For the Bahari Yetu Festival 2023 several fun and creative games took place on the beach. The games had to signed up for prior to the event and were organised by dividing girls and boy from secondary and primary school, to ensure everyone had a fair chance. In total 18 schools signed up for activities with over 360 kids! Find out more on our other blog posts and the festival page.
Magari ya Miti (tire and stick race/ model stick car race)
This game involved all different age groups, the students come with their own model stick cars, tire/ ring and sticks. There were two types, one is the traditional tire or plastic lid pushed with a stick. For the other the kids used a bit more time and creativity to make cars from recycled plastic, inner tube and sticks!
Zidau za Mwau (model dhow race)
Model dhows made from recycled slippers, sticks and a recycled plastic sails. This game is common to young boys especially during holidays as a fun activity, however we were happy to have some girls get involved in the competition this year! It is a game that builds a child mind to being creative thinker and understand the winds. These young competitors can grow up to be sailors and enter in big dhow races that happen during Maulid Festival and Lamu cultural Festival and New Year Day, an ongoing activity that engages the entire Lamu community.
Swimming race
The girls were super excited in this particular activity. The swimming race involved jumping from a boat and swimming to the shore, the age of the participants influenced the distance of the boat, and the eldest group of boys ran from the beach and swam around a marker.
Sand Sculpture Competition
Each school was represented by a group of 5 to create an ocean themed sand sculpture in 15 mins!
Banka ya Miguu
A game that has been played by kids in Lamu for centuries, where a little aeroplane is made from palm leaves and it travels along the ground with the wind. Sadly we didn't really have much wind on the day, but it was fun all the same, especially for the littlest ones.
Tug of war
An energetic, fun game that almost all the schools present fully participated in and the supporter go really involved in, during this game you could really see everyone fully enjoying Bahari Yetu Festival. How exciting it was for the students!!
We couldn't have done it without the great ground support of our esteem volunteers from the Shella community as the Host of these outstanding competitions. You can see some of the volunteers in action below; judges, activity organisers, life guards and support. We also want to thank the sponsors of these activities; Peponi Hotel, Aman, Lamu Environment Fund, Moon Houses, Tusitiri, Kasbah, Tilleard Family, Safarilink, Peter & Pascal, & Charle Aboah. Asanteni Wote!
