Blog's

The workshop programme ran from October 10th til December 5th . It was completed with surprisingly few hiccups and came in just a little over my estimated budget (which was not surprising given the huge rise in the cost of living in Kenya).
The two months of workshops culminated in a spectacular show at Spurgeons School in Kibera, followed by a day of filming all the performers from Valley View at the Kenya National Theatre. The plan is to give the Valley View kids a DVD “showcase” of their work as a way to end our final year of workshops with the School. Our luck was extraordinary as both these events took place without the promised threatened rain breaking through – which was amazing as almost every day for the last few months has either started or ended with a downpour – and some times a lunch and tea soaking as well!! .
They say it has been the longest, wettest “short” (!) rains for 40 years so we were also lucky that we didn't lose too many days of classes or field trips due to the bad weather. I think Anno was certainly lurking among the clouds and pleading our case on the 26th (Kibera show) as it stayed dry throughout the day - under a pall of grey, admittedly – whilst it was absolutely chucking it down in most of the surrounding areas. So the parade went ahead as planned in spite of the slums being a sea of mud rather reminiscent of Pachendale, and all of the kids and most of the trainers and school teachers took part. Our last year's Anno's Africa crocodile/dragon sadly couldn't make it through the quagmire in the alley ways of Kibera as the leader of the parade but nevertheless we danced and sang our way without her company, through the rivers of mud and knee high puddles, wending our way across the treacherously slippery railway line and its even more treacherous embankment led by a giant chicken and three monstrous puppet heads that had been designed by the art class teachers as part of their workshop training. We made it back to the school without catastrophe but covered in mud from the knees down. It was sad about the revamped Croc/Dragon but she DID open the show for us back at the school – to the delight of the kids – especially those in the front row of the audience who were attacked by its large white cardboard teeth and menacingly swaying nose.
I filmed the whole show and will arrange for the tapes to be edited as soon as possible. We will also be editing the footage of all of the Mathare Kids' performances at the KNT so that we can give the kids a DVD of their show case as this is the final year for Valley View school - based on out three year work shop principle - although we will be continuing with the Saturday clubs for as long as we can.
With regard to what we left for the Valley View Art kids to remember us by – and to use for their future work applications -- we decided on portfolios to hold their drawings, painting and sketches and some materials for them to work with during the next weeks. So now they have all been given VERY smart folders full of their work and with pencils, papers, sharpeners etc. thrown in. We have kept some of the kids' paintings (with their consent) and replaced them in the portfolios with colour prints of the works we have held onto.
Apart from the DVD's of the final show and the art portfolios, we also recorded all the music children's songs and filmed a music video. Gareth has taken the tapes back to the UK to complete. This means that they will all have CD copies of their work which can be sent out to radio stations in Nairobi – and perhaps in the UK too.
So all in all we did manage to give all the kids from Valley View something tangible to show for their efforts over three years and the Kibera kids are looking forward to the same thing next year – which will be their third and last for their workshops - although here again we will continue the clubs for as long as we can.
One new concept that did come up this year and is very exciting, is the possibility that apart from our courses helping the children gain work as adults, it can also lead to them supporting themselves right now, by going out and doing shows in the community – and in the city. This is possible because so many companies in Kenya like to bring in performers for their events, conferences etc. and they don't seem to have any restrictions on child performers – in fact they LOVE them – and some companies pay pretty well apparently.
To this end we have talked to the two head teachers, and to the trainers too – and it looks as if the circus, dance, ballet and music groups stand a good chance of getting some gigs and thus subsidising some of their school fees and making enough money to pay for new uniforms, books, desks etc. We will discuss the financial potential with the head teachers and the trainers and work out the best way to make sure that a good percentage of the money earned does really benefit the kids in this way.
So – to sum up: There were with no major practical or scheduling problems during the eight weeks – although next time we will consider holding the show cases a little earlier since planning them for a couple of days after the end of term meant that a few of the kids had gone “up country” to their families as soon as the school broke for the holidays. This was a shame as they missed out on the final events – and it called for a few quick re-casts for the Music and Drama filming!!. But most of the children did get the chance to record their achievements and we will make sure we time it better for all of them next year.
Altogether it was a very good year with a team who worked really well together despite the large numbers - around 28 - with all the full time UK members plus guest visitors and resident trainers.
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Now to the reports on the various disciplines ---

ART
Francesca headed the art programme again this year, for the first month and then Olivia took over for November (when Fran returned to Scotland). Between them they ran an wonderfully extensive course covering many aspects of painting and design. They both brought their own specialities to the courses which meant the kids worked in a wide range of mediums and materials. The prolific and stunning results of their talents were a shining example of what can be achieved in a few short weeks by dedicated teachers and a group of enthusiastic and talented children. These qualities of commitment were a vital part of the programme's success, given that both teachers and children had to work in the most appalling conditions imaginable in Valley View.. The only space available to them this year was in what is to be the “new” school” but is currently a half finished building site with no roof, no glass in the windows and rubble and bricks everywhere. The access to the class rooms was via an open staircase and along a three foot wide ledge with no guard rail. When Steve came out for his annual two weeks he had to manage his classes battered by the rain and wind storms that hit Nairobi during October and November. All in all it was an incredibly difficult time for our art classes especially as they struggled on without even the basic amenities needed for an art course – like electricity and running water - but the results from all the kids were truly spectacular and we have brought home some wonderful examples of their work back with us to exhibit in London – and we will post them on the site also.


This year the art course included two other programmes; weaving at Spurgeons school, run by Charlotte who was there throughout the course but who didn't teach at Valley View as she also doubled as a ballet teacher. Steve came for his usual two week visit – funded by himself - and with the support of his school, Deans, in Edinburgh. He ran the first Hamlet's project as well as teaching his own class at Valley View. Deans have now been fund raising for three years and their support with school supplies and uniforms for the Spurgeons children in particular is much appreciated. Wewere also pleased to have a volunteer from Germany, Antje, who came for the first two weeks and ran some delightful puppet making and other craft based classes at Spurgeons. When she and Steve left Jody arrived and held a recycled materials class in Mathare, concentrating on the design and making of wonderful bags, belts and wallets from old rubber inner tubes and will continue during the Saturday classes.. At Spurgeons school Jody started a pilot project in story telling which included designing and making books. This latter course was very exciting and will definitely become part of the curriculum for the next workshops, coming under the heading of “Creative Writing” which will connect to both art and drama.


Apart from this we also held a three day photography test course run by a Dutch girl called Susi who has set up her own photography charity in the slums (“Ghetto Exposed”) and wants to tie up with us. Her three day course culminated in a “Junk Fashion” shoot just outside the school above the Kibera railway line, with costumes made from plastic bags, scraps of material, newspapers, old CD's and other found materials. The photography course was hugely enjoyable and the kids came up with some wonderful ideas and proved themselves very quick learners, yet again. They are desperate to do more so we will see if Susi is free next year and can bring her expertise and a couple of her Kenyan photography graduates to teach the children. We gave the Spurgeons children some throw away cameras at the end of the course and printed their terrific results for a display on the last day, Sadly the prints were so well appreciated that most of them got nicked before I had time to film them at the end of the day. But we will run some more copies as I have them on disc.


Francesca, Steve and Olivia also started up the new teacher training pilot scheme which was held one day a week for the young Kenyan artists who are currently teaching on the programme. This course has proved to be invaluable and really was so beneficial to the trainers that we will now develop into a permanent part of the programme. Not only did the trainers learn basic things like curriculum planning and report writing but they were also given advice on “materials management” and how to work in various mediums and materials as well as traditional drawing techniques. Now we feel we have in Dickson, Edgar, Babu, Ambyio and Martin a wonderful team to run the year round Saturday club. The sustaining of the programme via these clubs is courtesy of Marie Steinmann and One Fine Day who have taken on the financial and practical responsibility for all of the classes and we are extremely grateful to Marie for fund raising and organising this part of the Anno's Africa programme. Without her input it would not have been possible to run and to extend the clubs as we have done and this sustainability is proving to be one of the most important aspects of the charity's work .


Incidentally the weaving class now have work on public display as they were commissioned by Nani from the Kitengela Glass centre to make her a floor mat for the new Art Gallery she is opening there, The kids got to visit the Centre - out in the bush on the edge of the Nairobi Game park - and were truly inspired by Nani's amazing “creation” – a Gaudi-esque group of buildings inhabited by giant sculptures and mosaics made from recycled materials. There is a shop, a tiny café and gallery housing works of amazing originality from all kinds of different artists including Nani herself. A truly creative and inspiring place and one anyone finding themselves in Nairobi should try and visit – if only to see the kids woven mat in situ!


The other art outings this year included a trip to Dickson's exhibition in Karen and one to the Giraffe Centre just outside Nairobi where the children had the chance to draw giraffes, wart hogs and giant Tortoises from life as well as going on an “eco” walk through the forest were they learnt about the indigenous animals, birds and the various medicinal and poisonous plants. As part of this outing they wrote about their day during the next lesson and it was evident from their essays that they learnt a great deal and loved the experience. The school will now be elligble to enter the painting competition run by the Giraffe centre, the prize for which is a visit to various eco and conservation centres throughout Kenya for the best forty entrants.

BALLET
This year we had 90 children participating in the ballet from the two slum schools and as it was the third year in Mathare the kids (including 8 boys have now joined) have now moved on through Pre- Primary and Primary courses and are starting on Grade One of the RAD syllabus. Charlotte joined Anna and Mike on the teaching team in Mathare and ballet dancer Caroline, from Holland helped in the Spurgeons classes when Charlotte was teaching weaving with the art class.


Ballet has continued to raise a lot of interest and fascination, both in Nairobi and the UK – and following the CNN film clip which you can access on our site - a journalist from the BBC World Service asked if she could come to do a radio piece on ballet teacher Mike. . This was aired on a programme called “Outlook” in December. We have also had film clips shown on Al-Jazeera and KTN as well as CNN and this t/v exposure has prompted a generous donation from the Blue Door Foundation which will make a great difference to next year's planning as it means we can now afford to rent a permanent home for the ballet classes and a place where we can store all the costumes and shoes. This represents the beginnings of our dream to set up a permanent Ballet School in the slums!.


Apart from Blue Door we have also been given financial support for Mike as a trainer, from IPAT - through Michael Bramwell (from the Harlow Ballet) who also came to know about us via CNN. Michael is on the IPAT board, along with our patron, Alan Rickman who also put in a good word for us. This allowance for Mike is part of their scheme for struggling teachers and is to cover his general “subsistence” i.e. food and rent and will free him up to concentrate on the ballet this year as he won't now have to worry about searching for other work in order to survive.


These two donations go to show that ballet could become pretty well self sustaining financially which is a load off our Anno's budget and makes me think that we should perhaps consider how we might try to fund the other disciplines in the same kind of way. So if anyone has ideas as to any trusts and foundations specifically to do with circus, art, drama, music etc. to whom we can apply we would be grateful for contact numbers and addresses.


The situation with the ballet classes for the next year is that Mike is now fully primed to run the Saturday clubs up to grade 4 and now has the added help of Caroline along with Kenyan dancers Ronnie and Roy who have both been attending Anna's Saturday teacher training classes. They will be teaching pre-primary and primary classes to the kids and later move on to Grade one.. We will hold classes in Mathare and Kibera and Mike will teach one adult session a week at the K.N.T to keep the other trainers up to date. He will also hold some classes at Lily's orphanage and is going to do a month long workshop with Lily's kids in January so that they can do a show for the community as they broke up earlier than the other schools and we had no time for them to show off their talents in November. All the kids in the ballet programme now have their own leotards, skirts and shoes – and bags in which to keep them.


The ballet children's outing took the form of a visit to the cinema during the Nairobi film festival for a screening of my short film “ Malika “ which starred Vivian, one of the ballet girls and featured some of the other children.. The other treat for them was a screening at the school of the ballet “Romeo and Juliet”.

CIRCUS
This year we were lucky to have persuaded Nathan Martin to return as a coach again this year as he has had a wealth of experience in both tight rope and juggling as well general circus skills. He teamed with Mdogo (acrobatics) and Samuel from Sarakasi (also acrobatics) and they worked along side Safia, who managed to come out for a month, in between her various bookings as a performer, to train Irush (as well as the kids) so that he too has now become a qualified aerial teacher in both hoop and silks.


Our circus team was amongst the largest teaching group of all the disciplines but this was important from a safety point of view and enabled them to give the kids more individual help which is essential in this rather dangerous art form. In fact the circus probably ran the most intense and highly disciplined workshops of all and we were all very impressed with their achievements and the way they managed to make it all look so smooth and professional and yet kept the feeling of spontaneity and imagination in spite of it being a very structured course. You will see evidence of this when the film we shot has been edited and put up onto the site.


The circus troupe will be out in the city performing next year and are so brilliant that I am sure they will raise serious money towards school fees and new circus equipment. We have handed over the Anno's Africa materials; silks, hoops and costumes, for these performances and for the Saturday clubs that will start again in January. Nathan has also left them a tightrope plus all fittings and a good supply of juggling materials. So they will do us proud.


The circus Kids outing was a day trip to a remarkable circus school in a nearby slum. It's called “The Mighty Jambo” and is run by some dedicated Kenyan teachers and circus trainers. Our Valley View kids spent the day in training with these experienced teachers and some of the older resident circus students with whom they performed at the end of the session.. The Mighty Jambo has offered auditions to a few of the older Anno's Africa children so that they can have the chance to join this amazing residential school when they have completed their primary education. Incidentally, our UK aerial and tightrope teachers spent a lot of their free time helping advance the skills of the mighty Jambo team and this is a connection that we hope to exchange more of our mutual talents again next year..

DANCE
Consolata is a God send to Anno's Africa not just because of her continued dedication to the children but also because she has been an amazing mentor to music teacher Lulu and to her dance associate, Joseph. They have both become really strong trainers under her guidance and tutelage (we combine music and dance in the Saturday clubs) proving themselves to be both creative and reliable - and wonderful role models for the kids. And her kids themselves have proven to be the most committed and disciplined of all the groups – talented and self sufficient – and inspiring to the other children.


Consolata had about 70 children in her classes and will re-start the dance clubs early in January with about the same number.. She already has bookings for her “A” group all over Xmas so we have donated the Anno's Africa kangas and tights to the dancers so that they have beautiful costumes to wear for these shows.


The Dance group had two outings – one early on in the programme which was a Contemporary Dance Festival in Uhuru park - and then during the last week they were taken to Bomas of Kenya – a cultural and performance Centre – where they watched the programme of Traditional Dance, Music and Acrobatics and later participated in an impromptu dance session with the Bomas performers. A day to remember for all of them - and a wonderful connection for them for when they are old enough to become professional dancers.

DRAMA
The drama show was really good this year, improved hugely by the input from our visiting trainer, Owen Lewis. The Workshops to Work classes were a major benefit to the trainers and they very much want them to continue next year. However they have asked it they might be able to have their own workshops a month or so before the project starts and not running concurrently. This seems a good idea for ALL the teacher training in fact, and needs to be discussed at the next Trustees meeting and the viability assessed.


This year Drama Group at Valley View extended its programme to include a creative writing course which was wonderful – and run by writer/actor/poet Kades.. As I mentioned before re Jody's story telling with the art programme – we will now include “Creative Writing” as a discipline in its own right.


For their outing the drama kids went to the Elephant Orphanage where they not only learnt both the best and the worst about animal (and human) behaviour and interaction – but also had a wonderful fun day out.

MUSIC
The music group (around 65 children in all) have really developed well this year and have written and composed some wonderful songs which were then recorded in Eric Wainaina's studio and also at the “Home Boyz” studio and radio station.. The CD will be ready as soon and everyone in Niarobi is confident it will good enough to get played on the many local radio stations. Billy & Gareth will put the music video they made to accompany one of the songs on to you-tube as soon as it has been edited and mixed – and will possibly add some of the other songs later on. During the course this year the children learnt to play bodhran drums and penny whistles as part of the Celtic/African folk fusion programme that Billy and Gareth had planned and Billy also taught guitar and harmonicas to a group of Valley View children (American folk fusion too!) A couple of the students are now really good on their guitars as they have been studying for three years and Kenyan teacher Lulu has continued with private lessons during the Saturday clubs. These kids definitely have a future in the music world and have been given their guitars to keep. In fact all the children were left with an instrument to practice on until we return for the next workshops. Through the recording process the kids had a real taste of working with professional musicians and engineers and have made good connections in the music industry - especially with Home Boys who run a music engineering apprenticeship course for which our students can apply when they leave school.


For their day out the students were taken to watch their teacher Melissa singing at a music festival. They all loved it and were very proud of “Asali”, as she calls herself professionally.


* * *
So that's it I think. Altogether a very successful and satisfying programme for everyone involved. We are now going to have to hold various fund -raiser events this next year to make sure we can return again in a year or so. However, due to the elections in Kenya which are to be held either in June or December this year, we will probably hold off the next workshops until early in 2013. But do watch this space for news of these fund raisers and concerts. We will give lots of notice so watch this space so that you can book your tickets early!!
Finally, if anyone has any ideas for ways they can help us raise money for the cause through sponsored events; walks, marathons, swims, concerts etc. – do let us know – or go to our Just Giving page and they will advise the best way to set it up. All help most gratefully received. Love to everyone from Bee and the Anno's Africa team

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I had been anticipating the arrival of 2010 for some time. Not only would it be the year of my graduation from university, but it would also be the year that I'd finally get to fly out to Nairobi as part of the ANNO'S AFRICA team. As a close friend of Ned's (Anno's younger brother), I had known Anno since I was 5 or 6 years old. I, like many others was devastated to hear the news of that fateful crash that took Anno, Lee and Alberto from us, and so 9 years later jumped at the chance to join the team and do my part in their honour.

We arrived at Kenyatta International airport on Sunday the 10th of October at 8:00 am and were warmly greeted with the words “mambo bwana!” (hello mister) by our taxi driver, David. We stuffed the car with bags of materials, guitars and ourselves, and headed to the camp-site that would become our home for the next two months. The things I saw on the way were not exactly what I had been expecting; large busy highways, expensive cars, huge retail outlets and even high-rise buildings. I later learned that this was all part of Nairobi's multi-faceted society; the rich and the poor living very close to each other while (ironically) the financial gap between them is unbelievably massive. A Kenyan once told me quite poignantly that "in Nairobi, you either have it or you don't".

The camp-site was very comfortable. My tent had a double bed and a small table with a lamp. There were toilets and plenty of cold showers, and even a kitchen that served hot food and cold beer. We had everything we needed and were quick to familiarise ourselves with the local rum; Kenya Cane. I remember not knowing what to feel amidst the barrage of emotions I was subject too on this first day, though one thought prevailed; “I am finally here!”

I'll never forget that first journey to school. The other mzungu (white stranger) trainers and I piled into our minibus matatu (main form of public transport) and headed East. As we left the wealthier part of town and said goodbye to the towering gates, askari's (guards) and banana trees, we navigated around the developed business district with its theatres, bars and fast cars and continued on passed Moi avenue; a road that cuts through the city centre like an artery. Our destination Mathare, is one of Nairobi's most dangerous slums and is home to Valley View Academy; a school which ANNO'S AFRICA has worked with for three years now. The journey was in a word; wild. Driving in Nairobi is like one big game of Chicken, but with tens of thousands of chickens, that is; brave chickens! With a distinct lack of regulation by the police, cars are often seen driving on pavements or on the wrong side of the road. Over-filled matatu's are always driving off-road in a vain attempt to avoid traffic. Far too often they end up on their sides in some ditch or an open sewer. As we travelled through Mathare, I saw for the first time what a slum was like. Just a few feet from the matatu window, the roads were paralleled by open sewers over which Robinson Crusoe style bridges had been built. On the other side of these bridges would be a seemingly endless sea of brightly coloured corrugated-iron shacks, selling everything from haircuts and imported western-style clothing to furniture and iron gates. The streets were often lined with piles of rubbish that during rain would spill over into the open sewers, causing blockages that were only ever cleared by local residents (though I have always tried to be mindful of my privileged life as a Westerner, I didn't even realise that I took basic services like refuse collection or Council maintenance teams for granted).

As soon as we arrived at the school, we were surrounded by a mass of curious children. "Why are your veins blue?" one observant child asked me, looking through my white skin. "Why are your eyes blue?" asked another while his friends stared, mesmerised at the bright colours on the guitar I have tattooed on my forearm. Music's classroom wasn't in the school building; we were given use of a church in the slum, or ghetto as it is locally known. The room itself was quite big at about 7 x 14 meters, and was made of sticks, mud and corrugated iron. The windows lacked the panes of glass required to truly qualify them as such, and were used more as benches by the local children whose curiosity drove them to redefine these windows functions. The floor was full of potholes and the real benches fell apart as kids sat on them. The room had incredible character and with its black-board, proved to be a wonderful teaching space.

Needless to say I was nervous to be in a position of responsibility in this world, so far removed from my own. At this point I spoke very little Kiswahili and was rather ignorant to the cultures customs and conventions. Working alongside the Kenyan trainers really alleviated these pressures and I am forever grateful to them for their support. The children themselves were amazing. In the 6 weeks we had with them (only two lessons a week), they learnt to read and write rhythms using standard notation, built instruments, formed a samba band and wrote music for it, learnt to sing independent harmonies and wrote a song. In amongst all this we discussed world musics, instrumentation, song form and expression & meaning in lyrics. They even worked out their own dance routine for the final performance. I think their work over these 6 weeks stood as a testament to those words I had heard spoken by so many people who have taught in Kenya; "these kids are the most talented kids I've ever known".

We did face the odd problem. When it rained for example, sewers would over-flow and our classroom would flood; not exactly the ideal environment to facilitate anybody's learning. Sometimes we couldn't use our classroom for bureaucratic reasons, which would leave us with a choice between a garage car park, or the school porch. When we did use our classroom, we had to deal with old drunks who would either ambush us on the way to class, or would be found slumped over, sleeping in the doorway. One brazen fellow even burst into the classroom and stumbling, he offered his slurred definition of what percussion instruments are. I was most taken aback though, by the attitude of some of the older generations towards the children. They would hang in through the window-benches and steal the juice and biscuits that we provided for our kids, straight from their hands. When confronted, they would simply ask "why don't you give to me?". Unfortunately the harsh reality is that we can't help everyone. We do what we can, and ANNO'S AFRICA is about providing creative arts education for these children, not feeding the hungry. I couldn't believe how difficult it was for these kids. Not only do they live in such desperate conditions, having to cope with serious poverty, crime and disease, but they are also beaten down by the adults of their society, in every sense of the word. Regardless, they would turn up to every lesson full of enthusiasm and gratitude, and gave it their all. It was so inspiring to see such resilience in these children, some as young as 7.

I always knew that ANNO'S AFRICA was doing good work in Kenya, but it didn't really sink in just how good until I was actually there taking part. When you see the joy in the children's faces when they learn something from you that could ultimately make a real difference to their futures, the feeling of satisfaction is second to none. It is a real wonder that something as genuinely positive as the ANNO'S AFRICA program has come from something as tragic as the loss of three young men, friends and musicians. I truly am honoured to be a part of it.

The following words were written entirely by the music students at Valley View Academy.

Ujasiri

Intro

There’s a future, It’s our future but what will it hold?

Verse 1

In Mathare there is hunger
Sometimes even no water
The orphans are facing labour
They have no parents to take care of them
There is war in our community
Yes, and even in our homes
The corruption and the tribalism
Brings poverty and no care


Chorus

I will succeed if only I believe
Peace is a wonderful thing
This truly must be seen
Sasa sisi ni wajasiri (now we are brave)


Rap – solo

The pain will go, the wounds will heal, it’s not a dream, it’s very real.
I know we will overcome
What is done is done
So, let it be
From the smallest we can grow the biggest tree
And the ones to make that change are you and me
What your eyes want to see:
Images of love, sharing, caring for everyone
Let’s play, let’s grow, let’s pray
Let’s play, let’s grow, let’s play, let’s grow, let’s pray


(Chorus)

Rap – whole group

Through education we will build our lives
Only together can we reach our goals
We should love to love each other
Where there is anger we should help one another to succeed

(Chorus x 2)

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The anniversary of Anno's death seems a right time to write a blog since, as a result of him dying nine years ago today, we now have around 450 children enjoying the Anno's Africa arts workshops in two of the most dangerous and deprived slums in Kenya - Kibera and Mathare …

These children's lives have been radically turned around by the programme and many of them will now find it possible in the future to find a career in the arts – even if indirectly - as a result of some of the things they have learnt from the workshops. Already six girls from the drama group have been chosen for a day's filming on a TV show (from a taped audition that Krysteen and I held) and one of the ballet boys (YES we have BOYS in ballet!) had an important part in Tom Tykwer's film that he is shooting with the One Fine Day Film School. This means that along with the kids in my short film, 9 children this year have acted “professionally” and Leilah who was in our group two year ago and whom I cast in Tom's film “Soul Boy”, just went to the Carthage Festival in Tunisia, representing the movie, so she is now pretty well assured of a career as an actress, having made 2 films in Kenya since Soul Boy.

So this practical side of the programme is really working – with the Sarakasi acrobatics school promising to take at least 2 kids from each school into their youth programme and SAFE GHETTO already scouting amongst the older kids for their theatre troupe. The other disciplines will also have their opportunities when we showcase the kids work at the National Theatre on the November 27th. We are holding the performance in the theatre garden and hope that many people who are influential in the arts will be there – including the Russian Ambassador who has a passion for ballet we hear and has already expressed interest in our programme.

Re the ballet - we plan next year to run one of our “workshops to work” classes at the theatre where they have a dance room with a barre – so the more advanced children – and young adults – can go to the next stage. This class will be a precursor to the Anno's Africa ballet school that we want to get going in 2012.

However, that is just one part of the programme – and perhaps for most of us the more important aspect of it is the journey.

So herewith.....

Both the music and dance classes are galloping apace – the children's talent in these areas is, as we knew from previous years, quite astounding. They have a natural musicality and love expressing themselves through dance where they are uninhibited and graceful..

Dance is being taught by Consolata, who used to teach at the Bomas of Kenya Cultural Centre and Joseph who is a predominately Salsa teacher (and who has worked with us for three years). Between them they run a class with pretty much 100% attendance - and such enthusiasm that to go and watch them at work is a pure delight. The show they devised in the Saturday clubs during the last year (with the help of Lulu who composed the songs and led the music for the club) is pretty well worthy of a professional stage!. I filmed it just after we arrived – in a tiny dark hall with holes in the roof and kids hanging in at the windows and a floor that was full of pits and crevasses. It is one of the most heart felt and vibrant pieces of work that I have ever seen here.

Music for the workshops is being run by a team of 4 – with Gareth Brown from the UK and Billy Scherer from the USA joining forces with Lulu and Melissa from Kenya. Since Easter Lulu has also been teaching Guitar to 2 ten year olds in preparation for Billy coming out to take over and have learnt as much in 4 months as many European kids would learn in a couple of years.!

This year the Makalele band has taken on a whole new dimension with Gareth and Billy creating extraordinary musical instruments from junk and household bits and pieces. They have designed and made 3 Heath Robinson-esque inventions from plumbing pipes that are played with a flip flop!, Also some fabulous, brightly coloured drums from water containers and bowls – and percussion sticks with bottle tops as well as every manner of shaker - and mini drums from tin cans and plastic containers. The result is an amazing percussion band with all the children now able to read and follow their own parts in the intricate rhythms Gareth has created and not just bang away chaotically. On top of all this Billy's guitar students are astounding him with their daily progress – and Lulu and the team have come up with their own song for the show's finale that will bring the house down. (We will be recording it and hopefully get it played on Ghetto radio as soon as possible)

Drama this year has become a real contender in the favourite discipline category with new addition to the team, Emma Buckley, storming ahead with her wonderful energy and creativity. She is working along side Trizah from the SAFE GHETTO theatre company and the improvisations and games they have devised are not only allowing the children to express themselves freely and happily but also having serious therapeutic connotations as the children explore the dogmas of this society and the role of women in a community where the acceptance of male stereotypes and the automatic domestic abuse that women are subjected to is seldom questioned . A small revolution is taking place in the drama class - with her girls standing up for their human rights and the boys beginning to understand that if is not their right to assume macho stances and abuse their women. The new constitution has done a lot for children's rights in its charter but the age old male/female dynamic remains horribly intact so the arts are a wonderful way to undermine the assumptions and customs that have made women's lives in the slums so hard, But the Drama workshops are also FUN and not at all a political “exercise” – and the children really enjoy it and are hugely excited about the chance to show their stuff at the performance on the 27th.

The Drama group at Kibera are taught by our long time partners from SAFE GHETTO – Godi & Kades who are an amazing team and have managed to get these first year students to forget their natural shyness and create an intense political analogy about tribal conflicts, using animal imageries. They have also explored the problems of children not being allowed to go to school – so once again Drama is proving a valuable tool in educating these children about their rights and the need to live in harmony – especially relevant with the elections coming up again in 2012..

Art is as usual a class packed with talent. In Mathare, Charlotte Wiseman has joined the group and brought not only her experience with weaving and fabric design from St Martin's School of art to these children hungry for new ideas but also her gentleness and charisma which has thoroughly engaged her class of FIFTY kids!. They are now weaving on proper frames made by the Tree House (who have also made stilts for the circus.) This is an arts commune based in Majengo who I have mentioned before in previous years – but for the record it is literally a multi story shack built in a huge tree - with a visiting monkey and a group of reformed glue sniffers who are now practising artists and musicians. Charlotte's class have also been making exquisite bracelets from plastic bottles and learning other ways of using patterns in design – both on fabric and paper. These craft skills are extremely useful to the children as not only do they love creating their own things to wear, but they can also make items to sell to help support their families.

Charlotte has been joined by Steve Gillon – an art teacher from Dean's school in Edinburgh who came for a two week stint for the last two years and has returned again this year. He has constructed a dragon/crocodile for the final show, which will take pride of place in the performance, from a plastic chair and lots of wire and green tissue!! A magnificent creature whom he has named Gertrude in spite of her masculine appearance, she/he will be completed by Charlotte and will carry as her dragon's scales, the art work of the children from both schools,

The other art teacher who has just returned for another master class “shift” is Olivia Blond, who, like Steve, has had many years of art teaching – in her case 30 – in inner city schools in Liverpool. Olivia is running a project on fabric design and illustration and her class are printing cushion covers (last year it was the cotton bags that you can see on the web site) which are truly stunning in their colours and imaginative animal designs.

We also have Francesca Wilkinson Shaw (our other advanced art teacher from last year) coming out for the last ten days to help with the final show and teach imaginative painting.
The Kenyan partners on the Valley View (Mathare) programme are Edgar and Ben – both artist in their own right. Edgar will be running the Valley View Saturday club for us – with Ben's help

In Kibera the Art programme is run by Marie Steinmann (who founded One Fine Day – our German sister charity, with Dickson who has supervised the Art Saturday clubs for the past 2 years. This is the first year for Spurgeons School and the classes are packed with 26 in Marie's class and 40 in the class run by Kenyan teacher Ambyo with the input from various visiting artists including aforementioned Steve, who made kites and colour charts with them and two UK new volunteers – Mo and Ross - who are about to embark on a grand programme of banners, posters and printed T shirts.

Marie is exploring all kind of different projects with her class and last Saturday she took them on an outing to the animal orphanage so they could draw the animals from reality in their hand made, cardboard backed sketch books. Marie has become so adept at using “found” materials, that we are starting to call her the “Cardboard Queen” as every day she returns from the shops with her car boot bulging with boxes.

This whole arts programme at Spurgeons School in Kibera is proving extremely popular with the school administration and all the teachers are very pro-active and keen to carry on when we leave.

Marie is also running a new class for street kids at the Hamlet's project in Kibera and this we hope to develop into a permanent Saturday class as well..

The Ballet is as always the most charming class to watch with the children in their donated leotards, skirts and shoes. The Valley view class is now ready to start grade 1 of the RAD course – with 32 girl dancers and the 6 boys previously mentioned. This class is taught by Anna Nygh with the assistance of Mike Wayama who is a wonderful dancer himself and a dedicated teacher who, under Anna's guidance, continues the course all year round at the Saturday clubs, This ballet class is one of the highlights of Anno's Africa as there was no ballet at all in the slums – the only classes being in some of the private schools in the mainly white community. These slum kids are giving their hearts to the dance and are more than ready to perform their intricate dance on the 27th. We are busy sewing feathers and ribbons onto headdresses for them and looking forward to Harry Holm – who arrives next week to make a documentary - to put them on film in all their glorious beauty.
The new class at Spurgeons has started really well with around 40 children who are quick to learn and doing remarkably well for their first year. In this class Anna has started with the pre- primary syllabus and they will performing some of their class exercises at their open day on the 24th,

Anna is also teaching ballet one afternoon a week at the Little Rock Orphanage and day care centre for AIDS affected and traumatised children, some of whom are also suffering from other health issues. . She has one Down's Syndrome girl and two who are deaf in this class and although it's a boisterous and somewhat mismatched group, Anna has noticed their incredible capacity to help and care for each other and the joy that ballet brings to these physically and mentally challenged children. Lily, who runs the centre, was delighted to find us as she had written to me via the website – a letter that must have gone into my junk mail – after reading about our ballet programme in the slums. We happened by when looking for a tree where the circus group could practice their silks and when I introduced myself she just said “Yes you can use our tree but why didn't you reply to my letter!?” So it was a kind fate (Anno?) who led us to her as not only do the circus kids have a perfect practice tree but 24 more children are learning ballet.

In Mathare the circus fascinates the local community as we are practising in the chief's compound where here are trees for the aerial silks and the tightrope and everything is on view. In this school we work with Mdogo, who has his own circus project, NGO Ni Wewe (the NGO is YOU) and his fellow Ni Wewe performers, Karis and Mungi. This year we are really lucky to have from the UK, Natalia Colville who came to teach aerial silks two years ago and Safia Almaghrabi who teaches the hoop. The girls are not only teaching our kids to fly – but also giving lessons at Sarakasi in exchange for Sarakasi sending an acrobat to teach our class in Kibera. (Mdogo and his team only cover Valley View, Mathare) The young man they send us - Samuel - has proved invaluable and we hope to inveigle him into teaching for Anno's Africa next year – along with our stalwart member of the team from SAFE, Irush, who has been working with the circus team for the past two years and is now qualified to teach silks at the Saturday clubs. He is also a fine actor so we are lucky to have persuaded him away from his first love – at least for the time being.

Incidentally, the Friday classes at Spurgeons are run by the whole team but on Saturdays we are split into two groups. Running these double classes on a Saturday proved a bit of a logistics nightmare with the schedule changing daily as we tried to organise the teachers but it was finally sorted out to everyone's satisfaction - and my relief.

Of course we have had the occasional hiccups – like the music school next to the theatre where we are doing our show having exams on Saturday 27th so we will have to make sure our show runs through their lunch break. We have also had Safia's hoop stolen ( a new one is en route from the UK but it's an added expense we could do without – and Anna and Olivia's taxi was “mugged” and the wing mirror snapped off (for sale), Melissa, was held up at a bus stop at knife point and her bag stolen but apart from that we are all fine and the amazing spirit, energy and open heartedness of our children keeps us all inspired, fulfilled and united

That's it for now – three weeks to go so lots more news I am sure...

Love Beee

xx

ps
One final note – we have been working on the planning of the “Workshops to work “ project for next year so that the school leavers who have participated in Anno's Africa will have the chance to continue in workshops that will be set up in the city centre – at the KNT (Kenya National Theatre) and the Go Down Arts Centre – for a half a dozen of the most talented kids from each discipline to really advance their knowledge – and find work in their chosen field.

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So to sum up the last three weeks of the programme. – sorry it's been so long but we had our launch of the poetry CD Dec 9th and I was pretty frantic both before and after it – and then of course there was Christmas....!

So here goes.....

The classes continued alongside preparations for the open days. We all tried to hang onto the concept that the journey was what mattered but nevertheless the excitement was mounting and infiltrating the workshops. The various trainers were spending their free time in the markets buying up stocks of second hand tights and designing costumes for the show and the kids were going into overdrive. Then with a couple of weeks left, Ross and Mo arrived – (Safia's boyfriend and brother)– and we were very pleased to have more hands on deck to help share the work load during the final days. They had both volunteered to come out at their own expense and bring their own materials with which they set to work on screen printing and designing T shirts, posters and masks. As there was no-one available to teach the younger Art group at Spurgeon's School on Saturdays they proved a marvellous help and their classes were incredibly volatile, energetic and wildly creative.

The contrast with Spurgeons and Mathare was most evident in the issue of the spaces available for the classes. Spurgeons had a large clean playground and many classrooms where we could decamp but in Mathare we were continually under pressure to find places to work – especially when it rained. But somehow the teachers managed and the children's enthusiasm was never dampened in spite of the advent of the “short Rains”. However, next year we must find a way to make life easier and find closer and safer environments for the lessons to avoid the shipping of kids to other parts of the slums in matatus and on foot; as it takes up so much precious learning time. We are hoping that by the autumn Valley View will have completed the building of their new school and that we will then have clean, larger classrooms in which to work.

Discussions were still going on re the date for the show right up until a week before hand, with the ballet/music school next to the National Theatre still unwilling and possibly unable to compromise. So finally Marie and Krysteen negotiated with the manager of the Theatre and we moved our performance to the previous Friday afternoon – November 26th. This was a mixed blessing as although it cut down on the time we could spend on the rehearsals it did have the advantage of giving us an extra day to wrap up after the workshops - which was a bit of a relief as we had a mass of stuff to store for next year and the weekend clubs to plan and organise to start after Christmas.

Olivia had to return to the UK a couple of weeks before the end of the run but left behind a beautiful reminder of her presence in the form of the kid's stunningly painted cushion covers which we eventually brought back to show – and to sell - on December the 9th. We missed her dreadfully but it did mean that we had a spare room for Harry who arrived the day Olivia departed. He brought with him the new SLR Canon to shoot on – with the addition of his own custom built sound system with a wind shield for the mic that looked a little like an agitated squirrel perched atop his camera. He spent many hours in the filthy alleyways and dirt streets below the school, escorted by Kades, (one of the Safe actors) and probably saw more of the day to day life of the slums than many of the UK trainers who were ensconced with the children all day long. Looking at his footage later I realized how truly desperate were the conditions that our kids go home to and it made me marvel anew at their resilience and cheerfulness in class.

During the final days before the show everyone became fairly manic - with extra rehearsals - and costumes being made well into the night. The animals for the drama group were symbolic rather than a true rendition – but it still meant ears and tails and everyone became involved in helping. Between us we “dressed” 5 cheetahs – 5 elephants - 4 lions - and a hare. When Francesca arrived to help for the last week she was presented with aprons and feathers and created “bustle” like tails for the 5 ostriches.

Meanwhile Charlotte was decorating the dragon with scraps of jewelled fabric, bells and ribbons and in any spare moment she had she was learning the ballet since, having had many years training as both a child and a teenager, she had been cast by Anna as the mother bird to about 36 baby birds - who also all needed costumes, incidently!. So the Karen house was smothered in a mess of feathers for many days as Anna supervised the creation of the ballet head dresses with the girls' headbands ablaze with pinks and purples and the boys with the browns and black of their hawk costumes.

Somehow it all got done and we heaved a sigh of relief as not only were the preparations done but we also had the bliss of some steady sunshine as the weeks of major cloud bursts and unpredictable temperatures gave way to more typical Kenyan summer heat and the clear bright skies made us feel optimistic about the two coming events.

Harry meanwhile was recording some pretty harsh happenings – including a man beaten almost to death by a braying mob for stealing from his neighbour. I think this incident – with it's manifestation of the mob justice that we had been warned about, combined with the underlying and constant sense of tension in Mathare eventually got to me and I was very concerned when Charlotte stayed late with her class one day saying that she had a lot to get through so would get a cab home. But when it came to the time for her to leave NONE of the taxi's she called would venture into the slum after dark and she ended up being driven out by a friend of Kades's who lived there – but even he was very wary and nervous travelling along the Juja road at night. This is the place where, trapped in an unmoving traffic jam, Mike had casually said “This is when the robbing starts” and it was especially true of a car with a Muzungu inside. So from that date we made a rule for the Charity that no-one should ever leave this slum after 6.00 pm regardless of any mitigating circumstances. Kibera is a little less frightening for us as it isn't subject to quite the same traffic blocks where the thieves can just pick off people trapped in their cars at will but here there are lots of violent muggings and gun crime. In fact a young German photographer who had visited our ballet class and was held up at gun point and relived of her cameras and her bag in broad daylight....

But essentially we were all very lucky (and careful) during the workshops and completed our programme without being subjected to personal attacks or losing our belongings (apart from the aforementioned circus hoop which was replaced by a new one brought out by Ross and Mo)

The open day at Spurgeons Kibera came on Wednesday 24th - their last day of term - so we had the parents and guardians as a captive audience as they were waiting for the speeches and prize giving that were to follow. The kids all performed so well and the school teachers were delighted with the skills they had learnt and impressed with how much they had achieved in such a short time. Sadly my camera played up but Harry covered the whole show and took some stills as well. Also some of the team did the same so we will gather together some photos to put on the web site – along with those from the workshops themselves – and the final show at the KNT.

The Friday morning of the Valley View performance dawned grey and murky and we all feared that the good weather had broken before it had really begun. But the ground was dry and the cloud was actually a help during our setting up as the temperatures were rising steadily and it was pretty muggy. And when the sun broke through at lunchtime we were glad of the protection of the trees in the Theatre Gardens

We had all got there early to set up for the show – with the circus team decorating the grand tree at one end of the space with a spare white silk trailed like a grand streamer from tree to the lamp posts giving the effect of a big Top. The shorter red silks hung from the branches, along with Safia's hoop and our Anno's Africa banner as a centre piece on the tree's trunk. It looks spectacular - as did our dragon/crocodile who was now covered in various shades of green and gold and glitter and carrying as his scales the children's art work from both of the schools. A walking exhibition in fact. The rest of the art work was strung between the trees, framed by the masks and the the little bags made from the woven squares. All the children wore their Anno's Africa T shirts with costumes added in the form of bandannas for the boys and Kangas for the girls. All in all 200 kids from Mathare were performing and another 250 from Kibera were in the audience This meant 4 buses but also FOOD for 450 children plus the many teachers and trainers – a HUGE undertaking on the part of the Kibera school kitchen – with 1000 chapatis made and bananas and sodas for all.

The show ran so well with Godi and Irush compeering and the kids all performing as they had rehearsed over the previous week. Incredibly there were no slip ups and we all felt extremely proud and happy. It was an hour after the show was over when we had just finished packing up, that the clouds opened. And how!!!

The next day it rained until 4 pm on what was supposed to have been our open day. It would have been entirely ruined if the ballet school had given way to us and allowed us to perform on the chosen Saturday. Thanks Anno (for I am sure it was he!) for looking out for us....

The clearing up and packing of materials for next year took a good two days and now Samantha's garage is full to the brim with left over materials for next year and our beautiful dragon/crocodile who will now become a recurring presence in all future shows.

The weekend clubs will start straight after Christmas – funded so generously by One Fine Day who also paid for all the Kenyan trainers this year. We will hold classes in both slums and will include circus as well from now on.

* * *
We continued to make good contacts – with a visit to an art exhibition where I talked at length with Danda who runs the Kuona Trust and we arranged for the Saturday Arts club kids to visit the artists in residence and watch them at work. Anna, Charlotte, Olivia and I also went to the Kitengella glass workshop where we met its founder, Nani who has created a wonderful Goudi-esque world on the edge of the Nairobi park, reached via a 40 minute drive down a dirt track that runs alongside the park itself. At Kitengella they make their glass from recycled bottles and you can watch them blowing the glass after heating the tubes in the huge kilns in the magnificent domed building at the centre of the glass works. Nani has invited our kids to visit next year and we are hoping that maybe one or two of them might be interested enough to become apprentice glass blowers in the future. Nani also wants to put a page about the work of Anno's Africa into the yearly diary of Kenyan artists that she helps to publish and which sells throughout Kenya. She was another person to add to our growing list of artists in Nairobi who can hopefully influence the futures of our children.

All in all I would say it was one of the best years we have had – with no real problems and an amazing full attendance – with kids queuing up to join and the trainers on time and working so very hard to make sure all the kids get the chance to explore their formidable talents.

With Love.
Bee

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So sorry for the delay in this blog; a variety of reasons, not least the keys on my computer are sticking and making it hard to flow, and also a huge crack has also appeared on the frame work of the screen which means it all looks a dreary shade of grey AND the power lead is temperamental and keeps going on and off – so in fact you are jolly lucky to be getting anything at all!!!! New computer is my Xmas present to myself...


But to the report –

Joni and I arrived in Nairobi on October 5th and spent the next couple of weeks setting up and organizing the workshops with the heads of the two schools we are engaging with this year - St John’s, Majengo, and Valley View, Mathare. We are also continuing with the Saturday Art club in Kibera that has been running all year round under the tuition of Dickson - one of our Kenyan artist/ trainers. This is being taught by Meshak (another Kenyan artist) whilst Dickson is working with us.

We were joined by Anna (ballet) on the 12th, and Steve and Francesca (advanced art teachers) on the 15th...

We started the workshops on the 16th.

This year Anno’s Africa Trainers are:-

Programme Director - Bee

Art
Foundation Art – Joni (UK) plus Dickson (Kenya).
Advanced – Francesca, Steve and Olivia (UK) plus Babu (Kenya) and Kenyan volunteers Ben and Edgar.
These classes are also helped by St John’s teachers Andrew, Samuel and Jarom.
Numbers:- 28 & 26 kids respectively

Music
No UK teacher for this class. Choir is taught by Lulu plus St John’s teacher Sebastian
SAFE Ghetto actor and poet Kades also joins us on Saturdays to teach rap.
Percussion is run by Kenyan actor/dancer/ drummer Irush, with volunteer Dan.
We also have a drum making programme taught by Kamau.
Numbers :- Choir/ Rap 20. Percussion 22

Dance
No UK teachers until 23rd Oct when Jessica arrives. Class led by Kenyan dance trainers Consolata, Judy, and Joseph, plus St John’s teachers, Iren and Violet
Two members of Stomp, Fraser and Paul (UK), will teach Stomp to the dance and music students from 12th to 21st November.
Numbers:- 54 kids

Ballet
Anna (UK) and Mike (Kenya) plus St John’s teacher Jane
Numbers:- 32 girls

Circus
No UK trainers. Our Kenyan team is led by Nathan (France) from L’ONG c’est Toi - known in Kenya as NGO ni Wewe (the NGO is YOU).

Nathan (tightrope, juggling and stilts), Kenyans Mdogo & Mathias (acrobatics, Diablo and plate spinning) plus St John’s teacher Paul
Numbers:- 60 kids

16th November - St John’s Non- Formal (charity) School



St John’s


The first day began with a midday discussion about the programme with trainers and school staff. Then after lunch break all the kids went to the hall to be divided into their respective groups - a total of 240 children - so bedlam ruled for a few minutes but finally they were allocated classrooms and lessons began.

Opening Classes went really well in all disciplines.

Dance - New trainers Judy and Consolata were very overloaded with kids – but both are highly qualified in African and Contemporary dance so they filtered out who was best at what. Of course African Dance was a favourite as the heroes of these kids are the performers from the Ghetto who they try to emulate. Our programme includes Traditional dance but we also try to give a taste of other styles, including hip hop and ballet.



Consolata at work at St John’s


In fact Anna’s ballet class was overflowing - not just with last year’s class, many of which have been doing Saturday ballet classes with Mike (supported financially by A’s A). Some of Anna’s original class had left the school, a couple of the more hyperactive have moved to circus and a few shyer ones transferred to art. However, with a host of new girls Anna has her hands full and has to start from scratch with some. She seems undaunted and her attitude very much the more the merrier, we are all so surprised that ballet has proven so popular as most people in the Kenyan slums have no concept whatsoever of even the word “Ballet”.
Once again Anna had managed to gather up enough second-hand pink RAD leotards and shoes for them from her London ballet classes and has personally subsidised any additional ones she needs. This ballet seems to mean so much to her and is now such a major part of the programme. We are really confident that in a few years the Nairobi slums WILL have a ballet company – and hopefully one to rival The Soweto ballet from South Africa!!! It took them ten years to establish themselves so we have plenty of time. There was one issue over modesty for the Muslim girls from last year so Anna bought some ballet skirts and black tights which she, once again, subsidised herself and she seems to have solved the problem.

Music – Singing Lulu is on good form and happy to be back with us. He was supposed to be in Norway studying music but seems to have messed up his visa so he is now happily ensconced in Nairobi much to our relief. We discussed the choir doing one western song and one African (composed by Lulu) and decided on “Stand by Me”.

Percussion – We have plans for kids to make their own drums - led by Kamau from the slums who has made many. Kamau has joined our programme much to the delight of all the local kids as he is quite a character within the community where he runs a rehab centre for street kids (glue sniffers mainly). He wears brightly coloured clothes with a twisted turquoise turban thing around his head which give him the appearance of an Arabian wizard.



Kamau with the St John’s Percussion class


ART - Joni is working to her lesson plan for foundation art and the children’s first lesson was to make and decorate their own sketchbooks. She now knows all the kids so well after three years and they welcomed her back with huge enthusiasm. Whenever she walks through the playground there are shouts of “Joni! Joni” which is enough to warm anyone’s heart and whenever you see her in the breaks she is always hardly visible as she is permanently surrounded by chatting kids. It makes all the tough days worthwhile – to all of us – this huge affection in which we are held at this school.

For the Advanced art Steve and Francesca were also welcomed back by their last year’s group and ran their two week programme with such professional zeal that the rest of us felt almost amateur. Well, many of us are I suppose – not least myself…

Circus – Circus are based on the field with access to the hall if it rains, which it did with alarming regularity the first few days, not that any of us complained given that the drought had been so desperate this year. In fact we rejoiced with the Kenyans when the rain began... Getting SLIGHTLY fed up with it now!!!

The field, however, was the cause of our first “hurdle” for the new programme with the news that a football tournament - of which no one seemed to know about - had been booked on it for our first Saturday. Sally and the Head teacher apologised (as it was supposed to have been booked of for Anno’s Africa) but that didn’t help us much on that first weekend. However, I discussed it all with Sally (our friend – and the coordinator from St John’s) and an agreement was made whereby the field was to be earmarked for our sole use during the time the workshops run. Sally and I also talked about the issue of corporal punishment.

It has always been Anno’s Africa policy that our teaching staff, both UK and Kenyan, do not use corporal punishment. During our meeting on the first day we had discussed this with the trainers and established that the only form of punishment acceptable is exclusion. Unfortunately corporal punishment is very much the norm in Kenyan schools (and many homes) and so it was necessary to discuss our policy with Sally so the St John’s teachers and A’s A were on the same page.


17th – St John’s

A big initial problem as all classrooms were locked when we arrived - teacher Paul (responsible for the rooms) was away with a sick mum... finally everyone was in by 10.30, although some classes were not able to start until 11 (misunderstanding over original timetable). Then the football tournament started. A huge intrusion - both with noise and with kids leaving class after lunch to watch. In spite of this the workshops went extremely well, and a surprising number of children returned from the draw of the game after lunch – voluntarily! A few more returned after their teachers found them! There was often a drop in class numbers after lunch last year so this year we are extremely pleased that most kids choose to return.

I went into the slum to discuss the issue of Bob with his father - to make sure he could attend this year. Bob is a child who had terrible troubles at home but whose life has been transformed by A’s A. Life looks so much better for him now. The Madrasah school is not intruding too seriously on his access to the workshops except for a couple of hours on a Saturday, and a lifetime of beatings (followed by him running away) seem to have stopped since he became an acrobat.



Bob


We finally finished at 4pm and everyone was pretty happy with the first workshops.


21st and 22nd – Valley View



Valley View


The First two days at Valley View were fine – with great enthusiasm from a combined dance, drama and music group who were up in the big hall (1500 shillings - £13!!). About 45/50 kids joined the class with Judy, Consolata, Irush, Kamau and Lulu as trainers. The trainers took turns with their different specialties but also worked really well as a team – Jessica will introduce more drama, “creative games” and hip hop when she comes. They started work on the song “Lean on me “ and these amazingly talented kids got it within minutes - ditto the dance. These Valley View kids are seriously gifted - as we noticed last year.

Art was downstairs with Steve and Francesca on the balcony outside the classroom (it was very, very hot for them but they soldiered on). Good work from the kids. Joni’s class went really well too with the kids delighted to see her back this year.
Numbers - 17 & 22



Steve and Francesca hard at work in the heat... just some of the fantastic work produced on the first lesson


Ballet class was held in a filthy hall (Leonard’s church) in a part or the slum crisscrossed with rivers of sewage and mud. But, the conditions were totally compensated by the thirty plus troupe of WONDERFUL girls (and one boy!) who had signed up for this very first ballet class in Mathare. Head teacher Leonard joined in the dancing and the girls lightened Ann’s heart after the rowdiness of St John’s the week before. This school is amazing and deserves every help we can give (Steve and Francesca have already offered a scholarship to one girl – Branice – whose life is one of the hardest I have heard about).
Numbers 36



The walk to Anna’s new classroom


Circus – Nathan and co managed to work in appalling conditions; on a piece of uneven ground outside the loos. But the kids were really enthused and loved it regardless of the surroundings. They started on juggling and tumbling and were watched by the rest of the school.
Numbers - 20



Circus at Valley View School


PS --- We all LOVE Valley View.


23rd and 24th – St John’s

Second week at St John’s and it transpires another football tournament planned for Saturday so I cancelled Saturday and just ran the Friday workshops - much to astonishment of the head teacher. However we did leave advanced art running as it was Steve and Francesca’s last day. The team were so disappointed – as indeed were the kids – but a stand had to be made. Sally has promised a letter supporting our prior verbal agreement.

23rd

Music - Kades joined Lulu to help with Rap. This class is going really well this year (it will mix with STOMP later on when the Stompers get here in November).



Kades, and Lulu teaching at St John’s


Dance - Jessica joined dance to do hip-hop and games. Judy, Consolata and Joseph delighted with her. She is a source of such knowledge and experience with regard to movement and other therapies – but also such FUN. The kids all adore her as she also plays wonderful creative games with them in her free time, and seems to know almost all their names within days of arriving. A true god send.

Art – Steve and Francesca’s kids completed their slum paintings – really good work coming from them. The foundation kids are really getting into the swing of things now and already a few have expressed their desire to be an artist when they grow up.

Circus – This group is as autonomous as last year with the guys running a tight professional ship. We are all SO impressed with Nathan and co, they really are so dedicated and spend much of their spare time teaching slum kids for free in their local area of Dandora. Felix, Nathan’s protégée from last year, is absolutely brilliant on the tightrope. Bob is finally up on his stilts (they made him wait while he learnt some acrobatics and tightrope so he can be an all round performer but his love is certainly the stilts) and we have huge team of GIRLS doing acrobatics thanks to the recruiting powers of teacher Paul.



Girl acrobats at St John’s


24th

All classes cancelled except for Advanced Art due to the football tournament. Let’s see if it has the required result???

Steve and Francesca finished their programme and said goodbye.


25th

Steve and Francesca flew home BUT are returning next year we hope...


28th – Valley View

Art - Joni is running both art classes which is hard work for her - but she’s managing brilliantly, with help from Dickson and Babu.



Joni and Dickson with their Valley View Foundation class, and Babu with the St John’s Advanced class


Dance/Music/Drama with the addition of Jessica was even better. The kids are so happy and enjoying every minute – and so are teachers.



Jessica with the Dance/Music/Drama group at Valley View


Ballet went beautifully with kids now in black leotards, tights and ballet shoes. The kids are very quiet and work so hard. There was a fire in the slums on our way to the hall; billowing smoke and large crowds gathered. Very scary. Finally put out hours later. There are only 17 fire engines in Nairobi and ONLY ONE IS IN WORKING ORDER!!! (This info was in the local paper).



Anna’s Valley View ballet class


All class numbers same - no drop off from these kids except for illness...

Agreed with Leonard that circus will train on Tuesdays in the hall so they can do tightrope too as there is no space for this anywhere outside.

Nightmare journeys home each time from Mathare – down the very dangerous Juja road and on through another slum before curving around the North east of the city. Takes about one and half hours through crawling traffic and the thick pall of lorry exhausts (no rules here for clean air!!) One night Anna and Joni were stuck in a jam for three hours. It’s too much after a day’s hard work but all agreed worth it for these great kids.


30th and 31st – St John’s

Friday and the great reform. Letters of agreement from the School promising total commitment to us – and – we have a letter stating that that field is ours for the run!! Hurrah.
.
Ballet - Anna’s class a noisy nightmare today so she threatened to cut the class and expel naughty girls. It worked. Saturday was a dream.

Music
Percussion; drum making began - very smelly with new cow hides and flies everywhere (hard for my vegetarian stomach to cope with but worth filming as it was sooo impressive). The drums look absolutely the real thing - which they are of course. A marvellous idea for the programme as now Anno’s Africa has six new drums plus the 3 Djembes we bought the first year.



Drum making at St John’s


Choir - Bad day on Friday for Lulu too so he also threatened expulsions - lo and behold Saturday was perfect! Makes me realize that these kids really do want to stay in the programme although discipline is an ongoing problem in some groups.

Dance - Jessica set in motion a new philosophy of really helping the kids who were struggling by separating the class and taking them off for extra tuition in small groups. She also dissuaded Consolata from favouring the most gifted and having them always in the front line. Consolota is a professional teacher who filters out talent as part of her job so it is natural for her to spot the good ones, but now she understands that A’s A wants to give everyone a chance. She was totally receptive and now she, Jessica and Judy take turns with all the groups and then put them together at the end of the class. Hey presto it works – the whole group are getting so much better.

As I said before - Jessica’s experience as a movement therapist with the Kids Company in London has paid dividends for us as she is bringing her knowledge to bear in many ways, and she is also encouraging creative games in between lessons in the playgrounds. It is not a play culture that comes naturally to these kids but they are loving it - from Grandmothers footsteps (with mime) to clapping and guessing games a la charades.



Jessica and Irush plays ‘oranges and lemons’ with street kids in Mathare


In Circus there are now five tightrope walkers in training and the acrobats’ pyramids are getting higher and higher! These classes are a joy to watch and not one kid has dropped out in spite of the intensive and hard training.



Tightrope at St John’s


Art - Joni is holding the fort with both classes and supervising the advanced art’s preparation for the arrival of their next teacher - Olivia. On Friday I took 2 groups of 10 from the advanced class to the slums to take photos for Olivia in preparation for her first class with them on Saturday, Nelly (visiting French photographer) and Art assistant Ben came too, and the kids did so well with their very original images of the slums. I will put some up on the site later on as I think there are at least six budding photographers among them. Photography is up for discussion for next year if we can get a second hand computer and cameras donated.



St John’s Advance Art class photograph Majengo


Olivia arrived in Nairobi on Friday night and was in at the deep end on Sat. Of course she was magnificent!! All her years of teaching experience showed and the kids sensed her quiet authority. In the afternoon she took them to the field to draw the circus performers - mainly tightrope walkers and acrobats. This was a great idea as it meant the mixing of disciplines which is one of the things we are finding hard to fulfil although it is in our “manifesto”.

Ned arrived Sunday 1st - sadly without Natalia who was due to come for a month and teach circus “silks”. She had to cancel for personal reasons but WILL come next time!! We were all terribly disappointed but Nathan will compensate I am sure and we can send the silks kids to Sarakasi to train until Natalia is able to come back again.


2nd and 3rd November

Ned settling in and others doing prep/ having a couple of days to get ready for week 3.

Anna and I visited The Tree House - an arts project in the slums run by Mdogo (circus trainer) and Kamau (artist and drum maker). We have asked the multi talented Kamau to make a wooden Stomp Stage for us out in the field and so we met up to buy wood and have a look at the incredible place they have built amongst the trees overhanging the Kikumba (market). The tree house is worthy of a blog in its own right and in fact Nelly the French photographer is doing an article about it so I will just say that it is an incredible place with its own creative force that bows to no convention, and it is a haven of light and life amongst the chaotic noise and bedlam of the market that rushes beneath its protective branches.


4th and 5th – Valley View

Art – Olivia’s first day at Valley View School. She took it so remarkably in her stride that one would think she had been working in slum schools for half her life - which in a way she has as she keeps stressing that it is not so far removed from some of the scruffier inner-city Liverpool schools where she has spent her teaching life. She has brought these kids a wonderful programme which entails building profiles from slum images in various ways (film, sketches, printing etc ) and then using these for landscape painting. They will use all these images as inspiration when they finally come to decorating the cotton bags that she has brought out for them and which they will be allowed to keep for themselves after we have shown them at the open day on Thursday 26th.



Olivia’s first lesson at Valley View


Ballet continues down in the church a few minutes’ walk away. Anna now has all the kids in their “smart” (a favourite word in Kenya) black ballet uniforms which make them all LOOK like the dancers they will become. She loves these girls for their quiet enthusiasm and for the delight this class brings to head master Leonard, who is always there escorting the class to and fro and joining in, pointing his toes very unsuccessfully in his heavy black shoes.



Anna’s Valley View class hard at work


Dance/Music/Drama - This class is spectacular. They are so quick to learn and are already doing amazing harmonies, dancing like professional traditional African dancers and loving the rap and beat boxing that are now part of the songs they are going to perform at the open day,



The multi-talented Dance/Music/Drama class at Valley View


The Circus troupe was happy as they have been able to swap their class days and use the hall on Tuesdays (on Wednesdays the dance group occupy it). They can now have tightrope too as there was nowhere to fix the rope outside by the loos where they have to station themselves on the other days. The area where they work is swarming with flies which they seem to be able to ignore. These flies are everywhere - they love the art class too and go for the water in the paint so the pallets and kids paintings are literally covered with them until they dry!!



The Mathare flies that plague the Art and Circus classes


Ned is now covering the filming of the project which is a great relief to me as I am trying to organize things as well as take some stills. We hope to put some clips up soon.

My only worry about Ned is that he appears to have his father’s independent spirit and was spotted wandering the slums with his camera on his shoulder in one of the most dangerous areas - but as Mike the ballet teacher says “Ned is BIG!” so hopefully no-one can reach to grab the camera from him. Mind you size won’t help against a gun or razor and we hear that is the main manner of a hold up. Even though many guns may not be loaded they do proliferate and who would want to risk it? We have been advised strongly just to let go if someone wants to take our belongings as the consequences of not doing so could be fatal.

Ned and I visited (and filmed) the plot where a new school is being built by Valley View. It is in a wonderful location high above the valley with some fresh clean air and a view across the Mathare river to the trees on the far hill side. Below, the slum crawls it stuffy, shit smelling way west along the valley floor through Eastleigh and towards the city centre. To the east too there is no respite with one slum melting its borders into another:- all equally squalid – each one with its own special vibe and SMELL.

But now the new Valley View school pushes its optimistic metal fingers up through the cement towards a new future. And Ned and I stand and look, somewhat discouraged by the enormity of their plan and trying to contain a fear that for Leonard and the kids this is all it will ever be - a concrete space with piles of bricks and rusting metal. A pipe dream.... BUT that makes us all the more determined to keep faith with the school and its ambitions... and do whatever we can to help the dream to become a reality. But for now the place is silent, with one lone Askari guarding over the piles of grey bricks standing dusty in the afternoon heat.



Leonard at Valley View’s plot for the new school


However, with the first stages completed with the cement foundations solidly built into the hillside that was once a rubbish tip all they need now are the funds to start on the bricks and mortar. Even with a few classes erected they can move and begin to save the money that is haemorrhaging out each week on the rent they are having to pay for a row of stinking corrugated iron huts - each the size of a garden shed and housing over 30 kids in an airless, unhealthy and dusty squalor.

The children at Valley View are from one or no parent families - about 40% unable to pay even the small stipend asked - so the poor are supported by the less poor as the head teacher refuses to turn any child away it seems - as long as they have the commitment and enthusiasm to learn. The state gives this school NOTHING even though they keep shining in all the football and choir competitions and have a cupboard full of cups to prove it. Every time they win another competition some dozy politician mutters about helping them but nothing ever happens to alleviate the situation.

This school is so special to all of us as they are amazingly talented kids - hard working and brilliant. The music/dance group have come up with a wonderful song composed by music teacher Lulu (and donated to them by him), it is entitled “Watoto - tunalia sana” which means “The children We are crying”. It has a hypnotically beautiful and anthemic chorus interspersed with some brilliantly eloquent rap composed by the kids themselves about their lives, the conditions in which they live and what it is like to try to survive in the slums. Swahili lends itself so brilliantly to rap and the kids are COOL which has a lot to do with Jessica’s enthusiasm and the hip hop and beat boxing she is adding to the dance “curriculum”. We plan to record this song and get it played on air here, and in the UK if we can, and hopefully make some money towards the school’s building programme.

Back to the blog!!


6th and 7th – St John’s

All continues well. Field is now ours with no-one competing for it. Classes continue steady and good with no real drop in numbers (even an increase in foundation art). Saturday lunches are greatly appreciated by the kids. In fact I can now say that the whole project is running really well and as planned. No huge problems on the horizon - just the slight pressure of open day but I keep stressing to everyone that THE JOURNEY IS ALL and the destination - i.e. parade and show - just a nice perk for the kids and the community...

The rains come and go - heavy at night and in the day interspersed with hot sunshine. Now everything has turned green. The jacaranda trees are in their full blue flowered glory. The cattle that wander the roadside grazing seem to be fattening up a little - but not enough to stop one wincing a little as they wander past, bones jutting out like pictures of cows from cowboy cartoon drawings. You really CAN see the full skeleton underneath. There is a corpse down on the road side towards housekeeper Jane’s place which is now beginning to rot... quite a whiff. One wonders what it must be like in the bush; reports of hundreds of elephants dead. But how quickly we recover our equilibrium and begin to ignore the ever present signs of the terrible drought - as long as we have water in our tank - which we do – at some cost. But there is a sense of relief that the worst is over and that if the rains carry on a little longer the country can revive.


7th

Night before anniversary of Anno’s death - remembered by us all with supper at the house with the “residents” plus Lulu (and his guitar), Kades, Mike and Dickson.
Anno’s candle burned brightly and we all drank lots of Tuskers...


8th

I flew to Berlin for the Exhibition of last year’s art classes’ work to celebrate the beginning of ONE FINE DAY, Marie’s and Tom’s foundation that will sister Anno’s Africa for the future, sharing the loads both financial and artistic.



Paul and Fraser teach ‘Stomp’


I arrived in Berlin where Marie had set up the most brilliant exhibition in one of the leading Art galleries. The kids’ art work looked amazing and sold really well. Tom also screened a trailer for the film, “Soul Boy”, he had made last year with the Kenyan film students. It looked marvellous – and I gather it will be screened at the Berlin Film Festival. If you want to know more about the exhibition and indeed the work of the foundation please Google the “One Fine Day” web site and you can read all about it.

Sally and I had a wonderful three days, with Marie gloriously pregnant and Tom a kindly host in spite of being in the midst of night shooting for his current film. So thank you Marie, Tom and Berlin for filling the coffers with enough Euros to run all our Saturday clubs for the next year.
(Marie had her baby on December 19th – a nine and half pound boy called “Toto”)

12th

Back to Nairobi with a light heart and not too much guilt as the fort was being held very efficiently by Anna, Joni and Ned.

I flew back in on the same flight as the two volunteers from the STOMP Theatre troupe who had kindly offered to come out and work with us for a couple of weeks. They were called Fraser and Paul and the day after they arrived they were thrown in at the deep end at St John’s. They began by showing the kids the “hands and feet” rhythms that form the basis for many of the STOMP routines. The kids and the trainers all fell completely in love with the two guys; with their humour, amazing talent - and their unbelievable stamina. They were an inspiration to us all and a fantastic addition to the team. We spent Saturday morning in the huge Kikumba market buying brooms so the kids went on to learn the classic stomp “broom dance”. We had also been lent basketballs from Braeburn school but these routines were much harder and had everyone hopeless with laughter at the attempts at catching and bouncing. So we ended up concentrating mainly on the stamping, clapping and brooms.

The schools workshops were interspersed by two days of adult workshops at the Sarakasi Dome (on the Monday and Tuesday). These adult classes were made up of 12 actors from Safe Ghetto, 12 Sarakasi dancers and about 10 trainers from the Anno’s Africa group. The training sessions were exhausting but tremendous fun - and left us with about 20 possible new Stompers if ever STOMP decide to set up a troupe in Africa. The Safe Ghetto actors are going to introduce a routine into their next show and the Anno’s team are now able to carry on the STOMP training with the kids and may decide to set up their own Stomp style group during the next year and see if they can start performing for other schools and events.

We missed Fraser and Paul dreadfully when they left and the kids at Valley View and St John’s continued to ask wistfully if they would be coming back next year - so we hope the children’s cries will echo across to the UK and like siren songs lure the boys back again... with reinforcements.

Our friend Patsy Pollock arrived on the 17th of November and promptly set to work helping Anna with the ballet costumes. We all spent hours stitching roses from crepe paper and creating other head bands and wrist ribbons for the girls from both schools to wear on the open days.


18th and 19th – Valley View

Patsy, I and French photographer Julia went into the slums below the school with 20 kids from the advanced Art class to give them a photography master class. This expedition came just a day after a massive fight in the slum, right bedside the school, precipitated by a gang avenging a theft and then the whole thing escalated into a three day riot over the weekend which had almost prevented us from running the workshops. But it seemed to have calmed down by the Wednesday although the school closed early to allow the kids to get home before it got dark. These children brave such dangerous situations so much of the time and it was only when we saw the wreckage of the 60 houses that had been burnt that we realized the severity of the situation that we had heard about on the news during the preceding days. It was rather frightening going down into the streets and alleyways below the school as there was a very tangible tension in the air. Some of the people whose houses had burnt were sitting on the blackened ground looking desolate and lost whilst others were sifting amongst the debris trying to retrieve anything that might be left. The school teachers and trainers who accompanied us were very wary of us straying from their sight and we didn’t stay too long. But the photographic results from the children were wonderful and Patsy and I (and the kids themselves) were very glad we went and extremely impressed with their work. It confirmed to us all the importance of photography as one of the art forms we would like to offer next year. Patsy is going to set up a small exhibition of the photos from both schools and we may possibly make them up into a book to sell at our next fund raiser as well. .

Altogether, the last week of classes in both schools went pretty smoothly - but with everyone gearing towards open day we did feel the tension in spite of the fact that we all kept insisting that “it’s only an open day for the children and their parents”. This need to perform really well is inherent in both kids and trainers so we just have to accept that whatever we say, it IS of course a SHOW - and the kids love that excitement... And it does need a lot of preparation.

The lead up to Mathare’s final day was hiccupped on the 19th in rather a splendid way by a visit from Ginger (the producer from Ginger Ink productions - who is running the aforementioned One Fine Day’s film school project for Tom & Marie) to Valley View where she heard the kids singing and was so impressed she immediately decided they should be the ones to represent Kenya for the World Aid’s Day concert funded by Starbucks (!?) and transmitted live worldwide on Dec 7th. It had been organized by Bono’s AIDS charity RED and had representatives from all over the world singing the Beatles song “All You Need is Love”. You can see the end result on www.starbucksloveproject.com but sadly you only catch a glimpse of the kids as there were 156 countries participating. However, I am getting an edit of the whole song with just the Kenyan group and will put it up on You Tube. The Valley View children were backing a young girl group called the Moipei Quartet, who comprise of 16 year old triplets alongside a younger sister. They are not only very beautiful but have amazing voices and play ten instruments between them. They were charming to the kids who were all very excited to meet them as they are folk heroines in the slums. We are hoping that the appearance of the Valley View kids will raise interest in Valley View school - and maybe this too might precipitate more donations to the school to help towards the new building. They have already received $500 from the Ginger Ink/Starbucks budget which is a start. The children were coached by a famous black Kenyan opera singer (who has her own slum project for raising interest in classical music) along with Lulu whose talent and encouragement got the children the gig in the first place. Anna and I were still in Nairobi for the performance so we were there to cheer them on as well.



Valley View students perform live with the Moipei Quartet


25th and 26th – Valley View

Valley View’s open day on the 26th dawned hot and bright. We had spent the previous day preparing and praying it wouldn’t rain. Our prayers were answered rather too well as the heat was almost unbearable (“Beware or you may get what you want” indeed).

However, the whole event went incredibly well with terrific performances from the kids in spite of the fact that they were crammed, along with the audience, into the rather small hall for the show itself as there was nowhere outside with a smooth safe floor to dance on. They showed off their achievements in ballet, circus, music and dance and then we all collected downstairs for the giving out of the certificates for completing the course. Downstairs was also where the art classes’ labours were beautifully exhibited. The certificates were designed by Ned and painstakingly stuck onto pieces of card as we couldn’t afford to print them onto card individually but had to photocopy for economy’s sake. However they looked splendid and the kids received them with huge pride under the baking sun on the school “terrace” where they were all congratulated by the head teacher and all the trainers. Certificates are extremely valued in Kenya and make a huge difference to a child’s CV and subsequent work opportunities so they are an integral part of our end of course ceremony.








Our Open Day at Valley View, Mathare


We really missed our “advanced art” teachers; Francesca, Steve and Olivia at this moment as their work made up such a grand display, covering all available space across the walls behind the terrace and making the place unrecognizable from the scruffy, dirty old building we are used to.

We always had nightmare journeys back home from Mathare as it entailed driving down the very dangerous Juja road and on through another slum. It would take about two hours through crawling traffic and the thick pall of lorry exhausts (no rules here for clean air!!). On our very last journey after the open day our car was “mugged” and a front headlight removed whilst we sat locked inside unable to move, stuck in the most fearful traffic jam, and unable to get out and do anything about it as to get out would have been asking for serious trouble and would have tempted a carjacking (carjacking is common occurrence in this most dangerous city with two people shot the previous week for resisting the thieves). Thankfully it was our last visit to Mathare!!! Until next year...


27th and 28th – St John’s

St John’s open day followed two days after Valley View’s on Saturday 28th November after a Friday spent in frantic preparation. After such perfection at Mathare, we feared a disappointment. And things did not bode well on the morning of the open day...

We arrived on Saturday - our BIG day - at 10am to a torrential downpour, and the very real threat of more rain forcing us inside for the show, only to discover to our horror... that a wedding had been double booked in the school hall! We already knew that there was a VCT (Aids testing) training programme going on in one room at the school but this wedding was an absolute nightmare as Kenyan nuptials are HUGE events with loads of cars, noise and partying. I called Sally who was on her way in to find that she knew nothing about it and neither did the head teacher. It seemed that although the school had informed the St John’s Committee that the hall and field were to be ours until the 30th November, somehow, this information had not filtered through to said “Committee”. Whoever this rather Orwellian sounding group are I have yet to discover but, whatever the cause, the effect was that we were lumbered with a wedding invasion on our day of days and we were mightily pissed off.

But we all controlled our indignation and set off on the parade, praying that the heavens wouldn’t open again. Bob led us all, striding along on his stilts with the kids singing and chanting their way through the slums. It was great fun and cheered us all up – and in fact from then on the day went really well. The lowering cloud continued to just lower and didn’t let rip again and the community - if somewhat bemused by the parading kids - seemed interested never the less and quite a few followed us back to school and stayed to watch the show. We also collected a gang of glue sniffing street kids en route, who live nearby in some large concrete pipes lying not far from the school. One of them had a shrivelled goats head as a “ puppet” which was rather macabre and all in all the group were a bit intimidating en masse. However they too followed us “home” and behaved remarkably well at the show - considering their glue-ey state. In fact there were a couple of older kids amongst them who were really interesting - VERY bright and really worth bringing in to a street kids programme if we can set it up next year. Our trainer from the Tree House Art Centre is already rehabilitating glue sniffers so maybe he can help us start working with them when they are clear of the effects of the glue which really does leave them fairly comatose. Since coming home I have heard that one of them – Salim; a.k.a. Obama because he had one white parent - has already been to check out the Tree House and may well become one of Kamau’s reclaimed children...



Our St John’s parade... and the gang of homeless glue sniffers


Thanks to the delayed start of the wedding until the early afternoon due to heavy traffic, we had time to complete our performance before the full onslaught of guests overtook the school yard. The performances were really terrific with the circus show being followed by African drumming, then ballet, traditional African dance, hip hop and then ending with the kids and trainers version of STOMP. The choir sang Lulu’s Swahili song followed by “Stand by Me” in English and then we gave out their certificates. Last, were speeches of appreciation and thanks to the team from Sally and the headmaster.



Our Open Day at St John’s, Majengo


However there was a small drama when one of Joni’s foundation art group kids collapsed on the art room floor just as the show was about to start. I arrived at the classroom to find Joni taking care of semi-conscious Lukas who was burning up with a fever and unable to stand. Joni and a teacher carried him to the local hospital where they discovered he had a severe chest and throat infection that untreated could have easily turned into something very serious. The mortality rate in the slums is so high and an infection untreated so often leads to a child dying from something that in Europe would be a minor sickness. As it was they gave Lukas a large dose of intravenous antibiotics and a prescription for more and he was allowed back to school a couple of hours later, although still very wobbly. Sadly this all meant that Joni missed most of the afternoon’s performances but luckily for the other children she had already set up her most beautiful and spectacular exhibition of their art work beforehand, which she had strung with clothes pegs on washing lines around the school courtyard.



The St John’s Art Exhibition


(We will put up some photos of the Art exhibition and the show onto the web site as soon as I get copies from the two young French photographers who were covering the day for us).

The VCT group turned out to be really good news as they kept to themselves and then had loads of food left over after their meeting which they kindly donated to our team and our hungry kids who, in spite of the picnic we had supplied, were by then ready for a proper meal.

So this open day too was a great success and all in all I think we can feel VERY proud of what Anno’s Africa has achieved, and what everyone’s help and support has meant to the slum children for these eight weeks. There were over 400 children who received their well earned certificates, a further 30 who attended the Kibera Saturday Art club (and have been doing so for the past year), and we gave 2 months of employment to 14 Kenyan artists/trainers who are all extremely grateful to have had the work – especially in such difficult times as these. We feel very blessed to have had such an enthusiastic and talented group working with us – and they will now continue the project through the Saturday clubs that they will run on our behalf, starting in February.

Kwaherini -- and love from Bee.

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