Spoken Word artiste, Wangui Wamgari alias Qui Qarre has highlighted her plight as a poet from Kenya, where the government does not recognize nor support her type of artistry and blast a ‘defrauding’ Turkish Airlines.
According to the poet who has had the opportunity to represent the country in international poetry slam competitions, the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Arts has not shown support other than in a tweet.
Ms Wangari has also accused Turkish Airlines of swindling her while on one of her trips abroad. She needed to extend her stay in Houston for three more weeks, hence resorted to cancelling her return ticket.
Qarre, ranked 29th globally by Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWPS) says that upon inquiry, was informed that she would get a $371.90 refund for the cancelled ticket.
She had her guardian collect the money from the airline’s offices. But they only received $36 without an explanation.
Read: SA’s Mango Airline Launches In-Flight Wi-Fi Service
Three months later, Turkish Airlines has been playing games with Ms Wangari. She says that the airline has been deleting her comments on their Facebook page, sending copy pasted responses and her emails unanswered.
The poet has also pointed out that the delay in the refund caused her a chance to represent the country in the Women of the World poetry Slam Dallas 2018.
https://twitter.com/QarreQui/status/961663185257488384
Kenyans of goodwill have joined her campaign against an ‘exploitative’ airline, including the Ministry of Sports.
MOSCA's CREATIVE OF THE DAY:
@QarreQui a 20yr old Poet & also the Women of Africa Poetry Slam Queen. She is ranked 29th Globally according to Women Of The World Poetry Slam 2017(WOWPS 2017). @QarreQui is chasing payment from a corporate to enable her honour an invitation to USA. pic.twitter.com/1cziyOU73C— Min. of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy & Sports (@moyasa_ke) February 9, 2018
https://twitter.com/ArtCulture_KE/status/961932984063537152
https://twitter.com/PoetryInKenya/status/961935682360012800
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