which young 
Somalis are focused on seeing their homeland recover from nearly two 
decades of disorder.  Others were heartbreaking personal 
recollections of hostilities seen or even personally experienced in 
Somalia. 
 
¶4. The writers then spent three days in the Dadaab refugee camps, 
the overwhelmingly -Somali camps in northeast Kenya.  The camps were 
built as a temporary installation for 90,000 people nearly two 
decades ago, but now host over 270,000 refugees.  It is the largest 
refugee camp in the world and still growing.  The writers conducted 
sessions in each of the three separate camps, reaching over 200 
youth.  One camp staff member described the area as "a fenceless 
prison" and noted the over 50 percent of the population is under 21 
years of age.  The writers geared the sessions toward allowing the 
refugees to offer their own works.   They heard painful stories of 
violence in Somalia and of life in the refugee camps, but also some 
optimistic poems and narratives about the future of Somalia and even 
the roles the youth themselves planned to play in rebuilding their 
country. 
 
¶5. The aid-dependent mentality of many was starkly illustrated by 
one of the refugees, who devoted much of the beginning of his 
session to questions about what the group had come to do for them. 
After a series of questions geared toward donations at the beginning 
of the cultural exchange, the young man finally asked, "So you're 
not from an aid agency?" and became vigorously engaged in the 
session.  Even those who were able to appreciate the importance of 
four very distinguished writers visiting the camps in a remote part 
of Kenya spent a significant amount of time asking the writers for 
help in getting published.  The writers emphasized the importance of 
writers being proactive and advocating for themselves in the quest 
to see their works published.  Overall, this program was a shining 
example of the value of programs geared not toward donating goods or 
services, but toward engaging with disillusioned Somalis on a 
personal level, recognizing the caliber of their artistic ability, 
even in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances. 
 
¶6. The writers also addressed several audiences of amateur and 
professional Kenyan writers at multiple venues in Nairobi.  They 
addressed graduate students and professionals at two public 
universities and the National Library.  They also met with 
professional writers associated with Kwani, the prestigious local 
 
NAIROBI 00001428  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
literary journal and publishing company, as well as with IWP alumni. 
 The workshops were informal, and allowed the writers to share their 
work and engage in lively discussion with participants about 
writing, literary inspiration, and publishing. 
 
¶7. Post thanks the Department for this unique and tremendously 
beneficial opportunity.  In the absence of an ability to travel to 
Somalia, such outreach programs allow the U.S. government to 
facilitate direct contact between accomplished Americans and their 
Somali counterparts. 
 
RANNEBERGER