Grace Ogot (May 15, 1930 – March 18, 2015) was a Kenyan author, nurse, journalist, politician and diplomat. Together with Charity Waciuma she is the first Anglophone female Kenyan writer to be published.
Biography
Ogot was born Grace Emily Akinyi to a Christian family on 15 May 1930 in Asembo, in the district of Nyanza, Kenya – a village highly populated by the predominately Christian Luo ethnic group. Her father, Joseph Nyanduga, was one of the first men in the village of Asembo to obtain a Western education. He converted early on to the Anglican Church, and taught at the Church Missionary Society’s Ng'iya Girls’ School. From her father, Ogot learned the stories of the Old Testament and it was from her grandmother that Ogot learned the traditional folk tales of the area from which she would later draw inspiration.
Ogot attended the Ng'iya Girls' School and Butere High School throughout her youth. From 1949 to 1953, Grace Ogot trained as a nurse at the Nursing Training Hospital in Uganda. She later worked in London, England, at the St. Thomas Hospital for Mothers and Babies. She returned to the African nursing profession in 1958, working at the Maseno Hospital, run by the Church Missionary Society in Kisumu County in Kenya. Following this, Ogot worked at Makerere University College in Student Health Services.
In addition to her experience in healthcare, Ogot gained experience in multiple different areas, working for the BBC Overseas Service as a script-writer and announcer on the program "London Calling East and Central Africa", operating a prominent radio program in the Luo language, working as an officer of community development in Kisumu County and as a public relations officer for the Air India Corporation of East Africa.
In 1975, Ogot worked as a Kenyan delegate to the general assembly of the United Nations. Subsequently, in 1976, she became a member of the Kenyan delegation to UNESCO. That year, she chaired and helped found the Writers' Association of Kenya. In 1983 she became one of only a handful of women to serve as a member of parliament and the only woman assistant minister in the cabinet of then President Daniel arap Moi.
Personal life
In 1959, Grace Ogot married the professor and historian Professor Bethwell Allan Ogot, a Luo from Gem Location, and later became the mother of four children. Her proclivity towards story-telling and her husband's interest in the oral tradition and history of the Luo peoples would later be combined together in her writing career. Ogot died on March 18, 2015.

Work
Writing career
In 1962, Grace Ogot read her story "A Year of Sacrifice" at a conference on African Literature at Makere University in Uganda. After discovering that there was no other work presented or displayed from East African writers, Ogot became motivated to publish her works.Subsequently, she began to publish short stories both in the Luo language and in English. "The Year of Sacrifice" (later retitled "The Rain Came") was published in the African journal Black Orpheus in 1963 and in 1964, the short story “Ward Nine” was published in the journal Transition. Grace Ogot's first novel The Promised Land was published in 1966 and focused on Luo emigration and the problems that arise through migration. Set in the 1930s, her main protagonists emigrate from Nyanza to northern Tanzania, in search of fertile land and wealth. It also focused on themes of tribal hatred, materialism, and traditional notions of femininity and wifely duties.1968 saw the publishing of Land Without Thunder, a collection of short stories set in ancient Luoland. Ogot's descriptions, literary tools, and storylines in Land Without Thunder offer a valuable insight into Luo culture in pre-colonial East Africa. Her other works include The Strange Bride, The Graduate, The Other Woman and The Island of Tears.
Many of her stories are set against the scenic background of Lake Victoria and the traditions of the Luo people. One theme that features prominently within Ogot's work is the importance of traditional Luo folklore, mythologies, and oral traditions. This theme is at the forefront in "The Rain Came", a tale which was related to Ogot in her youth by her grandmother, whereby a chief's daughter must be sacrificed to bring rain. Furthermore, much of Ogot’s short stories juxtapose traditional and modern themes and notions, demonstrating the conflicts and convergences that exist between the old ways of thought and the new. In The Promised Land, the main character, Ochola, falls under a mysterious illness which cannot be cured through medical intervention. Eventually, he turns to a medicine man to be healed. Ogot explains such thought processes as exemplary of the blending of traditional and modern understandings, “Many of the stories I have told are based on day-to-day life… And in the final analysis, when the Church fails and the hospital fails, these people will always slip into something they trust, something within their own cultural background. It may appear to us mere superstition, but those who do believe in it do get healed. In day-to-day life in some communities in Kenya, both the modern and the traditional cures coexist.”
Another theme that often appears throughout Ogot’s works is that of womanhood and the female role. Throughout her stories, Ogot demonstrates an interest in family matters, revealing both traditional and modern female gender roles followed by women, especially within the context of marriage and Christian traditions. Such an emphasis can be seen in The Promised Land, in which the notions both of mothers as the ultimate protectors of their children and of dominant patriarchal husband-wife relationships feature heavily. Critics such as Maryse Conde have suggested that Ogot's emphasis on the importance of the female marital role, as well as her portrayal of women in traditional roles, creates an overwhelmingly patriarchal tone in her stories. However, others have suggested that women in Ogot’s works also demonstrate strength and integrity, as in “The Empty Basket”, where the bravery of the main female character, Aloo, is contrasted by the failings of the male characters. Though her wits and self-assertion, Aloo overcomes a perilous situation with a snake, whilst the men are stricken by panic. It is only after she rebukes and shames the men that they are roused to destroy the snake. In Ogot’s short stories, the women portrayed often have a strong sense of duty, as demonstrated in “The Rain Came”, and her works regularly emphasise the need for understanding in relationships between men and women.
Prior to Kenyan Independence, while Kenya was still under a Colonial regime, Ogot experienced difficulties in her initial attempts to have her stories published, stating, "I remember taking some of my short stories to the manager [of the East African Literature Bureau], including the one which was later published in Black Orpheus. They really couldn't understand how a Christian woman could write such stories, involved with sacrifices, traditional medicines and all, instead of writing about Salvation and Christianity. Thus, quite a few writers received no encouragement from colonial publishers who were perhaps afraid of turning out radical writers critical of the colonial regime."
She was interviewed in 1974 by Lee Nichols for a Voice of America radio broadcast that was aired between 1975–1979 (Voice of America radio series Conversations with African writers, no. 23). The Library of Congress has a copy of the broadcast tape and the unedited original interview. The broadcast transcript appears in the book Conversations with African Writers (Washington, D.C.: Voice of America, 1981).
Publications
From the collection of the Library of Congress, Washington, DC: Empty BaSeSt * Aloo kod Apul-Apul (1981) in Luo. * Ber wat (1981) in Luo. * The Graduate, Nairobi: Uzima Press, 1980. * The Island of Tears (short stories), Nairobi: Uzima Press, 1980. * Land Without Thunder; short stories, Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1968. * Miaha (in Luo), 1983; translated as The Strange Bride by Okoth Okombo (1989) * The Other Woman: selected short stories, Nairobi: Transafrica, 1976. * The Promised Land: a novel, Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1966. * The Strange Bride translated from Dholuo (originally published as Miaha, 1983) by Okoth Okombo, Nairobi: Heinemann Kenya, 1989.

Introduction:
The chief Labong'o is confronted by his daughter, who was wondering about the news the village was waiting to hear when he brushes her off coldly"

Rising Action:
The chief tells Oganda to wait in her grandmothers hut while he tells the village the news of her sacrifice.

Climax:
When Oganda finds out that the Ancestors have chosen her to sacrifice her life in order to restore the rain in the village.

Falling Action:
Oganda is making her way to the lake where she will sacrifice her self when she hears something following her. She begins to run and suddenly faints

Conclusion:
Oganda regains consciousness and realizes she is with Osinda and he convinces her to run off with him to an unknown land and rain begins to pour.

Setting
The setting of the story takes place in a Lou Village in Kenya during a drought.

"He loved his people, the Luo (a tribe in Northern Kenya and Uganda), but what were the Luo for him without Oganda?"
Excerpt
The ancestors have said Oganda must die
The daughter of the chief must be sacrificed
When the lake monster feeds on my flesh
The people will have rain
Yes, the rain will come down in torrents.
And the floods will wash away the sandy beaches
When the daughter of the chief dies in the lake. My age-group has consented
My parents have consented
So have my friends and relatives.
Let Oganda die to give us rain.
My age-group are young and ripe,
Ripe for womanhood and motherhood
But Oganda must die young,
Oganda must sleep with the ancestors.
Yes, rain will come down in torrents.
Jacara Poole
The Rain Came- Grace Ogot

Theme Statement
"Sacrifice for the better of others"
Oganda
Meaning of Oganda's names is beans and it was given to her because of the fare skin she has.
She is the chief's only daughter.
Oganda is envied by her female relatives because she is her father's favorite child.
One motive of Oganda was to get to the lake before sunset and sacrifice herself to the lake monster. Some of her goals were to grow up get married and have children.
I think Oganda sees herself as a victim because she constantly questioned why the people she thought loved her were sending her off to her own death.
The author makes you feel sympathetic for this character as he shows you her sadness and grief at having to die so young.
Grace Ogot
Grace Emily Akinyi
May 15 (1930-)
Was born in Butere, Central Nyanza Region in Kenya.
Grew up in a strong Asembo Christian household
Fathers name is Joseph Nyanduga, he was one of few men in Asembo to recieve a Western education.
She attended Ng'iya Girls' School and Butere High School.
Ogot had many had many jobs she trained to be a nurse in Uganda and England. She worked as a nurse and midwifery tutor at Masero Hospital.
She also worked as a script writer and broadcaster for BBC overseas service (she later had her own popular weekly program in Luo)
Author Info cont.
Grace Ogot worked as a community development officer in Kisumu and as a public relations officer for Air India.
In the 1960's Grace opened to branches of a clothing boutique called Lindy's located in Nairobi.
Was even a columnist in view point in the east African Standard.
She married Bethwell Alan Ogot who was a historian in 1959 and had four children.
Ogot has written many novels and stories such as,
The Promised Land
(1966),
Land Without Thunder
(1976),
The Island of Tears
(1980),
The Graduate
(1980).
Many of her novels and short stories have been dramatized and performed in Kenya.
She was named a delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1975 and as a member of the Kenya delegation to UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organization)
Was one of the founders for Writers' Association of Kenya and served as a chairman from 1975 to 1980
Was appointed to Kenya Parliament in 1985 and as assistant minister for culture
Tone
The tone of this story is gloomy and solemn because the author constantly reminds you of the characters sadness. She reminds you of the chiefs and Oganda's mother's sadness at having to send their daughter to die and Oganda's sadness at having to die at such a young age, and not being able to see her family ever again.
Symbols
The gold chain Oganda wears symbolizes her love, affection, and remembrance of Osinda.
"A long time ago when she was quite young Osinda had given her that chain, and instead of wearing it around her neck several times she wore it around her waist where it could stay permanently"

Lobong'o's willingness to send Oganda off to sacrifice herself to please the ancestors symbolizes the villages traditions and religion.
"It would mean disobeying the ancestors, and most probably wiping Luo people from the surface of the Earth."
Narrator P.O.V
The Narrator's P.O.V is third person omniscient, because he is all knowing and knows everyone's feelings and actions. The story is also seen through views of different characters.

"The Atmosphere in the village was tense and confused"

"It was no loner a question of being the chief of hunger-stricken people that weighed Labong'o's heart. It was the life of his only daughter that was at stake.
Diction
I believe that the authors word choice was simple, which was good because it would take away from the flow of the story. Her word choice made it easier to relate to the story and her culture.
My Thoughts
My thoughts on this story was that it was very interesting. Not only did the story keep me engaged it also taught me new things about the Luo culture and traditions. It also made me think and put myself in the characters' shoes to see what I would do if I was them or in their situation.
Work Cited