Great lessons and amazingly inspiring local acting talent:

Inspired beyond words:

On the evening of Oct 7th, 2025, I was honored to be one among about 80 UNICEF Kenya’s & CIFF’s (Children’s Investment Fund Foundation) esteemed guests at the exclusive streaming of “NAWI: Dear Future Me,” a feature film based on its writer’s real life experiences and essentially probing the traumatic and saddening forced early marriage practices in Kenya and other parts of Africa and the world…

The streaming happened at the Unseen Theater at Kilimani area’s Yaya Centre a few kms away from Nairobi CBD. 

Though a global challenge and dilemma, the practice raises lots of concern in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA).

‘NAWI: Dear Future Me’ is a very captivating and touching story 13 years old dark skinned, petite, beautiful, vivacious and friendly girl, NAWI, with short neat hair .

She is daughter to Rosemary, one of her father’s three wives. She is friendly not only to Christine her class teacher but also to her brother Joel and her expectant mother among others. Each morning after waking up, she touches her mother’s womb and prays for the mom and baby.

NAWI whose real or maiden name is Aliya is apparently the only girl in her family and is thus burdened with many domestic chores which include a must & everyday fetching of water for domestic use and to quench her father’s sheep, goats and camels thirst.

Her typical day starts with looking for water in sandy trenches near drying wells and where the demand is very high and there congestion. 

In one incident, she goes against protocol and walks down a risky ladder, leading down to a low well, despite being warned not to do so. Her desire is to fetch water as quickly as possible so that she can return home to water the animals and then rush to school.

At times, her brother and friend Joel offers her rides to school in a bicycle and even tries to teach her cycling.

Their father is a burly harsh man whose word is the final command. He, at some point brutally canes Joel in his small house ‘Simba’ possibly because of riding with Aliya to school.

Aliya is seen in school chatting with Christine, one of her teachers and getting encouragement even after the other pupils have left school for home at day’s end. It is evident that she is a bright, vibrant and well liked pupil by both the teachers and other pupils.

Even during the exams starting period, she has to first fetch water and roll and pull the container (mtungi) in a creative style. After bringing water home, she requests one of her father’s wives to water the animals then rushes to school but she still arrives late and just about the exams’ starting time.

Meanwhile, her graceful ways and petite body has been identified by Shadrack, a man much older. The man and his cohorts approach the father in the village drinking joint with the proposal that he should give her daughter to Shadrack. The man and his team even visits Aliya’s home and talk only to the father as is the norm – – here, women and children have no voice at all. The visits and discussions leave Aliya worried and curious and the mothers anxious too. Eventually, her mom reveals the plot to her and she courageously asks her father of the issue informing him that she has excelled in school and would like to chase her dreams outside their village; the father stubbornly informs her that culture has to be obeyed and that the dowry would greatly benefit the rest of the family. 

After some time, the exams results are released and as is expected, she excels and leads in the results scoring 455 out of 500 marks a feat that leads to much jubilation at the school and even TV news coverage. This though is of no interest to the father. Aliya’s dream is to join Alliance Girls’ high school and to leave her village to study and even visit cities such as Nairobi.

Meanwhile, dowry negotiations continue in top gear and her father agrees to marry her off for a flock of 60 sheep, 100 goats and 6 camels. 

Her dream is thus cut short…she is married off in a traditional wedding ceremony and she officially becomes Shadrack’s wife…however on the first night that Shadrack expects to have sex with her, she hatches a plan that feign that she is on her periods and Shadrack leaves her for a few days. In her mind, she thinks of how she could escape though this would be a very tall order.

Meanwhile, the story told in about 150 minutes, continues to unfold full of tension and anticlimaxes.

Christine after getting wind that Aliya may not go to Alliance after all makes frantic efforts to rescue the girl but does not succeed given the strong support of the cultural practices by almost everyone in the area.

Eventually, heavy rains start in the area followed by risk and warning of flash floods and it is in the melee and confusing that Aliya and her water container are carried off by the floods in one of the tensest anticlimaxes.

Fortunately, Aliya survives and still clinging to her container ends up in an island where she gets help, makes new friends and even becomes a mathematics & English teacher for a while as she also works for the fisherman who saved her life in order for her to raise enough boat ‘fare’ that would enable her to cross the sea to the South and to seek her Alliance High school dreams.

She is at peace until word reaches her village that she had been seen at the island.

A search mission is launched leading even to breakage into a church where Aliya has hidden. None gets to see her except Joel who, however, keeps silent to save her from those pursuing her. Joel also keeps in touch with her and even reveals that their new born sister, called Hope, has already been sold to become Shadrack’s wife in her stead since her (Aliya’s) dowry could not be refunded.

Eventually, Aliya agrees to return home and remain Shadrack’s wife to safe her sister Hope but in an anticlimax nearing the end of the touching story, Aliya dies in child birth complications.. ..

Her body is too tiny to hold and sustain pregnancy and child birth…

The movie ends at a point where we see her grave.

“The film has many sad scenes and a very sad ending (anticlimaxes). We would have expected and been happy had Aliya escaped, won and reached her dreams,” I commented to Milcah Cherotich, the script writer.

“It’s true. There are anticlimaxes but if Aliya (Nawi) would have won, the critical lessons in the movie would not have appealed much or reached the targeted people,” was her response. {Ends}