This is a live, interactive, participatory, collaborative, and living book by Teddy Warria.

Teddy leverages the call and response style common in African traditional songs to take us on a rich journey. A journey that takes us from listening and absorbing the “call” of ancestors, history, formative experiences and people to Teddy’s “response” in how he has and continues to dedicate his time; being a mwalimu, japuonj, sherpa and oga that inspires and invests in others to enable them achieve their full potential. As they say in his alma mater, Lenana School, Nihil Praeter Optimum – NOTHING BUT THE BEST.

“Teddy Warria’s poetic prose, simple in its form and yet sophisticated in its conceptualization and execution, speaks to the power of human connectedness based on shared universal human values including modesty, gratitude, courage, empathy, curiosity and collaboration and how these values dovetail into human development. Teddy’s profound message also speaks to the African philosophy of “ubuntu” which literally translates into: “I am because you are” and is achieved by simply connecting the complex nodes that bind us together as part of humanity. In Teddy’s odyssey, we collectively learn the importance of understanding ourselves through the past as we appreciate the present and contemplate the future in which we are bound by the shared human values. In sharing some guiding templates, Teddy is encouraging and challenging us to write our own stories for the benefit of posterity.”

‘A SON of the NILE’ is a bold anthology of prose where Teddy Warria examines his genealogy and gives it purpose. Being Teddy, it is eclectic, interesting, provocative, but can also be esoteric. I am duly challenged.

Like his name, Teddy Warria is indeed an African Warrior who has traveled through the continent emulating his ancestors’ strong strides. He’s touched lives and built legacy enterprises that have shaped technology access and application in Kenya. With local knowledge so profound and global exposure so vast, enabling him to transcend borders and conquer territories. Teddy, a global values-based leader with a speech so deep and smile so soft, assuring everyone in his path that everything will be alright. Congruent in his actions, with strong character, courage, compassion to serve his community, and a deep love for his culture, identity, and roots. A true son of the Nile. I call him my brother, my friend, my pathfinder!

Teddy Warria’s ‘Son of the Nile’ goes a long to show there’s no limit to us as Africans and our potential is great. I was completely mesmerized by by how much an individual can be able to achieve, and this has in turn inspired me to achieve more, and inspire others. The book also triggered me to ask myself “Who am I ?” and it gives a guide on how one can actually tell their story.

‘I am From’ poem is woven in a sequence that reminds me of so many familiar stories. The poem starts from home and ends at home but travels throughout the world. I feel like there must be a sequel to this poem in Teddy Warria’s ‘A Son of the Nile’.

I have read your poem twice now and my abiding impression remains the same, Teddy is all about love and empathy, he carries within him the best of humanity and he has that original essence to be found in all true Africans, for me music has always been vibration and enables us to communicate without words and to feel each other. I am from Nigeria and I live in Lagos, I am also Igbo and a proud African who is conscious of our heritage and shared values. For me your poem connects the world and shows your life journey, I love the way you pay homage to your origins, your ancestors and your inspiration, in essence this poem is an exhortation to do better and to be better but without any preaching. It is extremely powerful and also shows someone who is deeply reflective and observes his local environment. In your poem you paid respect to the continent, not just your land, you spoke about your people, the river nile and the power and majesty of your culture. I originally said that you were a warrior-poet but I would like to adjust that, this is much more about philosophy than conflict, this is about empathy and knowledge. In your poem I can see a lifetime of inspiration, of study, of work and an empathetic being, and most importantly I can see that my brother is from Africa and has made his people proud. As an African the tone and nature of your piece is like all real African art bathed in rhythm and it almost feels like a song, I noted your love of song and dance and thank you for this beautiful song from your inner soul. Peace.

Thank you for sharing your heart and allowing others to dream positive dreams in a world full of so much negativity.

My years living in Kenya as a young man forever changed my life’s arc. My first reception of “A SON of the NILE” was via voice recording.

I relaxed, closed my eyes, and was taken on a deeply spiritual journey, the voice of Mr. Teddy Warria washing over me like a deep and mighty river.

Thank you for the deeply effecting experience for this significant work.

Teddy Warria’s poetic rendition of his life evokes all manner of imagery. His words are woven together such as to place himself at the centre of a rich tapestry of the present, past, and the future.

Teddy’s work poetically weaves together foundations from his many intersectional identities — and his writing style is quite visceral. His writing is a reminder that within each of us lie infinite identities, ever-complicated by our family histories, belief systems, values and experiences. It is up to us to get in touch with many facets that live within us. Teddy’s work gives one a sense of true nostalgia for what has existed before us, and in its own subtle way, nudges the reader toward crucial self-exploration.

Your work sits in the interstices between poem and prose. The “Pakruok,” a narrative non-fiction praise genre in Dholuo, is comprehensive, lyrical and lovely. A good set-up, and as a monograph it works beautifully.

Through his profoundly moving and rich composition, Teddy Warria provides a lens into the many factors that shaped his distinct and complex character: his African lineage, intimate relationships, rich culture, dramatic landscape, global adventures and purposeful work. Indeed, Tedros is the result of all that and more. He is – much like his brilliant writing – extraordinary.

You can’t have “song” without “son,” and Teddy Warria shows brilliantly and movingly how the call of, and to, the ancestors lies at the intersection of genealogy and poetry. Warria himself is the song of his ancestors. Even more importantly, Warria’s poem demonstrates how capacious the idea of the ancestor, of the father, of the mother, can be. Warria puts in relief just as sharply the immediate influences of his life, the people who have mentored, taught, and given. This song is, in short, a song of modern Africa, of the myriad intersections that make up Warria’s life, and the multitudes that are connected to each other. Above all, this is a poem that stands at the intersection of a newly revived Kenyan literary scene and the tremendous entrepreneurial spirit of contemporary Kenya.

Let Teddy take you on a journey that opens your eyes to the value of African culture and especially its critical importance at this point when most of it has already been lost. It’s critical not just for the present but for the future generations to look back on their ancestors and appreciate that among them lived great ideas whose relevance is no less important today than it was in the old days and will be even more important for our future prosperity as a people.

Congratulations on the poem and I just love the ‘I Am From’ title! It’s evocative, catchy and at the same time it arouses immense curiosity – who is he? That’s a powerful question at any time, but right now, when identity has become the route to growing, to demanding justice, to changing the world, it’s a powerful draw. For Africa and its diasporas in particular.

You have so much to give Kenya and Africa. It comes through in every line of this remarkable poem and indeed in every message I get from you.

I recommend “A Son of the Nile”  to anyone interested in the history and future of Africans in our new world. Any aspiring or seasoned leader can learn from this book. But the “I Am From” poem is much more than that.

Teddy Warria, I almost envy you. You know who you are and; therefore, know why you have to do the things you do. You go beyond your grandparents and the Luo as a whole through experiences and stories. The River Nile, “Enyanja Nalubaale”, and Luoland ground you. You take us to those who impacted your life for a time and created the global citizen you have become. Each contributed to the whole that is the Teddy Warria we see today.

Excellently written, Teddy Warria’s “A Son of the Nile” is his life story through family, friends, mentors, role models, and serendipitous contacts, using the “I am from” Poem pentameter. Sunday read or re-read Teddy Warria’s, “I am from” Poem. Teddy is from Luoland, but also from many other people, places, and plants. Enjoy and be amazed at what is possible.

“A Son of the Nile” is remarkable in its structure and history. As it unfolds, it adds a new layer of understanding of Teddy Warria’s history and life philosophy. Additionally the details he focuses on and the way these details are constructed comprise a quiet subversion of the traditional biographical structure. This all contributes to making this a surprising but wonderful new way of investigating one’s past and the experience of being human.

Every story travelling through time, place and form sits upon the written word. Written words are transformed into film, music, podcasts and theatre. In the digital age, the cradle of our own African story will be our written individual stories, which we must begin to articulate as Teddy Warria’s “I am from” poem.

“A Son of the Nile” is an excellent book. Its purpose is to give people a structure on how to write their own stories as individuals and as a collective, so that they can share such stories with their families, friends, and for posterity.

Teddy is such a gifted researcher and story-teller that he never fails to tell a good Teddy Tale, full of sense of humor and pride of his people of Nyakach and Seme, in Kisumu, a leading city on Lake Victoria – the source of the Nile, tales that hold your full attention from beginning to end.

This book can be read by people of all generations and can encourage intergenerational dialogue over dinner or in schools, universities, and corporations, at home and abroad. I highly recommend this inspiring book to you, your children, and children.