On January 23rd we met with Kibera Kids 4 Peace and painted in the alley outside of the Masai Mbili art studio. The kids were excited to paint and draw again after the Christmas break. We had a lot of fun together!
Several months ago Harambee Arts started to offer a second weekly painting group to a group of older children at the City Primary School. The children are more severely autistic than our on-going younger group. Their head teacher reports that he has already seen dramatic changes in the children. Their styles develop and their special personalities emerge. Mihrein, the most outspoken of the group, usually paints one color at a time. He doesn’t like to get dirty and barks orders or makes comments about the others, as he smiles and paints his one-color paintings. “Sit down, finish that painting. Why […]
Nadir was dropped off by his mother two weeks ago. He didn’t speak. His mom warned us that, “He can’t hold anything by himself. He just sits by himself. He can’t do anything.” Within twenty minutes, Nadir was holding the brush and the palette, painting and grinning.
Harambee Arts has recently welcomed two new permanent staff members. Lillian Onbonyo, co-trainer for the most recent training for counselors at the Kenya Association of Professional Counselors, is a nurse who is also trained in play and expressive arts therapy. Margaret Wambugu is a twenty-one year old woman who loves children. She brings a grounded and soothing quality to our program. We are also so fortunate to have an inspiring new group of volunteers including fourteen-year old Kimotho who brings joy and his lovely young spirit to the team. Lillian Margaret Kimotho Erick, Sofia, Margaret and Gloria at RaMoMA
The Harambee Arts group continues to grow. Last week there were more than 50 women dancing and painting their stories. One of them said, “I have a sense of belonging in this group. Someone cares about us.”
Children from Kibera paint pieces of tin and wood that will be assembled into an installation piece so that they can bring a piece of their life in the Kibera slum to the larger community.
On June 1st and 2nd, Gloria travelled to Eldoret (Northern Kenya) to facilitate a 2-day workshop in 'Expressive Art and Play Therapy for Children' at the Kenya Association of Professional Counselors (KAPC) Eldoret branch.
Langata Women's Prison Body Map Exhibition, 'Transcending Bars', at Rahimtulla Museum of Modern Art in Nairobi
Within the slums of Kenya, dense populations and intense poverty compound to create a volatile environment where conflict can erupt at any moment. In April, a dispute erupted between Uganda and Kenya, over Migingo Island in Western Kenya. Uganda declared that the island was Kenyan but the water around it was Ugandan. The effects of the diplomatic dispute were seen mainly in Kibera. For days the streets of Kibera were littered with tire fires, riots, bloody violence and chaos as Ugandan residents were targeted and beaten. The railroad tracks that run around Kibera were torn out by angry mobs, houses […]