Drama festival: Teens bag top award for comedy critical of life in Northern Kenya

Two teen students of the Shimbir Fatuma Mixed Secondary School in Mandera County bagged an award on Sunday for a comedy critical of the daily challenges of people living in North Eastern Kenya.

Abdijabir Mohamed Abdullah and Ismail Ibrahim Hassan won the Best Performing ASAL Secondary School Award at the 62nd edition of the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival for their performance of "Zilzala."

In their performance at the national level, Abdijabir and Ismail sarcastically conveyed the message of the reality of life in Mandera and northern Kenya, winning the hearts of many Kenyans. and becoming an internet sensation.

“It’s a great achievement for us to have reached the national levels and won the Best Performing ASAL  Secondary School Award, as this was the first time for our school to take part in the drama festival,” Abdijabir, 16, told The Eastleigh Voice in an interview from Embu.

The festival has been taking place at the University of Embu from April 8 and is set to end on April 18.

Ismail, also 16, said, “Our comedy is about the reality of life in North Eastern and the challenges we go through seeking education. It’s a funny way of looking at the reality but we aimed to pass the message to the rest of the country about what we go through to get an education."

A combination picture of Abdijabir Mohamed Abdullah and Ismail Ibrahim Hassan (in green) displaying the the Best Performing ASAL  Secondary School Award that they won at the 62nd edition of the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival on April 14, 2024. (Photo: Abdirashid Ibrahim)

A message for the president

The two students attributed their success to the support of school principal Ibrahim Abdullah Hassan and their parents, saying their journey was, quite literally, difficult.

“When travelling to the regional levels in Garissa, we were forced to sleep on the road for two days. The roads were cut off by heavy rains. Our school does not have a bus so we hired one from another school. We have gone through many challenges to reach the nationals," said Abdijabir.

Abdijabir and Ismail hope to be selected to perform at the State House Gala, set for April 18, 2024, to relay their message to President William Ruto.

“What motivated us to perform well was the urge to relay the message to our President at the State House Gala on behalf of our people. We want the president to listen to our problems and act on them,” Abdijabir said.

“If we get the chance to perform at the State House Gala, we will take the opportunity to let our president know the difficulties we go through as students in this region. We will ask him to help us get a bus," he added.

"Some students walk up to seven kilometres from home to school. We also need a bus to enable us to take part in events like this drama festival. We had to hire a bus from another school to transport us to the county, regional and national levels."

Many challenges

Shimbir Fatuma was established in 2009. Its journey to the nationals began when 27-year-old Zakayo Sisungo, an intern English teacher from Bungoma, introduced drama following his posting by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

“I could see Abdijabir and Ismail’s raw talent from our interaction as their English teacher. They were active, talkative, a bit cheeky and always ready to learn. They were among 17 students I identified to take part in the county drama competition," Sisungo said in his interview with The Eastleigh Voice.

"They represented our school at the county level in mime, solo verse, narrative, spoken word and choral verse. They won in the mime, spoken word, and comedy categories at the county levels in Takaba, sailing through to regional levels, but only the comedy sailed through to national levels."

Sisungo said the theme for this year's drama festival revolved around child neglect. It was 'Unlocking Opportunities for Socio-Economic Transformation Through Drama'.

"I wrote the comedy inspired by the challenges I experienced first-hand since my posting to Mandera in 2023. Unlike in other parts of Kenya, we face numerous challenges, including bad roads, understaffing at schools, and insecurity."

"Zilzala" comedy director Zakayo Sisungo (3rd L), students Abdijabir Mohamed Abdullah and Ismail Ibrahim Hassan (C) and their supporters display the Best Performing ASAL Secondary School Award won at the 62nd edition of the Kenya National Drama and Film Festival, on April 14, 2024. (Photo: Abdirashid Ibrahim)

The trainee teacher said his experiences helped him realise that Kenyans in other parts take a lot for granted.

"For example, I am the only English teacher at Shimbir Fatuma, from Form 1 to Form 4. Commodities here are very expensive because of the transportation costs, and we have no electricity at the school. Imagine just how difficult it is for a North Eastern student to prosper in education."

Abdirashid Ibrahim, a teacher and co-director of the comedy, said they primarily sought to use comedy to depict the real-life situation in North Eastern.

"In one line of the comedy, Abdi and Ismail say this is the only school where the Arabic teacher teaches math and chemistry. They make fun of the lack of water where students go up to a month without a bath and at last they threaten to camp at State House until the roads back to Mandera are tarmacked as they fear being stuck on their way back home," he said.

"In reality, they have been stuck several times since the drama competition began due to bad roads," he added.

Sisungo described the comedy as a cry out to the government to help the North Eastern child.