By JOAN BARSULAI
When little Fanuel Ochieng moved to Kibera slums two years ago, his life was in disarray.
His father was ill and bed-ridden. He had no relative upcountry to take care of him. His father was then forced to take him to Kibera slums to live with his aunty, who was already raising nine other children in a small ramshackle shanty. The nine-year-old boy was frail and pale looking for lack of access to basic needs such as food and medicine.
It was not until he joined Spurgeon Primary School that everything took a turn for the better. Shortly after starting school, an account was set up to cater for the remainder of his primary education. He then signed up for ballet dance classes that are offered at the school every Wednesday after classes.
Life began to return to the boy’s face. He regained confidence and a spring in his steps. Now every Wednesday, Fanuel can be seen prancing around excitedly in his ballet uniform and gracefully dancing with his ballet mates to classic tunes from an old radio at the corner of the ballet class.
Creative opportunities
The Spurgeons School, a non-formal charity primary school based in Kibera, is one of the schools that Anno’s Africa, a non-governmental organisation, sought to link up with to provide a series of workshops for the children.
The charity was set up in memory of Anno Birkin a young gifted writer and musician who died in a car crash in 2001. It was founded by his parents with the aim of offering less privileged children some of the creative opportunities that Anno himself enjoyed. The Anno’s program provides five major disciplines namely; art, drama, music, dance and circus skills.
The school’s director, Oscar Kwama, says the school targets children with special needs. “This school caters to orphans and vulnerable children, especially children with sick parents, as well as children who live in abject poverty. That, for us, is the basis for admission,” he says.
Better life
The director adds that most of these children are not gifted academically and because of extenuating circumstances that surround their young lives, they do not perform well in school. It is against this backdrop that Anno’s Africa has come to their rescue.
The extracurricular activities and training offered by Anno’s gives these children a shot at a better life, because a majority of the children, although having performed fairly well in primary school, do not make it to secondary school because they are unable to find sponsors for their secondary education.
The director’s hope is that if they do not excel in their academics, they can instead nurture their talents and earn a living from them.
Every year, a group of professionals comes from Europe to train Kenyan professionals. Through collaboration and support from One Fine Day, a German organisation, workshops are held that offer training to Kenyan trainers so that the arts projects can become permanent features in the schools.
These Kenyan trainees receive payment for their work and they are able to update and expand their own skills.
The Anno’s Africa project not only offers the children the opportunity of finding alternative careers, but more essentially allows them to explore their creative talents and discover their artistic potential that will carry them through into their adult lives with optimism and hope. Most of the trainers point out that the classes have had an overwhelming impact on the children’s confidence and self esteem. The group’s production coordinator Krysteen Savane says most of these children come in with little or no self-worth at all.
“They think that they are inferior and that they have no rights. But with training and confidence boosting from the teachers, the children have developed the courage to question and their minds have been opened up to several opportunities that await them,” she notes.
Drama class
One boy in the drama class, 12-year-old Joseph Omondi, says: “I live in the estates, but I know that I am just like everybody else. I will make it too.” What further inspires the children is the fact that the majority of trainers grew up in the slums and they are now successful actors who appear often on television.
The program has also been greatly therapeutic for the children, and for most of them it is an only opportunity to express themselves as children.
The children are also a lot more comfortable confiding in their trainers than in their parents or teachers. Godfrey, the drama teacher, recalls a case of a young girl who was being sexually harassed by a man in the neighbourhood. The girl confided in him and in turn he was able to confront the young man and stop him before the child was sexually abused.
The teachers in the school have also reported significant progress in the children. They are more confident in expressing themselves in class and the discipline is high.
They can easily shun drugs and crime now because they have a better recreation to look forward to.
