Growing Kenyan Fields of Purple Tea Leaves

Kenya grows purple tea leaves that make a royal cup of thistle colored purple tea.

Purple Tea

Black tea was first introduced in Kenya around 1904, on a farm on the foothills of Mount Kenya, today's farmers grow unique purple tea plants.

Growing Kenyan Fields of Purple Tea Leaves

Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture

8-31-2015

Kenyan farmers grow purple tea leaves that make a unique cup of purple tea.

Growing Fields of Purple Tea leaves in Africa’s Kenya

Kenyan farmers grow purple tea leaves that
make a unique cup of purple tea.

Kenya in East Africa is the world’s leading exporters of tea and Kenya's Kirinyaga County town of Kerugoya is the crown jewel of purple tea leaves. 


The purple comes from leaves with high levels of anthocyanins, responsible for the red, purple, and blue colors in fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, and flowers.

Kenya's purple tea leaves were developed and pre-released by the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya however, there is currently a very small market for purple tea, the processing techniques use hand rolling methods, a lengthy process. 


According to the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya, currently Kenya produces and exports over 96 percent of its tea as black teas. The tea is sold to the world market in bulk largely used for blending lower quality teas.


Subsequently, Kenya’s teas fetch low prices at the markets. Introducing specialty purple tea is a challenging market for Kenya’s tea farmers since the new variety of purple tea sells for up to 4 times the price as black tea and red tea.

Kenya's purple tea leaves

Where to buy Kenyan purple tea? Canadian Tealicious and US Lake Missoula Tea Company. 


When brewing a perfect cup of purple tea, use a tea strainer. The tea strainer eliminates the need to strain off leaves later. Add your desired amount of tea leaves to a tea strainer or teapot. Cover with hot water a let steep for 5 minutes or until you have created your perfect cup of tea based on your preference.

Did you know?
Tourism is number one in the Kenyan economy however, about 75 percent of Kenya’s population works at least part-time in agriculture activities. Tea, coffee, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables; dairy products, beef, fish, pork, poultry, and eggs are the leading agriculture products in Kenya.

Wisdom Knot Adinkra Symbol

Nyansapo the wisdom knot Adinkra symbol represents intelligence and wisdom. Adinkra symbols are symbolic pictures. Many corporations use the Adinkra symbols as their company logo.

Nyansapo Wisdom Knot Represents Intelligence

Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture

8-31-2015

Nyansapo Adinkra Symbol

Adinkra symbols are commonplace today but were the exclusive right of

royalty and spiritual leaders, and only used for important ceremonies. Adinkra also means goodbye or farewell in Twi the language of the Akan. 

Wearing Adinkra symbols were the tradition of the Akan especially the Asante to wear clothes decorated with Adinkra symbols on important occasions especially at funerals.

Adinkra symbols are symbolic pictures

Nyansapo the wisdom knot Adinkra symbol represents intelligence and wisdom whose secret meaning is a knot in which the Asante chief shows his superior knowledge and intelligence by tying and untying the complicated Nyansapo knot. Adinkra cloths, as well as Kente cloth, are iconic symbols of African heritage.

Nyansapo the wisdom knot Adinkra symbol represents intelligence and wisdom.

How do you pronounce Nyansapo? 

The literal pronunciation is knee-in-say-bow. In the Twi language, there are about 7 million Twi speakers, mainly in Ghana. Major dialects of Twi include Akuapim Twi, Fante Twi, and Ashanti Twi. Akuapim Twi was the first dialect to be used for Bible translation.

Gikuyu Tribe Nine Beautiful Daughters

Kenya’s Gikuya tribe calls Mount Kenya Kere-Nyaga where the supreme God Ngai lives. Mogai gave a wife to Gikuyu named Moombi and they created nine beautiful daughters.

Origin of the Gikuyu Tribe of Kenya

Mogai, the divider of the universe called a man named Gikuyu to him taking him to the top of Kere-Nyaga (Mount Kenya). Mogai pointed out the lush fertile lands and told the Gikuyu man all is his, if he is ever in need, raise his hands toward Kere-Nyaga and pray.

Mogai also gave a wife to Gikuyu named Moombi and they created nine beautiful daughters. However, Gikuyu wanted a son to carry on his name. 


Mogai told Gikuyu not to worry and make sacrifices to the mountain Kere-Nyaga where the God Ngai lives but he must do this while standing under a fig tree. 

Mogai told Gikuyu if he did as told he would be blessed with nine handsome strong young men to marry his beautiful nine daughters. Gikuyu did as he was told making sacrifices to Kere-Nyaga. 

When he returned to the fig tree in the morning, he found nine young men waiting patiently under the fig tree. 


The men married Gikuyu’s daughters and continued to live on the land for generations still praying and giving thanks to the mountain Kere-Nyaga where the God Ngai dwells. 

So said the Elders Au fait decisions African proverbs

Africa influenced the world in the area of thought and wisdom with proverbs. Much of the language and thought of Africans are expressed in proverbs.

Au fait proverbs about making decisions, in some African cultures, when a proverb is quoted, it is preceded with a statement “So said the elders...

Odenkyem, the crocodile, Adinkra symbol
for prudence and practicality. 

Reading and collecting African proverbs from your elders is the perfect place to begin your African culture journey.

So said the Elders Au fait decisions African proverbs

The mouth is responsible for discord among people.

A relative's slap hurts more than a stranger's.

A thing that comes does not beat a drum.

That which comes without work is a curse.

You should cross a stream before the floods come.

To ask is the desire to know the way.

Don't put the key to happiness in someone else's pocket.

The frown on the face of the goat will not stop it from being taken to the market.

To wash a donkey's tail is loss of time and soap.

The disobedient fowl obeys in a pot of soup.

The person who is not patient cannot eat well-cooked dishes.

The past years are in moonlight, the years to come are in darkness.

Even the best of women has still a devil's rib in her.

Under a glove the ugliest hand is hidden.

Where there is much learning, there is much fun too.

Cypraeidae, common name cowries, singular: cowry, is the symbol of fertility and birth, as well as used for money and is a popular artifact used in fortune-telling.

Wearing cowrie shells and glass beads a Karo Woman in Ethiopia is beautiful

Cowrie Shells What Are They

Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture

8-29-2015

Brief History of Cowrie Shells

Cowrie Shells

Cowries occur primarily in coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. The cowries are a relatively small family of about 200 species but are the most collected of all seashells.  The basic shape of the shell is the same in all species. A natural coating of enamel on the outer surface gives the shell a brilliant polished look.

Long prized by people for their shape and attractive colors, they were widely used for money in ancient times. While some cowries are abundant, some species are now quite rare and get a very high price from collectors.

Cowrie or cowry shells are believed to be the first form of universal money. What is cowrie? It is a shell. There are over 200 species of cowrie shells but only two in particular; Cypraea moneta and Cypraea annulus are used as money.

The cowrie shells were used to buy slaves for transport to the colonies in the New World. Cowries came to West Africa through trade with Arabia in the 14th century; they became an important means of buying slaves. The cowrie shell has been used as money in many parts of the world, including Africa, Arabia, and Asia.

The Thai folktale Makato and The Cowrie Shell is a well-known folktale in which cowrie shells are used as payment from the King to the orphaned Makato. He worked hard, became a trusted member of the King's court and eventually Makato became King.

Cowrie jewelry has been a popular
a form of African jewelry for centuries.

In the book When Things Fall Apart by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, there are many references to the gifts of cowries, cowries for payment, and cowries as indicators of wealth. In one scene in Achebe’s book, Okonkwo and other leaders of the village of Umuofia were held in jail and would not be released until a fine of 200 cowries plus 50 cowries for the court messengers was paid for each prisoner.

A British officer, who was in Eastern Nigeria in 1776, speaking of cowry money, said, "I found no other currency of any kind in the country; and upon an occasion, when an increase in the revenue of the province was enforced, several boatloads of cowries were collected." As late as 1801, the revenues of the British were collected in cowries, which was also the general medium of all financial transactions.

The Cypraeidae, or Cowries have long been one of the most popular collectible seashells. In many parts of the world, cowrie or other shells form the currency, even in countries long away from the natural source of supply of such shells.

Cowrie shells are also used as a decoration around the world. Cowrie jewelry has been a popular form of African jewelry for centuries. Many DIY jewelry kits feature cowrie shells for do it yourself-jewelry projects as hair charms, necklaces, bracelets, earrings their decoration uses are endless.

Apart from their use as currency, cowries play a very important role as charms and in fetish-worship among the Ewe people of Togo. These charms are worn on the neck, arm, wrist, and ankle, and regarded as talismans against wounds and sickness, and for luck. Being ornamented with cowries in many coastal parts of Africa is a common appearance.

The great demand for cowrie shells for ornaments and charms caused people to exchange all manner of articles for them, and therefore to make them into currency. The cowrie shell is used as a charm in America, in Europe, and in West Africa, in places many hundreds, even thousands, of miles from the places where it exists in nature.

Cypraeidae, common name cowries, singular: cowry, is the symbol of fertility and birth, has always been closely associated with women. It was the symbol of maternity by turning the shell into jewelry by adding to the arms, legs, hair, and neck.

Cowrie shells are popular artifacts used in fortune-telling. Divination or fortune-telling is the practice of interrupting signs in order to see into the future. Witchdoctors, Sangoma, Nyanga, and Traditional Healers believe cowrie shells are spiritually gifted in bone divination readings. Traditional healing using fortune-telling is linked to wider belief systems and remains integral to the lives of most Africans.

There was a time in Togo when cowries were paid by the relations of a girl seeking admission among the Ewe people witchdoctors. When the engaged brought his wife home he paid to her parent's cowries.

At death ceremonies, relations, friends and acquaintances, place quantities of cowries in the grave with the dead, in order that the deceased may purchase food and palm-wine. Ewe people believed that cowries and everything placed in the grave including tobacco and the wine will be of use to the departed.

Read more facts and food recipes about Africa

West African Ginger Beer Recipe
Sierra Leone Fish Soup Recipe
African Countries and Capitals That Begin with M Word Search
Quick and Easy Bitter Leaf Stew Recipe
All 54 African countries have national anthems.

Did you know?

The Ghanaian cedi is the unit of currency of Ghana. The cedi is the Ghanaian word for cowrie, from the Fanti language of the West African Akan people.

Oko and the Snake African Folktale

Oko and the Snake African Folktale is retold for those who appreciate and understand the social value of folklore in African countries. There several versions of the same folktale story throughout Africa however, the meaning is the same; a snake is always a snake at heart no matter the kindness shown.

Oko and the Snake African Folktale 

When you raise a snake, you should not be surprised when it bites you. West African Proverb

African Folklore Why is the Rabbits Nose is Slit

The Best African Folklore Fight of Moon and Rabbit

Ever wonder why rabbits have a slit in their nose? The African folktale Why the Rabbits Nose is Slit explains the mystery.

Why is the Rabbits Nose is Slit African Folklore Story

“Long, long ago, when the world was quite young, the Lady Moon wanted someone to take a message to Men. She tried first one creature and then another, but no! They were all too busy, they couldn’t go. At last she called the Crocodile. 


He is very slow and not much good, but the Lady Moon thought she would pinch his tail and make him go quickly. So she said to him: ‘Go down to humans at once and give them this message: “As I die and, dying, live, so also shall you die, and, dying, live.”

“Know how the Moon is sometimes big and round like she is now in the sky. Every night she gets smaller and smaller until there’s no more Moon: she is dead. 

Then one night a silver horn hangs in the sky thin, very thin. It is the new Moon that grows, and grows, and gets beautiful and golden and so it goes on, always living, and growing, and dying, and living again.

“So the Lady Moon pinched old Oom Crocodile’s tail, and he gave one jump and off he started with the message. He went quickly while the Moon watched him, but soon he came to a bend in the road. 

Round he went with a great turn, for a Crocodile’s back is stiff like a plank, he can’t bend it; and then, when he thought he was out of sight, he went slower and slower. He was so lazy!

“All of a sudden, there was a noise and there was the Little Rabbit. ‘Ha! Ha! Ha!’ he laughed, ‘what is the meaning of this, where are you going in such a hurry, Oom Crocodile?”

“‘I can’t stop to speak to you, Rudo,’ said Oom Crocodile, trying to look busy and to hurry up. ‘The Lady Moon has sent me with a message to humans.’

“‘And what is the message, Oom Crocodile?”

“It’s a very important one: “As I die and, dying, live, so also shall you die and, dying, live.”

“Ha! But that is a stupid message. And you can’t even run, Oom, you are too slow. You can only go slowly, but I go fast like the wind. Give the message to me and I will take it.”

“Very well,’ said the lazy Crocodile, ‘but you must say it over first and get it right.”

“So Rudo said the message over and over, and then he was off like the wind. Here he was! There he was! And you could only see the white of his tail and his little hind legs getting small in the distance.

At last he came to humans, and he called them together and said: ‘Listen, a wise creature comes with a message. Lady Moon sent me to tell you: “As I die and, dying, perish, so shall you also die and come wholly to an end.”

Then the humans looked at each other and were scared and said, what shall we do? What is this message that the Lady Moon has sent? “As I die and, dying, perish, so shall you also die and come wholly to an end?”

But Rudo did not care to answer any questions. He danced away on his hind legs, and laughed and laughed to think how he had cheated humans.

Then he returned again to the Moon, and she asked “What have you said to humans?’

“O, Lady Moon, I have given them your message: “Like as I die and, dying, perish, so also shall you die and come wholly to an end,” and they are all stiff with fright. Ha! Ha! Ha!’ Rudo laughed at the thought of it.

“‘What! Cried the Lady Moon, what! Did you tell them that? Child of the devil’s donkey! You must be punished.”

Lady Moon was very angry. She took a big stick and went to hit Rudo but when he saw the big stick coming near, one, two, three, he ducked and slipped away, and it caught him only on the nose.

Oh my but it was sore! Rudo forgot that the Moon was a Lady. He yelled and screamed; he jumped high into the air; he jumped with all his four feet at once; and—scratch, scratch, scratch, he was kicking, and hitting and clawing the Moon’s face till the pieces flew.

Then he felt better and ran away as hard as he could, holding his broken nose with both hands.

And that is why to-day he goes about with a split nose, and the golden face of the Lady Moon has long dark scars.

Yes, fighting is a miserable thing. It does not end when the fight is over. Afterwards there is a sore place so long and even when it is well, the ugly marks remain to show what has happened. The best thing is not to fight at all.

Poverty Porn Not For The Greater Good

Poverty is an old enemy that has many faces. Poverty Porn is exploiting the poor destitute person in order to achieve success for the greater good, in the end, outweighs the means.

Poverty porn is considered any type of media, be it written, photographed or filmed, which exploits the poor condition in order to generate the necessary sympathy for selling newspapers or increasing charitable donations or support for a given cause.

Poverty porn is typically associated with
poverty-stricken Africans,
but can be found everywhere. 

"Poverty porn is typically associated with poverty-stricken Africans but can be found everywhere. The subjects are overwhelming children, with the material usually characterized by images or descriptions of suffering, malnourished or otherwise helpless persons. The stereotype of poverty porn is the African child with a swollen belly, staring blankly into the camera, waiting for salvation," states AidThoughts.

Benefits Street is a British documentary series documenting the people who live on James Turner Street, Birmingham County of the United Kingdom in which nearly 90% of its residents live off government-funded benefits. Benefits Street has caused an uproar with critics as an offensive example of poverty porn.

National Geographic’s #EndPoverty Hashtag Challenge, which encourages users to submit their most compelling photos “that best describes the term #EndPoverty” is deemed as a charity gimmick promising simple solutions for complex issues of poverty. While such images may indeed increase donations to charities fighting poverty, academics and experts agree poverty porn is ineffective in creating meaningful, sustainable change on the issue.

Some believe poverty porn for the greater
good of society, in the end outweighs the means. 

The Red Cross received an outpouring of donations after the January 12, 2010 magnitude 7 Haiti earthquake. The catastrophe also unleashed an unprecedented flood of humanitarian aid $13.5 billion in donations and pledges with images of children sitting atop rubble crying for help. Nearly 1.5 million people were displaced; the Red Cross received nearly 500 million dollars. 


The Red Cross says it has provided homes to more than 130,000 people. However, the actual number of permanent homes the Red Cross has built in Haiti is six. The political chaos is one big reason though by no means the only one why the billions in relief and recovery aid have not been enough to rescue Haiti from the disasters.

Poverty is an old enemy that has many faces. Some believe poverty porn for the greater good of society, in the end, outweighs the means. However, meaningful, sustainable change will not take place with poverty porn, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is a complex issue. 


However, the key that leads to meaningful, long-term change in the reduction of poverty is stable effective leadership. Stable effective leaders provide a stabilizing influence and are leaders you can build around not using poverty porn as a means to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

African Seafood Recipe

Tanzanian Curried Fish Recipe

Tanzanian Curried Fish Recipe

Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture

8-26-2015

By Chic African Culture
African food recipe

Tanzanian curried fish recipe is a simple African food recipe to make for a weeknight dinner. Tanzanian curried fish recipe is the favorite fish curry dish of coastal Tanzania, the addition of coconut milk adds a sweet savory taste dimension to this dish.

Tanzanian Curried Fish Recipe

Serves 4
African food
Total time from start to finish 30 minutes

Ingredients

Tanzanian Curried Fish Recipe

2 fresh white fish fillets or catfish

2 tablespoons good quality curry powder

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 onion, chopped finely

2 tablespoons of butter

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 tablespoon cumin

1 cup coconut milk

Directions

In a large saucepan brown over medium, heat the butter, curry, onions, garlic, cumin and paprika. Add remaining ingredients, cover tightly, and simmer 15 minutes. Serve with vegetables or white rice. Traditionally curried fish in Tanzania is served with Ugali. 

Did you know?

Throughout Africa the addition to most meals is stiff porridge made from ground cereals, yam or cassava root boiled with water or milk. In South Africa, stiff porridge is known as Pap or Mielie, Ugali in Tanzania, Sadza in Zimbabwe, Nsima in Malawi the name changes with region and language, but is usually translated as porridge.

How Africa Got Her Name

Naming Africa

Interesting facts about Africa, there are three dominant theories on how Africa got her name.

Learn How Africa Got Its Name And Interesting Facts About Africa

Explore and Understand Africa Through Her Food and Culture

8-25-2015

Africa is 11.68 million square miles or 30.2 million km2 and covers 20.4 percent of the total land area on Earth with over 2,000 languages, 1.2 billion people and 3 theories on how Africa was named.

Africa covers 20.4 percent of the total land on Earth.

There are three dominant theories on how Africa got her name.

First theory on how Africa received her name is from “Afri”, the name of peoples in North Africa located near Carthage under Roman rule in modern Tunisia in the third century B.C.

Second theory on how Africa was named is from the Greek word “Aphrike” meaning without cold.

Lastly, the third theory on how Africa was named in Latin, “Aprica” means sunny or always hot derived from the Egyptian sun God Ra.

Interesting facts about Africa

Interesting Facts About Africa's Geography

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain on the continent. It towers over 19,300 feet, which is so tall that glaciers can be found at its summit even though the mountain is near the equator.

The longest river in the world, the Nile at 4,132 miles is located in eleven countries in Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.

Dragon’s Breath Cave is the largest underground lake in the world and is located in the Southern African country of Namibia.

Interesting Facts About African Wildlife

Africa has 54 countries, South Sudan is the newest and Liberia is the oldest republic.

Africa has over 85% of the world’s elephants and over 99% of the remaining lions are on the African continent.

Africa has over 25% of the world’s bird species.

The ostrich is native to Africa and are the largest birds in the world. Ostriches live in portions of 25 African countries.

Interesting Facts About Africa's Population

Namibia in Southern Africa is one of the least densely populated African countries, 2.9 people per sq km or 2.9 people per 247 acres.

Rwanda and Nigeria are the top two most densely populated  African countries.

Africa current human population is 1.1 billion; by 2050, it is estimated to grow to over 17 million.

By 2025 there will be 30 million people younger than 24 years old living in Africa.

By 2050, Africa is projected to be home to one in every four of the world's inhabitants, and almost 40% of its children under 18 years old.

Interesting Facts About African Sports and Games

Intonga or stick fighting is one of South Africa’s oldest games developed hundreds of years ago in the rural parts of South Africa where it served as an important rite of passage in Xhosa culture.

The most popular sports in Africa are football (soccer), rugby, cricket, and capoeira, long distance running and wrestling.

Oral traditions are important in African history and culture. One such oral tradition takes the form of hand clapping games played by children throughout the African continent.

Mancala or Mankala Oware is a traditional African game which is also played in Europe and around the world. Oware is one of the most played games in the Mancala Family of pit and pebbles games.

The Lugazi Uganda Little League team is bringing baseball in Africa to the World stage by competing in the 2015 Little League Baseball World Series.

Interesting Facts About African Architecture

 

The ancient Egyptian city of Kahun was the world’s first planned city.

The ruins of Great Zimbabwe are a compound of stone buildings.

Sudan has more pyramids than any other country on earth, even more than Egypt.

There are gigantic Mosque adobes in Djenné and Mopti in the African country of Mali.