The following stories have been written by children of the KIPP. Under the title 'Language and Identity' the stories refer to and describe the children's likes and dislikes and the areas around which they live.

They are the result of a workshop held by the Africa Centre, following consultations with staff of the Knowledge is Power Project, for the children with the aim of allowing them to explore ideas about their own identities and to develop their creative writing skills. This workshop was extremely successful and the children thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

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By Ahmed

Dear Friend

You are going to see lots of people rushing like mad and you will see lots of shops in the streets. You will hear people and dogs barking and you will see people playing in the park. I like Bethnal Green. You are going to have lots of friends and they will play with you. I have two friends that I always play with and they are brothers and they have a big fish and chips shop. When I am hungry I go to them and they give me anything I want. If you were hungry they would let you eat their food.

There is somewhere that I don't like and I don't go there. That is the pub because there are drunk people who will bash you and fight with you. That's why I don't go there.

My Story by Fatima

My home is quite small. My room is small. I sleep with my sister. My wall-paper has flowers in it. I have 8 people in my family and I live in Clare Street.

My mum is 24 years old, my sister is 7, my auntie is 10, my other auntie is 23 years old. My uncle is 14 years old and my other uncle is 12 years old and I am ten. I forgot to tell you that my name is Fatima.

Sometimes I go outside and I see trees and I see cars and I see people and I hear sounds, loads of sounds.

My mum helps me cook and we work together and we help each other out every time and I love her very much.

I have a lot of friends around my area and sometimes I go to their houses. I even go to my cousin's house and I love the neighbourhood I live in. It is very exciting and I even love my school.

The reason why my home is so special is because my home keeps me safe from murderers and robbers and I sleep and eat and it has my stuff.

I love my home so much. It is one of the best places in the world. It is fabulous and I am grateful for my home and I am happy I have a good home and I wouldn't want to change it.

By Mohammed

Dear Friend,

London is a great place to live. It has got lots of people. My favourite place is Canary Wharf. I saw Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of England, and the Mayor of London.

Canary Wharf is one of the great places in England and it is really special. London is pretty much important and it is the capital of England and there are lots of special people who live here.

There are lots of museums in London like the Science museum, British museum, Natural History Museum. I love the London Eye as well as Canary Wharf.

In my country I had a lot of friends there. The landscape is very different from London. It is also very hot in my country, about 40 degrees. It is also very hard work in school because if you fail a test you will go two classes down. I also have seven siblings. I also loved the capital city in my country.

Other stories and further information on the Somali writers on the web project can be found at www.africacentre.org.uk

Link to:
Other stories:
Hibo's strory
Somali Folk Tales
Poems written by the older women's counselling group