Parents in a small village in Kenya have taken up exposing their children to the language of love – French – in a bid to expose them to different cultures and experiences.
Located in Githunguri District, Kiambu County, the dusty, rural village of Mitahato has sparked interest among Kenyans and foreigners alike because children have taken up learning French.
“A Mitahato, nous aimons la langue française (At Mitahato, we like French)”, says Moses Waweru, a 12-year old Mitahato boy as he welcomes visitors.
At a nearby facility, a group of children practice a song in French.
Visitors are ushered inside a nearby nondescript wooden structure, which turns out to be a library with only French books on display.
Inside, another group of children is learning French from a young man in the neighbourhood.
“The idea behind the Mitahato French Village is simple”, explains James Ngunye Kimani, the manager of the initiative, “it is to give the children of Mitahato skills that are unavailable in the ordinary school system in order to prepare them for a better future”.
Kimani, himself a French learner who has acquired Level A2 French knowlege, gives the history of the initiative: “It all started a few years ago when one of the sons of this village who works for the United Nations in a francophone country, converted his childhood home into a library and began to slowly stock French books, hoping to benefit people in his village interested in learning French”..
