Let me use pictures to tell you a powerful story
By Dr. Muthoni Omukhango
By Dr. Muthoni Omukhango
When I asked Augustine K.A. Mulenga from South Africa to describe for me the emotion going on here—referring, of course, to these unforgettable photographs where he is hiding his face like a shy prophet caught off guard by destiny—you would think I was asking him a simple question…no!
This 70+ authored books-man… ah! He has 46 of them published to date: one memoir, one novella, one middle-grade novel, and forty-three children’s books.
The way he buried his face—this was the moment he was called as the ACABA Awardee in The Young Category that hosts books for children, teenagers and young adults.
And when he finally spoke, this is what he said…
“𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑥 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒, 𝑗𝑜𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠, 𝑎 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒’𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘. 𝐼’𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦.”
Beautiful, right? Almost poetic. Almost.
But allow me to give you the behind-the-scenes commentary that Augustine—being an awesome award-winning author—did not say out loud.
Because in that moment, as the hall erupted, as cameras flashed, and as the MC’s voice echoed like the angel Gabriel announcing good news, Augustine’s internal monologue went something like:
“Wait… me? Are they sure? Did they call the correct Augustine? Should I walk forward? Should I freeze? Should I disappear behind my own hands like Jonah inside the big fish? Lord, help your servant!”
But beneath that whirlwind of nerves was something far deeper—something holy.
What you see in these face-covering snapshots is the sacred cocktail of emotions that only God can mix: Gratitude that overwhelms. Joy that humbles. Humility that lifts.
It’s the kind of moment where your heart prays without your mouth moving. Where you stand on a stage, but kneel on the inside.
It is the culmination of a long journey that is authorship—those quiet evenings, those pages rewritten ten times, those moments when inspiration seemed to be travelling by public matatu instead of express bus.
It is a commendation for obeying God’s calling, for saying “yes” when writing felt lonely, for trusting that stories can be seeds of transformation in young hearts.
And, truly, his words capture it perfectly: it wasn’t just an award. It was a testimony. A reminder that God waters dreams just as faithfully as He waters the earth, and that community—our community of African storytellers and God-sent supporters—helps those dreams bloom.
So yes… while the photo shows Augustine in disbelief, Heaven was most certainly smiling and saying,
“Son, we see you. And we are proud.”
And so are we, Augustine, as your CLC Kenya/ACABA/MABB family.
Connect with Augustine at: https://africanauthors.net/kalenga-augustine-mulenga/
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