Olenso: the title of my first collection of poems, was dedicated to my maternal grandfather. I do not have any memory of him, but he left a great legacy of being a forthright, no-nonsense man who took good care of his family and community.

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There was joy and light every time my mother spoke of her father and the respect attached to his name still resounds in my village. He now has many descendants. The traditions of the elders which reflected in the names given to their children have been the golden thread which has preserved our identity as a people and shaped our conduct towards each other and the people we come into contact with.

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The meaning of a name becomes what the child and the community aspires to.

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Olenso: "Life is not arena for the show of strength." Your strength is not an excuse to pick a fight, but it surely would be an excuse to bring peace between warring factions. Physical, emotional, social and pyschological strenth commands respect in every community.

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Your strength is the wisdom you bring; it is the peace you pursue, it is the confidence you give to the weak and your challenge to the bully, the unreasonable and foolish who bring conflict to divide communities.

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In my collection of poems, I have tried to use threads of the good I find in my culture, which is in harmony with what is revealed in God's word, to crete the pulse of a heartbeat which unites us as people on the same planet.

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If i may borrow from the Death of King Arthur:

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"The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And

God fulfils Himself in many ways

Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.

Comfort thyself; what comfort is in me?

I have lived my life, and that which I have done

May He within himself make pure!"

By Lord Alfred Tennyson

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Though the old order continues to change, it is by gleaning from the old values that makes sense of the new order.

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