Introducing @RadioKikuyu

Since January 24th, I have been listening to, translating, transcribing (on Twitter, as live tweets) and recording several hours of radio in Kikuyu every week.

It began on a lark – my mother had asked me to play Kameme FM (101.1 FM in Nairobi and its environs) and I thought to live-tweet what I was listening to. I started doing it and thought to myself: this can be my service to Kenya this year. I resolved to do it till the end of the year and see where it would go.

I decided to listen to 4 radio stations before the week was out: Kameme, Coro (99.5 FM in Nairobi and its environs), Inooro (98.9 FM in Nairobi and its environs), and Gukena (92.8 FM in Nairobi and its environs). Originally, I listened for 5 hours a day: 6-8am, 1-2pm, and 7-9pm. Over time, this proved to be too much for this one-person operation so I took it down to a maximum 3 hours a day (7-8am, 1-2pm, 7-8pm) if/ when I can.

In February, a friend recommended I divorce my personal Twitter account from the threads I was creating as I live-tweeted. That led to @RadioKikuyu being started on February 16th and exclusively live-tweeting a cross-section of Kikuyu radio. Before then, I had set up a Soundcloud account to make the audio I was recording every time I live-tweeted publicly available. I maxed out on the available time but $135/ year will help make it open.

I have learnt a lot during the last 3 – almost 4 – months and this introduction is to provide some context as I go into various themes in the weeks ahead. I intend to do a post a week and I hope that – in thinking in the open – I will learn alongside those who have thoughts and insights on the project.

Let’s see where this experience leads, and come along for the ride!