so this week has been one of the most fulfilling yet.
i had a great time playing with the kids here at faith christian school and loved working on the art for their teaching aids. but when i realized the congo situation i just couldnt sit back and let them go hungry. so i gathered information and collected supplies.
currently in faith christian school there are 15refugee families with about 42 children attending school. they have no home and no food. i found out that the reason they are refugees is one of the saddest stories i could imagine. the representative told me there are 460 tribes in the congo. 459 of those tribes share one enemy tribe...which is their tribe. imagine in your own country taking one step into boundaries of another tribe means your life. many fled immediately after being kicked out of the final region they attempted to inhabit, others died instantly, and others still remain with no way to survive as the other tribes are now killing and steeling livestock and supplies to starve their population for an all out tribal genocide attempt. the fleeing tribe (i wish i knew their name) is now located in camps in rwanda, tanzania, uganda, and kenya. unfortunately there are conflicts inside the kenyan camp and so the camp is actually dangerous for them to be in. so here they are basically hiding out in our area of nairobi being housed in the guest homes and personal spaces of good samaritans.
so with 200 dollars i made packages of 30lbs of rice, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, tea, and sugar. each family recieved them at the final graduation ceremony for the school last thursday. they were so happy. they only speak congolese so i had to communicate through other people but i could tell this was something theyd never thought would happen. it was a good gift for christmas celebration and the women mounted the supplies on their heads and walked away that day happily being able to feed and bathe their families. it was so fulfilling but i wanted to do more.
so besides these refugees, the only congolese i have met in kenya have all bene musicians. for the educated congo, during school to pass class 4 you have to know how to play the guitar. music is regarded as highly important to cultural protection there and so its their livelyhood and often times a means for survival as they come to large cities and are hired for entertainment. after talking with the representative, he encouraged me to attempt to form an NGO centered around supplying children with a means for survival. ok now i know this is a big project and i already have a million other projects ive talked about doing, but i feel right now that the congo are the worst off group of people ive come into contact with. they really have no support outside of samartan acts. so i will put this out to the cosmos and hope for support in any way possible.
my idea is start an ngo where children who are performing well in their classes are allowed to have a section of their education going toward music education. in this i would be able to hire congo musicians who i already know, to come teach music to the children where i could provide a simple meal and education on the art of music. i realize that after getting the supplies like instruments and a space for learning, there would be little costs for this project besides paying the teachers and providing rice and veggies for food.
this is a very immature concept ive thought up but what i want to make clear is that my desire to do this is very much based on cultural emphasis. i believe that when a society loses its culture, it loses the resources and skills to survive. and therefore by doing the opposite, by uplifting ones culture, we can empower our youth to gain control of their rights for life. that is the main focus of this idea and who really knows how far it will go? on the side i could also be teaching basic art skills to those more interested in physical art. in reality i would love to help facilitate this and start a self sustaining ngo project out of it. maybe one day youll see our band in the hottest club in africa. anyway if you have resources on ngo creations, id love to hear about them. ill have a full history of the tribe soon, and you can see how hundreds of years of history is still forming their future....im just waiting on contact from the representative.
something ive started to realize about these africans as well is the amount of pride they have for their lives. you may think this is a very dirty place but besides the fact that there are garbage heeps and car fumes, for the most part this is a sqeaky clean civilization. the clothes get washed frequently here and their homes are a spectacle of perfection. when you walk into a home you wont find a piece of dust on the floor or tables. they keep everything extremely sanitary and they cherish the idea of having nice looking things. ive walked into the homes of several bachelor houses and was amazed at the order and manner of arrangement. at any time you can even see women sweeping the dirt for small specks of trash outside their doors.they take their goods and treat them with respect. they are sure to care for their possessions with all the pride they have. this could be that they dont have much so keeping order is easier, or maybe its just that they appreciate their possessions more than what ive seen in western culture. but in any light i respect and admire the hard work i see out of these african families.
also the pride they have in their country is amazing. everything is kenya here. kenya shirts, kenyan futbol, kenya tv. everything. they love it. they also love obama. ive seen more obama propaganda here than ive ever seen in america. of course he is their brother so it is to be expected. but its funny to see "i love you obama" shirts on kids and women. in fact, the rd i live off of is called Obama Street. and i found out people actually created balled boxes during the election and were actuallly putting in votes for obama. most people took the day off from school and work and had wild parties the day of commencement. oh these african people are so funnily beautiful.
thats all for now thanks to all of you who are continuing to contribute and i will be starting the art project for the holidays with the kids as soon as the supplies come in. also the water catchment tank is on its way. it should be ordered this week i believe. please check out the website for updates on holiday market and ways that you can contribute. id love to hear from you all.
http://africa.thetclub.com
peace!...or amani (swahili)
kena achieng
