An Ex Mas Feast








An Ex-Mas Feast- represents today’s era, and how poverty stricken families in Kenya fight to survive in the streets.  Opens readers’ eyes to the horrific struggles that they are subjected to.

Nairobi, Kenya – use of the streets of Nairobi to show the masquerading of young boys and girls asking for money in a business like area, koinange is mentioned, a street known for its prostitution activity to show how the girl, Maisha had thrust herself into the business and how serious it was. Use of Kibera slums to show the sense of poverty.

An ex -mas feast takes place in the streets of Kenya, where a young boy and girl who come from a poor family struggle to make money. The boy is faced with the decision of whether to go to school or not, while her sister is faced with the dilemma of whether to work as a full time prostitute and leave her family to go to honolulu so as to get more white or 'musungu' clients or stay and possibly go to school later. Maisha and her brother are the protagonists since they are young children and because of being poor they are expected to get into prostitution or hold back on going to school. They walk in the streets of Nairobi as machokosh asking for money. Their mother is the antagonist in this case since she tends to put them down at all times even though they are trying their best to survive.
An Ex Mas Key Events

  • Jigana and his uniform
  • Using baby to get money from people
  • Machokosh Christmas party
  • NGO talk
  • Maisha and Jigana walking on koinange street
  • Maisha decides to go fulltime
  • Mama and the trunk
  • Glue and zebra intestines as Christmas presents
  • Bwana Marcos Wako, his wife Cecelia and the debt