Holidays with grandmother - Storybooks Canada · 2018. 10. 24. · Father woke up Odongo and Apiyo as they arrived in the village. They found Nyar-Kanyada, their grandmother, resting

Holidays withHolidays withgrandmothergrandmother

Violet Otieno Catherine Groenewald English Level 4

Odongo and Apiyo lived in the city withtheir father. They looked forward to theholidays. Not just because school wasclosed, but because they went to visittheir grandmother. She lived in afishing village near a large lake.

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Odongo and Apiyo were excitedbecause it was time to visit theirgrandmother again. The night before,they packed their bags and got readyfor the long journey to her village. Theycould not sleep and talked the wholenight about the holiday.

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Early the next morning, they left for thevillage in their father’s car. They drovepast mountains, wild animals and teaplantations. They counted cars andsang songs.

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After a while, the children were tiredand fell asleep.

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Father woke up Odongo and Apiyo asthey arrived in the village. They foundNyar-Kanyada, their grandmother,resting on a mat under a tree. Nyar-Kanyada in Luo, means ‘daughter ofthe people of Kanyada’. She was astrong and beautiful woman.

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Nyar-Kanyada welcomed them into thehouse and danced around the roomsinging with joy. Her grandchildrenwere excited to give her the presentsthey brought from the city. “First openmy gift,” said Odongo. “No, my giftfirst!” said Apiyo.

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After she opened the presents, Nyar-Kanyada blessed her grandchildren in atraditional way.

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Then Odongo and Apiyo went outside.They chased butterflies and birds.

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They climbed trees and splashed in thewater of the lake.

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When it was dark they returned to thehouse for dinner. Before they couldfinish eating, they were falling asleep!

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The next day, the children’s fatherdrove back to the city leaving them withNyar-Kanyada.

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Odongo and Apiyo helped theirgrandmother with household chores.They fetched water and firewood. Theycollected eggs from the chickens andpicked greens from the garden.

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Nyar-Kanyada taught hergrandchildren to make soft ugali to eatwith stew. She showed them how tomake coconut rice to eat with roast fish.

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One morning, Odongo took hisgrandmother’s cows to graze. They ranonto a neighbour’s farm. The farmerwas angry with Odongo. He threatenedto keep the cows for eating his crops.After that day, the boy made sure thatthe cows did not get into trouble again.

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On another day, the children went tothe marketplace with Nyar-Kanyada.She had a stall selling vegetables, sugarand soap. Apiyo liked to tell customersthe price of items. Odongo would packthe items that customers bought.

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At the end of the day they drank chaitea together. They helped grandmotherto count the money she earned.

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But too soon the holidays were overand the children had to go back to thecity. Nyar-Kanyada gave Odongo a capand Apiyo a sweater. She packed foodfor their journey.

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When their father came to fetch them,they did not want to leave. The childrenbegged Nyar-Kanyada to go with themto the city. She smiled and said, “I amtoo old for the city. I will be waiting foryou to come to my village again.”

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Odongo and Apiyo both hugged hertightly and said goodbye.

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When Odongo and Apiyo went back toschool they told their friends about lifein the village. Some children felt thatlife in the city was good. Others felt thatthe village was better. But most of all,everyone agreed that Odongo andApiyo had a wonderful grandmother!

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Storybooks CanadaStorybooks Canadastorybookscanada.ca

Holidays with grandmotherHolidays with grandmotherWritten by: Violet Otieno

Illustrated by: Catherine Groenewald

This story originates from the African Storybook (africanstorybook.org) andis brought to you by Storybooks Canada in an effort to provide children’sstories in Canada’s many languages.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.