karibu magazine 4th edition

When the group arrived in Italy, they
made a decision that she admits
changed the dynamics of her life.
We all remained after the few months
we were to stay elapsed. We never
went back to Kenya…everyone had
their struggles. Some went to Greece.
One of the members is my husband
so he stayed with me in Leece,” she
says.
Their woes started barely six months
after they became illegal immigrants
in Italy. Wakesho was pregnant and
after giving birth, they had to stay
with strangers and endure many
hungry days because they could not
afford food.
“Some Italian girls who followed our
performance came to visit me in hospital.
They talked to their area priest
and he gave me a room with my baby
to stay,” she says.
It is there that they met other immigrants
who told them the reality
of living in a country without proper
documentation. The hunger, anxiety
of knowing they could be caught any
time, the lack of jobs because no employer
is willing to risk on them, and
the poverty that follows. The Kenyan
community would sometimes chip in
and shop for them, and she says there
is a point a group of Kenyans came
through for them when they did
not have even a grain of salt in their
kitchen.
“My music career came to a standstill.
Something inside of me was burning,
wanting that chance to be heard. The
warrior heart was building inside of
me. I knew I had to break barriers. I
had to convince one person at a time.
I took to free performances just to
make sure people hear me sing,” says
Wakesho.
The biggest challenge was language
barrier. Even small jobs they would
have otherwise done needed proficiency
in Italian – a language they did
not speak.
“I had to learn it through watching TV
and making mistakes,” she says.
When she learnt that she was expecting
her second child, she had a bitter
sweet moment. She knew things
would get even tougher for her.
“At 7 months pregnant I fell down
the stairs and broke my knee. I was
hospitalized for a month and a half.
Operated on my knee. Came out
using crutches. That slowed down
everything,” she says. Her daughter
survived the fall.
Despite the challenges, she never let
go of her dream to become a singer.
It was a dream she had nurtured from
when she was a young girl, growing
up in Mombasa.
After her second baby, she hit the
stage again. She won a local singing
talent show in Carpignao Salentino,
Lecce in 2008. Coincidentally, as she
was singing to a crowd of more than
5,000 people, nobody knew that her
daughter had been diagnosed with
a heart condition and was scheduled
for operation later that day. She had
gotten the gig courtesy of a contest
that she won through a local talent
show called “La Corrida” in Italy. Many
musicians were shortlisted, but she
emerged the winner.
It has been more than a decade of
rising and falling, and she believes her
experience strengthened her and she
now understands the pain of immigrants
all over the world.
She has now mastered Italian, and
helps as a translator for immigrants
who are struggling to put their papers
in order. Wakesho now has her papers
in order and is a permanent resident
waiting for Italian citizenship.
“God was feeding me with strength
and wisdom. The project was “me”. I
had to work this project. I met people
along the way who saw the potential
I had. Fearlessly I grabbed on every
opportunity. I have even won local
singing competitions here in Lecce. I
have loved this journey, it has made
me someone new on the inside,” she
says.
4THEDITION
|JULY 2019
59