Kenya Update

Dear Friends,

I woke up this morning to the cacophany of birds chirping so loudly I could barely hear my alarm when it went off a half hour later. I took the 3 steps it takes to get around my bed and into the water closet (literally the size of a closet) and on the way the epiphany of choreography I spent hours working on yesterday came to my mind. My Soweto bunch are of street kids are such varied ages, 8-18 and have such a wide range of levels of discipline and artistic ability it is very difficult to come up with movement that makes the older ones feel challenged and cool doing it and is still within the realm of possiblility for the younger ones to pick up. Well, a simple yet vigorous syncopated clapping sequence I used on choreography for Kiss Me Kate some years back came to mind and combining that with some abstracted basketball and volleyball movement gave us a wonderful dance for them to perform at our big kick-off event on the 18th.

A note on local music. I cannot say the youth are innundated with any specific type of music because the music you will hear through a regular day here in Nairobi is random and eclectic. I had 2 over fried eggs this morning on burnt toast and some sort of porridge for breakfast as I listened to "Rocky Mountain High" and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" blaring over the crackling sound system. Then in the matatu on the way out of town I heard some heavy Swahili rap/hip-hop. We switched matatus and this one was playing Celine Dion's "Falling Into You". On the walk down the long dirt road to the slums twice I heard African chanting/singing with the half yelling half singing harmonies indicative of this style accompanied by the very high pitched pygmie squeals and calls. These were both coming from local churches. We use drums for our 2 hour class and on the way to the prison for our afternoon session I had to try to tune out some heavy pounding street rap using nonstop explitives and graphic sexual descriptives throughout. We get it all.

This country it stunning and beautiful as are the people. There are recent studies trying to find out why, with so many natural resources, such great weather, land, plant life, schools business etc the country remains in such poverty. They have come to a powerful conclusion after much cross analysis that subjects are being taught in the schools but basic life skills of discipline, creativity, logical reasoning and application of knowledge to real life are not being taught. An organization called Inside Out Learning has gathered information and are developing a curriculum to incorporate such teachings into the schools here. According to my friend working with the organization they have figured out the methods that work for math, english, and other such subjects but the arts has not worked so far. We had a long meeting with Lillian Odiero from Inside Out Learning describing our methods and results and she is sold. She attended our event where she saw the results of the programs on the street kids up close and personal after just 2 or 3 weeks. They want to adopt our methods into their system. They will be inviting our Project Manager for Kenya to explain the system and do training in Mumbasa early next year.

So much has happened in the recent weeks I cannot possibly share it all with you. A few highlights will have to suffice. We had some crazy set backs when Father Enos, the director of the orphanage we were beginning programs with (1200 children) was arrested on charges of fraud, misappropriation of funds, abuse and sexual abuse to the children. The chief of police of Nairobi got involved. We had to step back fast not to end up part of the hulaballoo and media hoopla. We are waiting for things to settle down there before we attempt to try to reconnect.

One day about 2 weeks ago I arrived at the Shamba in Soweto and due to some internal fighting between the villagers and those running the street boys project the building we were so happy to be using for dance classes, the construction space that was not yet built with lots of space, had been boarded up. No entry. We were again forced to change venues. This time we did class outside in the dirt yard under the hot Nairobi sun. We then split the class and held the next session inside their small room in the tin hut they use for a classroom teaching basics of English, math, telling time etc. Other such upsets have made it very difficult to build on the programs we have established, nevertheless the work has gone on and is, despite the opposition, flourishing.

Many of my teachers in training who are members of the Boys Choir of Kenya are busy with school and exams so have not been available for training or to come assist me on a consistent basis. This has worried me for when I leave and they are completely in charge. Teaching them their responsibility to these kids and the importance of having the discipline on a consistent basis to be the key to the success of all we are doing has been a challenge. Many of them have come to understand that we are not just teaching some fun dance steps, some songs and a little drumming. We are teaching life skills through the medium of these arts. Even though we had some major disruptions in the classes for the street kids in Soweto we were able to pull them all together on Saturday and combine them with 8 of the boys who were part of the program 9 months ago and create a piece of choreography we could present at the upcoming event.

On the day of the event (the 18th of Nov) we arrived early to gather the 32 children and youths and rehearse before we transported them to the church in downtown Nairobi (1 hour away). Sadly, the school had been broken into the night before and many things were stolen or vandalized. After cleaning up the mess, we rehearsed with drums outside again. I put Solomon and Sakwa in charge of the group for the day as I rushed out to prepare for the biggest Promethean Spark Event held in Kenya to date.

The boys from Kibera (20-28 yrs old) had been working hard and we were progressing well. The time came to be more strict. We told the group they were not allowed to come to class high or innebriated any more and we lost about 4 of them. The rest continued to come----sober and much more able to concentrate, discipline and focus. From that point on the progress from each session was visible, even tangible. They could feel it themselves. I made a point to mention individuals' progress each time it was evident and these young men moved forward by leaps and bounds---pirhouettes will come soon. Well, the event on Tuesday Nov 18th went better than expected. The church I have been attending since I arrived volunteered to let us use their big hall and it was perfect. They were worried they would have problems with so many street kids in attendance--nearly 50 in all---but to their astonishment the youth were all well-behaved and kept order through the whole program. I was surprised at their deportment from start to finish. They even helped set up and clean up. My whole being was smiling as I saw them all working together--church members, boys choir, street kids. The dances and songs were not the highest quality you ever saw, but they were amazing considering who was performing them, how long they had been in training and where they had been and what they had been capable of only 3 weeks previous. Literally miracles before our eyes.

The Boys Choir really embraced this as their own and took care of transportation fees for all the performers and provided food for all 125 people in attendance. They performed intermittently throughout the program which gave the whole event a very professional feeling. Such an amazing group of young men. We now have our Promethean Spark Kenya Team. Cliff Njora has time and again proven himself by stepping up and meeting the many challenges that have come our way and I have asked him to be our Project Manager for all the Programs here in Kenya. The 6 teachers working the programs will report to him and he will in turn report to me and the Promethean Spark Board in NYC. He has agreed and I have complete confidence he will not only keep the individual programs in order but help them to thrive.

A final word about the programs at the prison. For obvious reasons they could not be represented at the event. We had a wonderful meeting with Madame Jane Kirii, the Senior Officer in charge of Kamiti Prison and she welcomed the programs with open arms. What usually takes months of paperwork and reports to the Commissioner and others happened in 2 days. This was a Tuesday. She asked us to come start the programs Thursday. This we did and the outcome was amazing. The first day, Jane was not there. Kefa, the guard in charge insisted that we do class with all the inmates in the same room. So there I was standing in front of approximately 100 prisoners staring at me with a look of ---what are you doing here and what do you think you are going to teach us. I took the bull by the horns, set the ground rules. I speak this loud and no louder. If you are to hear me you have to be quieter than me. I had them all stand and told them if they remain standing and dancing they were allowed to ask questions but if they sit down on the side to watch they are not allowed to say a word. This was difficult to manage. Everytime we did a new step the ones sitting would laugh, point and jeer the ones attempting this new skill for the first time. The numbers dwindled drastically. By the end we had about 30 standing.

Each time I heard talking from the bystanders I would stop the whole class and wait for silence. Even the guards were to behave. I told one of the guards who was laughing at someone trying to do the steps that he was welcome to come join us. Otherwise he was not to laugh at those attempting to better themselves. One large inmate felt no compulsion to acquiese to the rules so at one point as he continued to talk I got in his face. "Are you the teacher here?! Then what are you doing talking?! ..... You think you can teach this class better than I can? Be my guest! It is all yours." I sat down and waited for him. There was dead silence in the room. "Well?! ..." He slumped back and shook his head. "Then SHUT your mouth and show a little respect!" I then took the opportunity to share a lesson of life with them about respect. Explaining that if they could learn respect (for others and for themselves) so many doors would open they would not know what to do. Education, good jobs, good friends and more. The head guard stood after me and translated into Swahili so those who did not understand English would get what I was saying. He felt it was that important a message. They were much better after that.

We took roll at the end to archive the original courageous few who were willing to stay standing amidst ridicule and persecution. We were to come back 2 days later. I informed Madame Jane before entering on Saturday, that the program would surely fail if we had to do class in front of spectators every time. She understood and chastised those who made fun of those dancing. She then separated those who wanted class and those who wanted to sit and watch TV. We had over 30 join us in the echoing square concrete room next door. This time we were able to concentrate more easily and took a huge step forward in discipline and skill.

I was surprised and thrilled to see the large inmate I had challenged in front of his peers, not only in the room but in the front row. I have now turned things over to Promethean Spark Team Kenya as I am leaving in a few hours to fly to India and start more programs there. "That which we persist in doing becomes easier. Not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our ability to do has increased." The spark has been lit and is catching fire here in Kenya and I am thrilled at all that has happened here in the past 3 weeks. Yes we have worked hard but doors have opened that we could not have opened ourselves. People have come forward to volunteer and spaces have been made available. Funds are still low so much of it has to come out of our own pockets but luckily most of the sacrifice is time, talent and heart. God has blessed us abundantly in our efforts. I pray this will continue as they take up the cart and run with it.

I just got word that Edwin Munyili, one of my teachers for Kamiti Prison went out there to teach class for the first time today, by himself. He had no music available to him because I am taking my ipod and speaker dock with me. We are in the midst of trying to arrange for a cd player and drums to be available in the space. He carried on brilliantly. More showed up than last time. Nearly 40. He taught them a traditional Kenyan song with harmonies sung in Swahili and then took the last hour to review what I had taught in previous sessions. I was so proud of him. These boys taking over the programs are all under 24 years of age and are proving to be great leaders and examples to those they are teaching.

God Bless you all,

Shaun --