Kuku and Mwewe - A Swahili Folktale

A wonderful fable inspired by an old Swahili legend reminds us of the importance of taking responsibility for our actions.

Kuku the chicken and Mwewe the eagle have been the very best of friends their entire lives. Kuku was very vain, and every year when Spring arrived, she would go to the city to buy a kitenge so elegant that everyone in the village would admire her. But one day, she walked merrily across the savannah, she didn’t realize that the dress had got caught on the branch of a mgunga until suddenly she heard… RRRRIP! Sad to see that her new dress was ruined, Kuku begs Mwewe to let her borrow a needle that is also a family heirloom. Mwewe reluctantly lends her friend the needle that belonged to their ancestors, trusting her to care for it like the cherished possession it is, on one condition: she must bring it back.