The Moth Returns to Nairobi with Five Personal Stories of Courage and Life-Changing Choices
By Staff Reporter
Five storytellers from across Africa will take to the stage in Nairobi on November 7 to share deeply personal accounts of survival, family, health and unexpected turning points, as The Moth returns to the city for its seventh Mainstage event under the theme “Now or Never”.
The event, hosted by Kenyan media entrepreneur and women’s rights advocate Adelle Onyango, will be held at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s LRC Auditorium. It will bring together Anne Obure, Shakirah Namwanje, Odun Orimolade, Bernard Mbugua and Mahmood Bangura, who will recount true stories from their lives without notes.
The five accounts explore moments when circumstances demanded action, difficult decisions could no longer be postponed and individuals had to find the courage to face uncertainty. From confronting an HIV diagnosis and recovering from tuberculosis to surviving an armed robbery, enduring a challenging retreat and taking responsibility for a young relative, the stories reflect the defining moments that can alter the course of a life.
For the organisers, the theme “Now or Never” captures the urgency of those moments and the determination required to move forward when waiting is no longer an option.
Among the storytellers is Shakirah Namwanje, founder of the WOMANDLA Foundation Uganda and an advocate for HIV and sexual and reproductive health rights. She will share her experience of receiving 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, which was home to an estimated 26.3 million people living with the virus in 2024, according to UNAIDS. The region accounted for roughly two-thirds of the global total, while adolescent girls and young women continued to face a disproportionate risk of new infections.
In Kenya, an estimated 1.3 million people were living with HIV in 2024, with young people aged 10 to 24 accounting for close to a third of new infections, according to the National Syndemic Diseases Control Council. Although the country has reduced new infections significantly since 2010, stigma remains a barrier to testing and treatment.
Namwanje’s account is expected to bring a personal perspective to these figures, exploring the emotional challenges of an HIV diagnosis and the determination to pursue motherhood despite uncertainty.
Bernard Mbugua, a human rights defender and EndTB campaign champion, will recount his own battle with tuberculosis as a teenager and the difficult choice he faced between his grandfather’s traditional and spiritual approaches to healing and modern medicine.
Tuberculosis remains a major public health challenge. The World Health Organization’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2025 estimates that Africa carries about a quarter of the global burden. Kenya has recorded progress in reducing infections and deaths, but it remains among the countries with a high burden of TB and TB/HIV, while a significant proportion of cases continue to go undetected.
Mbugua’s story will offer a glimpse into the personal decisions that accompany illness, particularly when families must navigate different beliefs and treatment options.
The evening will also feature a more unexpected account from Lagos-based artist, researcher and curator Odun Orimolade, who will describe an encounter with an armed robber during a crime. Her story explores the strange intimacy that can emerge in moments of danger, when the boundaries between fear and human connection become unexpectedly blurred.
Anne Obure, a hydrotherapist, swimming coach and business coach, will take audiences through a scuba-certification retreat that turned into an ordeal requiring far more resilience than she had anticipated. Her experience reflects the determination to keep going when circumstances depart from the plan and the strength people can discover in themselves under pressure.
Her story also speaks to the challenges facing young people in Kenya, where unemployment and the rising cost of living remain among the concerns highlighted in recent Afrobarometer survey findings.
Completing the line-up is Mahmood Bangura, a Sierra Leonean social scientist and educator who has worked on Ebola vaccine trials and other epidemiological studies. He is also the founder and principal of the Institute for Behavioural and Social Research in Sierra Leone.
Bangura will share how he became the guardian of his niece following a death in the family and made a commitment to provide her with the education and opportunities her mother would have wanted for her.
A father of two, he will reflect on the responsibilities and sacrifices involved in raising a child who is not his own, while striving to secure her future. His account highlights the role extended families play in supporting children when parents are no longer able to care for them.
Stories that bring statistics to life
The Moth’s return to Nairobi is rooted in the belief that personal stories can help audiences connect with complex social issues in ways that figures and reports alone may not achieve.
Since its founding in 1997, the nonprofit has staged more than 70,000 true stories worldwide. Through its Global Community Program, it has also built a network of more than 1,000 storytellers from over 80 countries, including Kenya, where storytelling workshops have been held for nearly 15 years.
Sarah Austin Jenness, Executive Producer of The Moth, said the Nairobi event would explore what people do when they reach a moment that demands a decisive response.
“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?” she said.
Jenness noted that Kenya has a strong storytelling tradition and that this year’s Pan-African line-up reflects experiences ranging from maternal and child health to safety, family and personal resilience.
Onyango, who is hosting the Nairobi Mainstage for the seventh year, said the stories continue to demonstrate the power of personal experiences to create connections among people from different backgrounds.
“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.
She added that the experiences shared by this year’s storytellers would resonate beyond the individuals who lived them, allowing audiences to find meaning in their own lives.
Producer Josephine Macharia said the five participants had initially not considered their experiences worthy of sharing on a global stage. However, the storytelling process revealed defining moments in each of their lives when they had to act without delay.
“On 7 November, Nairobi will get to hear five personal stories and experience the magical power of true stories told live,” she said.
The Moth Mainstage Nairobi 2026 will take place on Saturday, November 7, at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa’s LRC Auditorium under the theme “Now or Never”.
For one evening, the audience will hear five lives unfold through stories of difficult choices, unexpected encounters and personal promises, offering a reminder that some of life’s most significant turning points begin with a decision to act.
