We had just crossed the channel from Manda island to Shela village with Tip Top boat and our favourite Captain Abdul. Our feet go into the water in a bay where traditional dhows are being made or re-made, huge white sails soak in the gentle waves, given the occasional wash before being painted with fish, mermaids or whatever the captain fancies. The wet ground feels like a mix between sand, algae and mud, as we tip toe to avoid seashells, pebbles and rocks.
It is early-ish in the morning, but as we pass under the shade of bougainvilleas and make way for some donkey traffic, sweat beads trickle down my back as I carefully balance a large tray of home-made muffins. We enter a wide open space with mountains of white sand, the sand dunes of Mararani village.
There is a central square with a couple of football nets, women heating up some oil in big vats for cassava fries and several men blasting loud music from a speaker in a corner. Some passers-by wonder if we are lost and offer to help with directions – many people from Shela and Lamu have never ventured into Mararani village, let alone any foreign visitors … we look distinctly out of place. They look at our large tray and smile, “Birthday Cake?” When we answer “Ubunifu”, the initial concern disappears from their faces and they wave us on, “Enjoy!”
We are on our way to the Ubunifu Community Art Centre, founded by Nyambura to provide a safe space for the children of Mararani to play and create. When we arrive, the children are just wrapping up their Saturday morning yoga class with Fred. We push open the green metal gate and are greeted by vibrant murals, art installations and wall decorations made of colourful old lighters moulded into door frames.
Max and Mattia are initially shy, but soon are busy painting on canvas frames with a table full of kids ranging from 4 to 16 years old. On another table are groups of children learning to put a bobbin on a sewing machine, sorting out fabrics and preparing for their annual Christmas fashion show. We meet Anderson, Emmanuel and Emmanuel, Peter, Janet, Chris, Lea and so many more. Against all odds, Nyambura has managed to bring together different generations of Lamu, Shela and Mararani residents to celebrate and preserve their cultural heritage through the arts. Her goal is to nurture young, underpriviledged talent, encourage self-expression; and by connecting children to their culture, history and identity, change the narrative of what Mararani represents.
At midday, the children start tidying up, carefully collecting their aprons (gorgeous homemade versions created with leftover fabrics from Ikeno and Aman), cleaning their brushes and stacking their paintings to continue next time. Before they leave, it is snack time, every Saturday a huge tikitimaji is split into multiple pieces and served up on a huge tray. The watermelon slices are extra sweet in the heat and are distributed evenly, making sure everyone has a fair share. Fruit is a luxury not many of their families can afford and Ubunifu does what it can to provide the children with a healthier diet, from food packages to fruit every weekend. Today, we have brought our special treat – mango passion fruit muffins that we made at Mkoko House, those are also carefully cut into equal pieces and shared on a platter. Max and Mattia are so proud to serve them and I laugh as some of the children are surprised by the slight sour tang of the passion fruit, our vegan cake is decidedly less sweet than what some of the local swahili bakeries produce.
When all the food is consumed, crumbs and all, everything gets put back in place and washed efficiently. We are constantly reminded that water is a scarce resource here, the sand dunes act as a natural sponge for the rain, but even some of the oldest wells are starting to sprout some brackish water, salt infiltrating from all sides. The children scramble to put on their shoes outside and one by one they depart, some turning left and others disppearing quickly into a corner, those as young as 4 making their way home down the familiar sand paths, no supervision needed. There is a certain freedom that comes with growing up in a village with no cars and where everyone knows who you belong to.
As we walk back through the sand dunes to Shela village with Nyambura, Anderson and Janet, we are already planning our next visit and maybe a Saturday pilau while we paint a wall mural. Max and Mattia, initially quiet, are now chatting away with Anderson and I am reminded of how quickly children can connect, less inhibitions, genuine curiosity and no social barriers, if only we stayed that way as adults.
You can learn more about Nyambura’s mission by listening to our first podcast episode!
MKOKO MUFFINS \ˈɛm kˈə͡ʊkə͡ʊ mˈʌfɪnz\
The aromas of these muffins bring us back to the Equatorial flavours of Lamu, in particular the garden at Mkoko House. Mkoko means mangroveand we share this sea-side garden with blue-bummed monekys, the occasional vermillion snake, acacia flower-loving bees and birds of all colours, shapes and sizes. We like to bake these on slow afternoons before bringing them to share with our friends at Ubunifu Lamu. The caramellised sweet mango, the pop of passion fruit seeds and the zing of lime make this one-bowl wonder highly addictive. If you want to travel through other sweet and honeyed Swahili flavours reminiscent of this unique coast, check out our Lamu Spiced Cake.
Inspired by the basic Vanilla Depression Cake (which also happens to be vegan!)
mango・passion ・vanilla ・lime
Equipment : prepared loaf pan of 9 x 5 inch or 12 x 4 inch or muffin cups
(this recipe can make two loafs or ___ muffins)
Fruits
1 large mango
6 passion fruits
4 limes
For the Muffins
Dry ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup light brown /cane sugar (keep ¼ aside for caramellising the base)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tsp tsp pure vanilla extract
10 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups water
Prepare the fruits first. Peel the mango and scrape out all the flesh, you can either slice this or mash it. This will go in the base of your muffin cups. Open the passion fruits in halve and empty all the fruit, seeds and all into a bowl. Zest the limes and juice them, put aside.
Preheat the oven to 180C or 350 F.
Prepare your muffin moulds or loaf pans - Take the ¼ sugar that was set aside and sprinkle and divide evenly into the base of your muffin cups or loaf pans, you can add a bit more if there are some which are not covered in a thin later. Take you mango slices or mash and distribute evenly on top of this. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift in the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the rest of the sugar and all the zest from the limes.
Next mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, stir all the ingredients together and slowly pour into the dry mixture. Fold gently with a spatula until you do not see any flour, do not overmix or whisk.
Divide half of the mixture equally into your muffin moulds or loaf pans. Layer the passion fruit pulp equally between all the moulds on top of the mixture, then make a second layer with the rest of the mixture.
Place carefully into the oven and bake for 12-18 mins if they are muffins and 40-45 mins for a loaf pan ( a fan oven will bake them faster), until a skewer comes out relatively clean. It will stay moist thanks to the mango and passion fruit.
Let the muffins or cake cool, when fully cool, flip them over to serve (the mango give a nicely caramelised crust and serve with some extra lime squeezed on top if desired.
