Life in Nairobi has been bounteous, as can be expected from the trend of my other African tales. I am particularly overwhelmed by the people that seem to come into my path. Between Helen, individuals I had the privilege to volunteer with through Invisible Children, and now here in Nairobi, I am in rare company. I am blessed to experience wisdom, strength, playfulness, and compassion that is at best, hard to come by. I’ll introduce you to more of these individuals soon.
From the first day I arrived in Nairobi, I felt plugged-in. Nadia (she’s one of them!) put me up in her beautiful apartment. I am totally spoiled with lights that always work and water that is always running, and hot at the push of a switch and a turn of knob! In fact, I’m so accustomed to my 3-4 day showers from Gulu, that I am out of practice. I have to remind myself to shower in the middle of the day, because it’s vanished from my morning routine. Eh, its probably better for my skin, and certainly better for the environment.
The next day after I arrived I started volunteering with Nadia’s organization, Seeds for Hope. We are mounting a campaign to jump-start new programs and support for the organization. We are preparing to mail out some pamphelets, collecting addresses, Paul revamped the website at www.seedsforhope.org , I am researching various funding sources, and we are all building community connections. It’s a great vibe between us. Everyone is committed to giving of themselves: time, energy, thoughts, prayers, with humility and a seeking heart, to plant even just “some few”seeds of hope… I am still ignited and fresh from my Gulu High School experience, and it feels so right to plug right into this work.
Not that we don’t get our down time! I am definitely getting caught up on my American delicacies: lattes, pizza, ice cream, Indian food, and just the shear luxury of choosing what I want to eat. I get plenty of local food too, which is great, because I am not at all satiated from it. I’m loving the balance that Nairobi brings! I am getting time to get caught up on “vegg-out” time as well, with movies, “Friends”re-runs, girly candle-lit pajama evenings, facebook, and surfing the net. In the midst of such spoiled fun, I’ve even been humbled to have the chance to join a community in mourning the loss of a baby girl at a burial ceremony.
Teaching theatre to Coptic Youth
On Sunday I taught a theatre workshop with the youth. They were every teacher’s dream. They were attentive and so eager to participate. Art and performance is just so natural in East Africa. I am finding that a large number of students is an obstacle, but an eager learning spirit surpasses it. I did more theatre with 40 participants in 1 hours, than I can manage with my Performance Club of 8 students in 2 hours time!
Yvonne, Kenyan Performing Arts Group
I’ve also had the chance to visit other organizations. Paul and Nadia connected me with a Canadian lady named Yvonne. She is a masseuse by profession and a fellow lover of dance, movement, and theatre. I’m coming to call myself a masseuse in the same way I have come to call myself a dancer. I have no training, but I love to do it. Yvonne has taken me under her wing. I spent a couple days with her and KPAG. KPAG is a “theatre meets dance” group. They improvise, fuse, and play with music, dance, and theatre, primarily dance, and create unique performances while training young people in the performing arts. Yvonne is part of a massage initiative that has been introduced to KPAG, which values the healing power of touch for the dancer AND the audience. Yvonne is teaching a new group of young people with disabilities to self-massage, move, and play ensemble-building games in order to train to be mixed into KPAG. I joined her and another teacher in two classes the first day. Then I hung around and got to know some of the youth, and watched a little open-floor performance. They were such an easy group to get comfortable with, and as always, so warm and welcoming. Artists are artists are artists‚they were passionate, dreamy, liberal, and playful. Just like home. So I went back today to join my friend Moses’ ballet class. Thankfully for me, it was the first level course. I had a great time leaping and piroutting around on my toes. They were very forgiving, and Moses was a great teacher.
SHOFCO
Yesterday I met Kennedy with an organization called Shining Hope for Community. Shofco does community development work in Kibera through theatre, sports, a women’s empowerment initiative, sanitation, and information technology. I went as learner and representative of Seeds for Hope, and I found a friend. Kennedy is a kindred spirit, a extraordinary heart, and a truly multi-dimensioned genius. He was raised in Kibera. He is formally educated and thoroughly life educated. Throw in his creativity, compassion, and charisma and you find an individual with a rare perspective on community development and life in general. We had a great conversation over lunch, and over less than two hours we generated enough ideas to keep both SHOFCO and SFH running for years. Since I am only temporarily in Kenya, I can only hope that SFH will continue to forge a connection with this unique organization.
After lunch, Ken took me back to Kibera to see his community and meet others from Shofco.
Just two days left in Kenya. Thursday and Friday Nadia and I have meeting with a guy from a school in Kibera and another gentlemen who runs a boys rehab center to continue networking and merging ideas.
Catherine Hanna
Teaching Artist and SFH Volunteer
