Better late than never? I hope so! The last leg of our Kenya adventure took us west to Kisumu to help document the preparations for a very important fund raising concert. After returning to the states we lingered longer than expected in the welcoming nest of Pony, Montana. Returning to Ashland, we got swept up in a wave of activity, all the while internalizing and processing our experiences in Africa. Our Kenya blog felt unfinished without this last chapter. My intention is to follow up with an epilogue of sorts (probably not in poetic verse!) and share ruminations on our experiences through the lens of hindsight.

Sending you all love this holiday season.

We arrived sweaty-browed and jostled at the Young Generation Centre after bouncing through the pitted streets of Kisumu’s largest slum, Manyatta, marveling at the contrasting signs of both affluence and poverty a mere stone’s throw away from each other. The formidable Seline Akinyi, founder and benevolent overseer of YGC, greeted us warmly and insisted we duck in from the heat and gather in the welcoming cool of her living room. Seline, Simon Okelo’s mom and a principal inspiration for One Vibe, described how she started YGC with just a handful of local kids who needed food and a safe place to go. No-one was looking out for them, there weren’t any public assistance programs available and so Seline did what any big-hearted, courageous, protective mom would do – selflessly took them under her wing. A wing that has needed to get increasingly larger as each year has gone by.

Fifteen years later YGC provides education for bright and needy children, job opportunities through YGC’s income generating businesses, and a place to call home for those that lost their parents as a result of HIV/Aids and other factors.  Over eight hundred children have been supported through YGC between the ages of 2 and 19. Seline and a dedicated staff have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to providing a safe haven and hope for some of the most desperate children in Kisumu, earning the deep respect of the community and beyond.

Simon was around 14 years old when his life got turned upside down and his home transformed into an informal orphanage and later a school. He and his siblings were fully engaged with the daily running of this very extended family; cooking, teaching, doing administrative tasks and maintaining the buildings. It was during this time that the seeds for One Vibe were planted and nurtured. Simon envisioned a group that would bring together different souls with a mission—to create spaces where youth could get the necessary support to realize their potential while exploring various art forms as alternatives to drugs and violence.  Since its formal inception in 2008, One Vibe has focused its energy to unite artists and music enthusiasts through their shared love for the arts, in order to promote cultural diversity and international cultural exchange through its annual event, Unite The People Concert.

It was the preparation for this long-awaited event that Malcolm and I traveled to Kisumu to help document, a concert that would bring together musicians from Kenya, Tanzania, and for the first time in Kisumu history, an internationally acclaimed musician, Jamaica born Clinton Fearon. We first met Simon in Nairobi as he traveled back and forth between Kisumu and Nairobi (a long and bone rattling bus trip through some incredibly beautiful country), taking care of the many, many preparatory demands for the up-coming stakeholder’s fundraising dinner and the concert the following night. We accompanied him to interviews with radio and television stations, DJs, recording studios, and meetings with participating musicians. We sat together, heads hanging, after Simon’s backpack containing his laptop and phone were stolen in the midst of the organizing maelstrom. Throughout it all, I expected to see Simon’s black dreadlocks turn gun-mental grey but he continued to rally after each roadblock and challenge, calling to mind the real reason for what seemed like an almost endless amount of work – to support and empower kids in desperate circumstances to put stock in their value and tools in their hands to help them live engaged and productive lives.

And that is what an entire cadre of believers from across the globe was gathered in Kisumu to support: musicians, artists, writers, photographers, videographers, advisors, and all-around good hands. After refreshing ourselves with cold bottles of water in Seline’s colorful living room, we headed for the center of the grounds where the students, smartly dressed in school uniforms, were fidgeting excitedly in their seats facing a stage. The eminently likeable One Vibe 2012 headliner with an infectious smile, Clinton Fearon, engaged the kids in an impromptu sing along that was such a sweet combination of smiles and laughter and singing that tears came to my eyes.

Click to hear Clinton sing:

The program continued with the musicians taking the stage and first talking with the kids – asking them questions, relating with them, and encouraging them. Songs were interspersed with requests for audience participation, jumping off of the stage and walking into the throng of bouncing, clapping kids. Many of the musicians told their own stories of challenging times when they were growing up in poverty, which is why they give their time and talent to the One Vibe project. They know what it is like to be in near hopeless situations and the difference it made when they discovered music and were given the gift of knowing that they weren’t alone and someone out there recognized their value and believed in them.

I watched Malcolm behind the camera, intently focused, while I handled the recording and scrambled from one spot to another. We caught each other’s eye every so often, smiling so irrepressibly that my face hurt afterwards. The musicians’ authenticity, good humor, and passion were as nourishing and intoxicating as the offerings of a feast. The kids of Manyatta, bright-eyed in their vulnerability and resilience, accepted the offer and gave themselves over to the celebration. There seemed to be a sort of magic spell cast over everyone within the YGC compound. You know that feeling when you know something truly special is unfolding and for reasons unknowable, you are so thoroughly within the graces of good fortune that you are there to experience it firsthand? Like that. Love embodied.

To find out more about the wonderful work going on through One Vibe please go to:  http://www.onevibeafrica.org/