THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR INAUGURATES A FRENCH CENTRE IN MITAHATO.
The Ambassador of France to Kenya, Her Excellency Madam Aline Kuster-Menager made a historic visit to Mitahato, in October 2020, to a poor rural village in Kiambu County whose inhabitants have an unusual dream…….that of becoming speakers of French! “This is an amazing village, I am completely impressed”, quipped the Ambassador as she watched Mitahato children perform songs, poems, and skits…..all in French!!!125169262 180801006932084 4410812139244447973 n
The Ambassador was even more stunned when she visited the Mitahato Village French Library, stocked with hundreds of books, all in French. The books have been donated to Mitahato by friends from France and other French-speaking countries.125051985 180801230265395 4716487945506064086 nThe library has been a big attraction to curious Mitahato children, who have been coming in large numbers to read books and also get lessons in basic French, all at no cost.
The closure of schools due to Covid-19 in 2020 also meant that the children had more time to explore something new, something they have no access to in school. This explains the rapid popularity of the library and the acceptance of the people of Mitahato to learn French to improve their lives.
On their part, the older women of Mitahato conferred on the Ambassador an exceptional honor: they crowned her as an honorary “Mitahato Elder”, and dressed her in beautiful traditional Kikuyu attire worn traditionally only by powerful women, amidst wild ululations. As part of the activities for the historic day, the Ambassador inaugurated in Mitahato the 20th Kenyan Regional Centre for French Learning (Centre regional Kenyan pour le français, CRKF), which is supported by the French Embassy in Nairobi. The Francophone Network of Kenya (FNK) is the organization that is coordinating the “Mitahato French Language Project” and other initiatives at the national level124931290 180801170265401 918601352394624534 n
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