Through Fern Poetry, I am about to embark on a poetry project along with two fellow poets, El Poet and Jaju and entertainer Martin "Daddie Marto" Githinji, which will take us to five schools around the Nairobi Area to present poems on human trafficking for purposes of creating awareness on the vice. We will be doing this through a project funded by Koinonia Advisory Research and Development Service (KARDS). Fern Poetry is the business-side of my poetic journey. The project targets students in high school.

This project has been featured on CNN International and the Nairobi Now Arts Blog.

The objectives of the project are;

Popularizing anti-Trafficking in Persons through poems that are recited in front of the students.
Encouraging the submission of artistic expressions in the form of essays and poems from students on the theme of trafficking with the aim of exhibiting them.
Holding a competition on poetry and story writing on the theme of human trafficking amongst students in high schools with a prize of Kshs. 1,000 for the winner and Kshs 500 and 300 for the first and second runners up respectively .
I am doing my part to create awareness among students who are also at times victims of human trafficking owing to the high levels of poverty in the country. Here is the poem I will be using throughout the project. It's titled 'Kaa Chonjo' which means be alert in Swahili.

Kaa chonjo (human trafficking)
Lost and helpless,
Her passport taken away
Her ID taken away
In search of a better way
Paid them to chase the dream life
But ended up paying with her freedom
Lost without friends in a foreign land
Her dreams lost to slave masters
Beaten and abused,
Raped and they were amused.
Left his home country,
Only to be forced into labour
Paid with lashes,
His dreams, burnt down to ashes
His whole life flashes,
Because he would rather die
Than be forced to live a lie,
Open your eyes,

Feel the cries;
Of Kenyans in the Middle East
Trafficked like worthless beasts

Feel the cries;
Of young girls in our streets,
Enticing you to the sheets,
Only to give that money to pimps

Feel the cries;
Of child beggars,
On their feet, jiggers
On their hands, blisters
On their feet, barely slippers
Of their clothes, tatters
If only for their masters,
To elicit your unknowing pity
And in their bowls throw in that fifty
Kaa chonjo, ndio uwe sauti yao

It all started in the name of poverty,
Parents selling off some of their children,
If only to be able to take care of the rest
It all started in the name of culture,
Women and animals being offered,
To appease rival tribes as peace offerings
It all started with colonization,
Paramount chiefs exchanging their subjects,
For pieces of silver, mirrors and bottles
It all started with urbanization,
Smugglers promising desperate young people,
With jobs and a better life in the city,
Only for them to be forced into prostitution,
Only for them to be forced into drug peddling
It all started with ignorance
You and me in the dark
Not knowing that slavery exists, today!
Not knowing that we could fall prey, today!
Kaa chonjo, ndio uwe sauti yao

Entire communities engage in this
From Indians to Africans
Arranged marriages, the village match-maker
A Young girl abducted by the riverside,
Taken home by the men and defiled
Only for the community to sing praises
Telling her that she is most fortunate
A husband she doesn't choose,
A man she doesn't love
Every night she cries in her sleep
Kaa chonjo, ndio uwe sauti yao.

(Kaa chonjo, ndio uwe sauti yao is Swahili for "be alert so that you can speak up for the voiceless". The phrase is borrowed from the Anti-human trafficking campaigns by the International Organization for Migration)

Winner of Love Edition of Fern Poetry Prize Ksh. 3,000

Hi poets and enthusiasts alike,

I would like send a big shout out to the first two winners of the Fern Poetry Prize,
Jennifer Noxolo Musangi and Redscar McOdindo K?Oyuga. I would also like to thank and
appreciate every poet who has ever sent in their poem for consideration. We are
celebrating a different type of love this Valentines. They say that birds of a feather
flock together, but what if birds of a delicate feather desire to flock together? That?s
what this month?s poem is about. We live in a fast changing society and can?t afford to
bury our heads in the sand. It?s a love poem with a difference, don?t let the title fool
you. It is my voluminous pleasure to announce the winner of the Third Edition, which is
also the Love Edition of the Fern Poetry Prize worth Kshs. 3,000. And the winner is? Lee
La Poeta ?with her poem titled ?Forgive me mother?. The poem speaks of a new type of
love, and no it?s not about mothers, but something perhaps new to our culture but
nonetheless existent.

I?m also happy to announce that we are extending the coverage of the Fern Poetry Prize to
include schools through a project funded by Koinonia Advisory Research and Development
Service (KARDS). This will be a new segment of the poetry prize targeting students in
high school with a theme on anti-human trafficking. The project is slated to start in
March with the pilot phase targeting five schools. It will involve poetry recitals on
human trafficking and a poetry competition where the students have a chance to win Kshs
1,000, Kshs 500 and Kshs 300 for the winner and runners up respectively. I sincerely
thank KARDS and Consolation East Africa for sponsoring this project and for appreciating
the role played by poetry as an impetus for change in society.

Here is the winning poem by Lee La Poeta titled ?Forgive me mother?
http://www.bernardmuhia.com

Winner of Ksh. 2,000 Fern Poetry Prize

The deadline for the submission of poems to the Second Edition of the Fern Poetry prize worth 2,000 Kshs. was on 15th January 2011. I would like to appreciate every poet who submitted poems for consideration and it’s my pleasure to announce the winner of the second Fern Poetry Prize. And the winner is... Redscar McOdindo K’Oyuga...with his poem titled ‘Please come home daddy’. This poem not only appeals to all audiences but also speaks to a cause. You can feel the immense desire for proximity attachment expressed by the observer who is also deeply emotionally invested. Read the winning poem here http://www.bernardmuhia.com

P.S. The Third Edition of the Fern Poetry Prize will be in February and is themed the ‘Love Edition’. The prize for the third edition will be increased to 3,000 Kshs. Submission of poems starts on 27th January 2011 and closes on 11th February 2011. The winner will be announced on Valentine’s Day, 14th February 2011. Submit only love poems to poetry@bernardmuhia.com. To read this edition's winning poem by Redscar McOdindo K’Oyuga titled ‘Please come home daddy’ click here http://www.bernardmuhia.com

Happy new website www.bernardmuhia.com

To celebrate the launch of my website www.bernardmuhia.com, Poets have another chance to win a thousand Kenya shillings.

After a successful first round, here comes the sequel in what will be a long series of the Fern Poetry Prize. I would like to big up our first winner Jennifer Noxolo Musangi and her poem titled ‘This poem I refuse to write’.

To enter the competition follow the guidelines on http://www.bernardmuhia.com/

And the winner is...

Hi Everyone.

After weeks of waiting and tons of poems submitted for the poem of the week competition, it is my pleasure to announce the winner of the poem of the week prize of Ksh. 1,000. And the winner is Jennifer Noxolo Musangi! Her poem titled 'This poem I refuse to write' is a provocative sex-themed poem that explores the female body and procreation.

Few poets are daring enough to be provocative when it comes to matters of sex and procreation but Jennifer has dipped into the belly of the beast with this poem.

Here it is...

THIS POEM I REFUSE TO WRITE
By Jennifer-noxolo Musangi

This poem I refuse to write
this poem that refuses to be silent
no, this poem, I shall not write

if I write this poem, they shall say I’m gross
if I write this poem, it will be called graphic
if I write this poem, a woman's poem it will become

but I want to write this gross poem
I want to leave out no details this time
I want to describe this rhythm in rhyme

the rhythm of blood and fluids
the blood and fluids of childbirth
but no, that is just taboo.

I shall not write about blood
for blood is better spoken of in war
and vaginal blood disgusts you

but I want to speak of the cut flesh
the flesh of my vagina cut into my ass
but this maternity talk irritates the male ear

and I refuse to write this poem
because to you that is trivial
and not good enough for a poetry anthology

this poem I refuse to write
because it's time women writers got serious
and wrote about things that matter

this poem I shall not write
for men need protection, protection from such ugly flesh
the flesh they want fit for the next f...

So you hide

By Benson Kabugi Wamwea

He called you fat
After he met a skinny girl
And forgot about your curves
The very curves that drew him to you
So you hide
You hide under baggy jumpers
Hoping to conceal the imaginary folds
Yet you hide your figure
The frame of your beauty

He called you black
After he had seen a bleached face
And forgotten about the suppleness of your skin
The very skin he so loved to touch
So you hide
You hide behind layers of make up
Hoping to conceal the imaginary pimples
Yet you mask the nature of your visage
The pride of your glamour

He called you controlling
After he met a reckless broad
And forgot about your nurturing care
The care that reminded him so much of his precious mother
So you hide
You hide behind a stern face
Hoping to hide the imaginary naivety
Yet you conceal your loving nature
The warmth of your persona

He called you weird
He called you old fashioned
He called you outdated
He called you an idealist
He called you a hopeless romantic
And you ran.
And you wept.
And you hid.

Now another has appeared
But he looks like him
So you hide
He reminds you of him
So you hide
He voice is just like his
So you hide

You hide behind the plastic smile
While you cower inside
You hide behind the busy day
While you are lonely inside
You hide behind the brave words
While you are scared inside
You are afraid he will lie like the last did
So you hide
You are afraid you will cry like you last did
So you hide
You are afraid to run like you last did
So you hide

The closer he moves, the farther you run
The nearer he draws, the deeper you hide
The more he calls, the tighter you curl
He must wait longer
Because you hide
He must call louder
because you hide
He must smile broader
Because you hide
He must try harder
because you hide
He must pay for the other's sins
So you hide.