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When wisdom meets WiFi: How traditional Kenyan storytelling finds new life online

In Kenyan villages, storytelling has always been sacred

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by Mercy Wangari Ndirangu

Star-blogs10 October 2025 - 23:33
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In Summary


  • Around evening fires, elders wove tales that carried values, history, and wisdom from one generation to the next. 
  • Today, those same stories are finding new audiences — not around fires, but in the glow of smartphone screens, on international stages, and in policy discussions.
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.                                                            Storyteller Roseline OrwaRoseline Orwa’s journey into storytelling began with a single workshop — a global session with The Moth that awakened something she didn’t know was dormant.

As she learned the craft of personal narrative, she realized she had been preparing for this moment her entire life.

The stories her grandmother told around evening fires, the proverbs her mother used to teach life lessons, and the communal way her community processed joy and grief through narrative — all of it had been training.

What makes Roseline’s story remarkable is how she transformed personal narrative into a tool for systemic change.

A social entrepreneur with over a decade of grassroots gender and development experience, she holds degrees in Public Relations and Communication from Daystar University, Printing and Graphic Design from the Technical University of Kenya, and Project Management and Innovation.

As a lifelong Fellow of the Atlantic Social Economic and Equity Program at the London School of Economics and an Aspen 2021 Fellow, she combines academic rigor with community-rooted activism.

Yet it was storytelling — the art of crafting and sharing personal narratives with emotional precision — that gave her the most powerful tool in her advocacy arsenal.

From The Moth’s Global Workshops to its Masterclasses, and from The Moth Mainstage in Kenya to the Gates Foundation’s Discovery Center in Seattle and stages in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Roseline has shared stories that do more than move audiences — they inspire change.

As an international award-winning widow advocate, chapter leader with Modern Widows Club, and Commissioned Expert with Kenya’s Ministry of Labour and Social Services, she has consulted with county and state governments as well as numerous local and global organizations on widow rights.

Her storytelling has played a crucial role in advancing policy changes around widows and inheritance, proving that personal narrative, when used strategically, can catalyze legal reform.

Based in Siaya County, with regular work in Nairobi, Roseline founded the RONA Foundation and has become a true Moth ambassador, training others to harness the power of their stories.

She understands something profound: in a country where traditional storytelling has always been the primary vehicle for cultural transmission, modern storytelling platforms aren’t just preserving heritage — they’re creating new pathways for social justice.

In Kenyan villages, storytelling has always been sacred. Around evening fires, elders wove tales that carried values, history, and wisdom from one generation to the next.

These weren’t just entertainment — they were education, moral instruction, and cultural preservation rolled into one. Stories about clever tricksters taught problem-solving; tales of brave ancestors emphasized courage; parables about community cooperation reinforced social bonds.

Today, those same stories are finding new audiences — not around fires, but in the glow of smartphone screens, on international stages, and in policy discussions.

Storytellers like Roseline are proving that this isn’t cultural dilution; it’s cultural evolution with purpose — a strategic use of ancient narrative wisdom to address modern injustices.

Kenya’s unique position in digital storytelling isn’t just about adopting technology; it’s about bridging ancient oral traditions with modern digital platforms and advocacy spaces.

With 15.1 million social media users in a population of 57 million — and a median age of just 20 — Kenya has a generation that grew up hearing stories from grandparents while living online.

They’re uniquely positioned to translate those narratives for digital consumption, creating content that resonates both locally and globally — and increasingly, content that drives policy change.

Roseline’s work exemplifies this fusion. Whether she shares her stories on international stages, in workshops, at policy meetings, or online, she structures them using the same narrative arcs that made traditional stories memorable — setup, conflict, and resolution — but tailors them for each audience.

A story told at The Moth Mainstage emphasizes emotion; the same story told to policymakers highlights systemic implications; shared on social media, it becomes a rallying point for advocacy.

Her training in communication, project management, and policy advocacy allows her to understand what narrative elements resonate in each context.

Her expertise in gender-based violence, gender mainstreaming, and rural women’s empowerment programs gives her stories both authenticity and authority.

When she speaks about widow rights, she’s not just telling her own story — she’s representing thousands of women whose experiences she has encountered through her work in livelihoods, agriculture, microfinance, and access to justice. This blend of personal narrative and professional expertise makes her storytelling a uniquely powerful advocacy tool.

Traditional Kenyan storytelling was inherently communal. Listeners were not passive — they engaged, questioned, and sometimes added their own experiences. Roseline’s storytelling and advocacy recreate that spirit. When she shares her stories, audiences respond with their own, forming modern versions of the storytelling circles her grandmother once led.

Through The Moth workshops and her foundation, she trains rural women to tell their own stories, showing that collective narrative — many voices speaking together — is more powerful than a single one.

Her themes — identity, belonging, resilience, transformation, and justice — are universal. Yet by grounding them in Kenyan contexts and rural women’s experiences, she creates stories that educate international audiences while affirming local ones.

Her work demonstrates that specificity is what makes stories resonate across cultures — and what gives them the power to change laws, shift perception, and mobilize support for marginalized communities.

This cultural continuity is producing authentic advocacy that stands out in spaces often dominated by statistics and jargon. Roseline understands that data alone doesn’t move people to action — stories do.

By anchoring her advocacy in both generational cultural wisdom and practical expertise, she creates narratives that feel timeless, urgent, and systemically relevant.

Her work extends far beyond personal storytelling. Through the Modern Widows Club and RONA Foundation, she trains other women to tell their stories with clarity and confidence.

She’s collaborated with government agencies, civil organizations, and policy experts — bringing storytelling into spaces once reserved for technical analysis. Instead of the “single story” that oversimplifies, she amplifies a chorus of voices showcasing the diversity and humanity of Kenyan women’s experiences.

The economic and social implications are significant. Roseline and others like her are leveraging culture to create policy change, secure community resources, and build sustainable pathways for women’s empowerment.

Traditional storytellers were respected community figures; today’s advocates who combine narrative mastery with digital reach are emerging as influential voices with the power to reshape laws and challenge systemic inequity. They’re proving that storytelling isn’t soft activism — it’s strategic advocacy that complements legal and policy work.

Her academic credentials give her credibility in formal spaces, but it’s her storytelling mastery that turns facts into lasting change.

When she combines her expertise in gender mainstreaming and policy advocacy with emotional truth, she creates advocacy that speaks to both hearts and minds — the combination necessary for lasting transformation.

Still, this approach isn’t without challenges. Some worry about the commodification of traditional stories or whether personal narratives should carry such influence in policymaking.

There are valid questions about story ownership, loss of cultural context, and protecting vulnerable storytellers who share painful experiences publicly.

Roseline navigates these tensions with thoughtful care, informed by her grassroots experience and international training. She’s clear about the boundary between sharing stories for empowerment and exploiting them, and between personal testimony and community representation.

Her grounding in gender and advocacy ethics shapes how she approaches storytelling as a force for change. She knows that every story she tells — whether in Kisumu, Nairobi, Seattle, or Massachusetts — reflects not just her own voice but the image of Kenya and the global understanding of widow rights.

Yet she continues to use her platform to challenge injustice while honoring the dignity of those she represents.

Evidence suggests that modern platforms are not replacing traditional storytelling but revitalizing it. Young Kenyans who might have lost touch with their heritage are rediscovering narrative structures through advocacy.

Elders are finding new relevance as their wisdom is recognized as a vital advocacy skill. The Moth workshops that first sparked Roseline’s journey have trained many African storytellers, creating ripple effects of empowerment and cultural reclamation — not just for preservation but for justice.

The best advocates understand that platforms and policies are just tools — the real power lies in the story. When ancient wisdom meets modern connectivity, the result isn’t cultural dilution but evolution toward justice.

A story about widow inheritance told on The Moth stage can humanize statistics for donors; the same story in a county assembly can spur legislative reform; shared online, it can mobilize public action.

Roseline’s work proves that authentic storytelling — rooted in truth, emotion, and cultural context — transcends medium and audience. Whether told by the fire, shared online, or presented to policymakers, such stories become instruments of social change.

In a world where authentic content breaks through digital noise, Kenya’s storyteller-advocates have a unique advantage: centuries of narrative tradition combined with digital fluency and strategic advocacy.

They’re not just telling stories — they’re showing how culture adapts, how narrative can drive legal reform, and how traditional wisdom informs modern justice.

The WiFi-enabled wisdom that Roseline and others deploy isn’t a compromise between tradition and modernity — it’s proof they were never at odds.

Stories have always evolved with their mediums — from oral tales to radio, television, and now social media and policy briefs. The difference today lies in who tells the stories and what they achieve.

For too long, stories about Kenyan women, particularly widows and rural women, were told by outsiders.

Storyteller-advocates like Roseline are reclaiming that power, ensuring that stories shaping policy and law are told by those who live them.

They are training others to do the same — multiplying their impact through workshops, mentorship, and community storytelling circles.

When wisdom meets WiFi in the hands of storytellers like Roseline Orwa — advocates who understand that their craft can preserve culture, challenge inequality, and inspire change — the result is powerful: heritage renewed, justice advanced, and communities transformed one story and one policy at a time.

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