Meet ‘Mama Sarakasi’

Marion von Dijk    PHOTO: COURTESY

By WANGECI KANYEKI

Kenya: Born in the small Dutch town of Herkenbosch, into a middle class family, Marion van Dijck and her two siblings grew up in an environment with plenty of outdoor activities, such as safely riding bikes in the streets. At the time, there was a lot of youth activism in the town, which made her conscious of social movements and societal needs.

In 1987, while visiting her then boyfriend Rudy van Dijck who was doing his internship in Kenya, Marion fell in love with the country, and they relocated here after getting married in 1988.

While Marion was attending a birthday party in 2000, she was mesmerised by an acrobatic group that entertained the party guests. The troupe was energetic, enthusiastic, and creative, and that memory was etched in her mind.

When her sister, who is a choreographer in the Netherlands, enquired about African talent to be used at a circus, Marion immediately remembered the acrobatic group she had watched.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to showcase the Kenyan culture. However, I was shocked at the perception of the Dutch organiser, who did not quite trust Africans, and was nervous about them travelling to the Netherlands,” she recalls.

At the time, Marion was an expatriate’s wife and stay-at-home mother, and though rarely interacting with the local Kenyan community, she felt compelled to do something about the misconstrued perception. During a home leave trip to the Netherlands, she got an opportunity to present her case to the circus organisers.

“I persuaded the circus organisers to take on the Kenyan acrobats and guaranteed them good behaviour from the artists. I walked out with the contract, determined to show them they had a wrong perception of African talent.”

As a result, in December 2000, Marion traveled with seven acrobats calling themselves ‘Black Jambo Acrobats’ to the Netherlands: “I had negotiated for them air tickets, hotel accommodation, insurance and a performance fee.”

The group was well behaved, shattering the misconceptions about African artistes, and their performance was a hit. To take the ten-day trip, the acrobats had to take leave from their regular jobs at a Nairobi hotel. However, on their return, they found that they had been fired and replaced with other entertainers.

“After the money they had earned in the Netherlands ran out, they came back to us, and we felt somewhat responsible for their job losses. Rather than give them handouts, which was not sustainable, I would give them tasks such as training acrobats in children’s home, and then pay them for the job.

After some research, I discovered there were almost 40 groups of acrobats fighting and undercutting for the same jobs. We realised there was a need to nurture and facilitate these acrobats to improve the lives of these often underprivileged performing artists. We also believed that showcasing the Kenyan culture to the world would improve the perception of Africa.”

 The talent was already there; all that was missing was  the structure and systems within which it could be nurtured and transformed into globally marketable cultural products. This led to the birth of Sarakasi in 2001, first at Godown Arts Centre, and then at the Sarakasi Dome performance venue in Ngara, Nairobi, which was renovated to meet performance, office and rehearsal space needs.

Even though they did not know where it would lead, Marion, Rudy and the acrobats soldiered on with the project. Her background study of social cultural work, theatre and arts as well as psychiatric counseling came in handy at the new charitable organisation.

However the project was not without its challenges. Often Marion was called to police stations, when the acrobats were arrested after being mistaken for members of the Mungiki sect, because of their dreadlocks and dress code.

INDEPENDENT

“Police officers had nicknamed me ‘Mama Sarakasi’, and would frequently phone me to bail out the performers. Eventually, we gave our artistes IDs to distinguish them.

“Most of those who came for the free acrobatic training were from poor residential areas, and some did not even have bus fare to go back home. We wanted to help the acrobats become independent, so we offered them training in life skills such as personal finance management, HIV and Aids, grooming, relationships, the Constitution, and even copyright and patent rights”, says Marion.

As a result, lives have been transformed over the past decade with more than 500 artistes being trained on a weekly basis, at Sarakasi Dome and through outreach training. Sarakasi Trust has established a legacy of high profile cultural events and mega concerts, such as the annual Sawa Sawa Festival.

At the dome, apart from staging clients’ events, Sarakasi also holds its own cultural events, including monthly Friday concerts, dance and circus shows, the monthly Hip Hop Hook Up, and Sound in Motion workshops.

Some acrobats have taken up  opportunities to work and live abroad. Others, like Edwin ‘Edu’ Ooro, who choreographs Tusker Project Fame contestants, have become household names. Edu joined Sarakasi as a dance choreographer and has been instrumental in creating Sarakasi’s unique brand. He is now Sarakasi’s creative manager, and has traveled to the Netherlands, Ghana, South Africa besides other countries on exchange programmes.

Sarakasi has also reached out to deaf artists. Marion says, “Whether rich or poor, black or white, hearing or not we are all equal. We sent two of our trainees to learn sign language so that we could communicate and train the deaf. One of our deaf dancers is even able to blend in and perform with hearing dancers. This has opened up their world and given them opportunities they would not otherwise have had.”

Sarakasi artists also offer edutainment in government hospitals and juvenile remand homes   through the Sarakasi Trust Hospital Project, which contributes to the healing and rehabilitation of patients.

Marion found herself in a precarious position when the fighting began after  the 2007/2008 elections in Kenya.

“Most of our performers come from areas where the fighting was severe. I decided to go and check on them   in Kariobangi, Korogocho, Kasarani, Mathare and Kawangware accompanied by our acrobatics team leader. The acrobats know my car, which I would park in a strategic position.

The artistes would come over and I would talk to them and give them the relief funds I had managed to raise to buy food and other necessities. At the time, there was no public transport available and a leaf of sukuma (kale) cost as much as Sh5. As a result of the violence, the artist were unable to work, and had run out of money. The relief funds ensured they did not have to compromise themselves to obtain their basic needs. Those without shelter slept at the Sarakasi Dome.”

Asked why she exposed herself to such danger, Marion says, “Despite bullets flying and the slums being ablaze, I felt a sense of responsibility towards our acrobats. It’s a task that I could not delegate. I had to get in touch with them; they are family.”

VIOLENCE

After the violence came to an end, unresolved grievances between communities were like bandaging a festering wound. Thus, Sarakasi started a peace caravan to help with conflict resolution in the communities. Trainers would organise community games where youth groups from the different communities would have to work as a team.

Other Sarakasi peace-related initiatives such as Amani Lazima make use of local role models and performing arts to campaign against violence. Before the 2013 elections, Sarakasi showcased Trip en Masse, where the performers mimicked movements of someone being shot down or hacked. The shows were held in Eldoret, Kisumu, Mombasa and Naivasha to remind Kenyans to vote peacefully and not repeat the violence of the previous polls.