- Five storytellers from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Sierra Leone will take the stage in Nairobi for The Moth Mainstage.
- The November 7 event will feature personal accounts touching on HIV, tuberculosis, crime, survival and family responsibility.
- Hosted by Adelle Onyango, the seventh Nairobi Mainstage will run under the theme “Now or Never.”
The Moth, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to the art of live personal storytelling, will return to Nairobi on Saturday, November 7, 2026, for its seventh Mainstage event in the city.
Hosted once again by Kenyan media entrepreneur and women’s rights advocate Adelle Onyango, the event will be staged at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s LRC Auditorium.
The evening will bring together five storytellers from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Sierra Leone—Anne Obure, Shakirah Namwanje, Odun Orimolade, Bernard Mbugua and Mahmood Bangura—who will share true, personal stories live and without notes.
This year’s Nairobi Mainstage will run under the theme “Now or Never”, featuring stories about taking chances, confronting difficult choices and moments when waiting was no longer an option.
Shakirah Namwanje, founder of WOMANDLA Foundation Uganda and an HIV and sexual and reproductive health rights advocate, will share a personal story of confronting an HIV diagnosis while holding on to her dream of becoming a mother.
Her story comes against the backdrop of the continuing HIV burden in sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS says about 3,300 adolescent girls and young women in the region acquired HIV every week in 2024.
In Kenya, adolescents and young people aged 10–24 accounted for 32 per cent of all new HIV infections in 2024, according to the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council.
Bernard Mbugua, a human rights defender and EndTB campaign champion, will tell the story of his own TB diagnosis as a teenager and the choice he faced between his grandfather’s traditional and spiritual methods and modern medicine.
Tuberculosis remains a major public health challenge. WHO estimates that 10.7 million people fell ill with TB globally in 2024, with the African region accounting for about 25 per cent of cases.
WHO also estimates that Kenya recorded about 117,000 new TB cases and 16,000 TB deaths in 2024.
Odun Orimolade, a Lagos-based artist, researcher and curator, will recount an unexpected exchange with an armed robber during a robbery, exploring the strange intimacy that can surface in a moment of danger.
Anne Obure, a hydrotherapist, swimming coach and business coach, will describe a scuba-certification retreat that turned into something closer to survival training than a beach holiday.
Her story explores discovering unexpected reserves of resolve when events do not unfold according to plan.
The account also comes as many young Kenyans contend with economic pressures. An Afrobarometer survey found health, the rising cost of living and unemployment among the leading concerns Kenyan youth wanted the government to address. The 2024 survey found that 43 per cent of young respondents were unemployed and looking for work.
Mahmood Bangura, a Sierra Leonean social scientist and educator who has worked on Ebola vaccine trials and other epidemiological studies, will share the story of becoming his niece’s guardian following a death in the family.
A father of two, Bangura will speak about his determination to give his niece the education and opportunities her mother would have given her.
Stories beyond statistics
The Moth’s premise is that true personal stories told live and without notes can enable audiences to connect with experiences that statistics alone may not fully convey.
Since its establishment in 1997, the organisation has staged thousands of personal stories around the world and developed storytelling programmes involving participants from different countries.
This year’s Nairobi Mainstage brings that approach to experiences ranging from an HIV diagnosis and TB to an armed robbery, a demanding scuba retreat and a guardian’s promise to his niece.
“Every Moth Mainstage poses a question. In Nairobi this year it is simple: what do you do when the moment is now or never? Do you have the courage to leap?” The Moth Executive Producer Sarah Austin Jenness said.
She said Kenya has a large community of storytellers and has been a centre for The Moth’s storytelling workshops for almost 15 years.
“This year’s Pan-African cast, with stories of maternal and child health, safety, family, and sheer physical grit, are proof that Kenyan audiences don’t just watch daring; they live it,” Jenness said.
Onyango said the personal stories presented on The Moth stage have continued to create connections among audiences.
“Seven years into hosting this stage, I still find myself deeply moved by the stories that grace the Moth stage and how much connection they spark,” she said.
“This year’s storytellers are carrying personal stories: an HIV diagnosis, a TB recovery, a robbery, a retreat that nearly broke them, and a young man’s vow to raise his niece the way her mother would have.”
The Moth producer Josephine Macharia said each of the storytellers had experienced a defining moment in which they had to act rather than wait.
“What we discovered is that each of them had lived through a defining moment where they had to act, and simply couldn’t wait any longer. It was now or never,” Macharia said.
“On 7 November, Nairobi will get to hear five personal stories and experience the magical power of true stories told live.”
READ ALSO: CBE spot check at Talau puts learner outcomes at the heart of quality teaching
The Moth Mainstage in Nairobi will take place on November 7 at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s LRC Auditorium.
By Our Reporter
Get more stories from our website: Education News
To write to us or offer feedback, you can reach us at: editor@educationnews.co.ke
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
