THE NASI AFRIKA ACROBATS “VIATU” (SHOES) INITIATIVE.

(Shoes For Foot, Foot for Food/ Shoes for slums, Shoes for positive social change)

Dear friends,

Am excited to announce to you an initiative by Nafsi Afrika Acrobats.
An idea we are looking forward to follow up much with practical action and translate from writings to reality.

Millions of Africans live  in urban slums that lack decent housing, clean water, poor nutrition, and sanitation.
Children are stunted from chronic malnutrition and ailments.
Nairobi is one of the cities in which juxtapositions of wealth and poverty are more stark.
Poor people live in the slums (mabanda/ ghetto) where gangs dominate, families are pressed together in ramshackle houses, and children often sleep on damp concrete or dirt.
The streets are full of vermin, hookworms, and the stench of sewage rising from narrow alley ways.

Macharia, One of the boys (a street boy) in our training programme was once inflicted by tetanus and could not train acrobatics anymore.
All he could beg us for was shoes.
Ironically, he was mumbling with a bottle of glue (gum) stubbed between his lips.
“Shoes?” I thought, Macharia was sniffing the same glue used to hold shoes (even for the affluent and famous) together, yet he walked bare footed.
These children walk briskly over the ground littered with pieces of bottles (same as from their glue bottles).
The pieces of glass prick their bare foot soles inviting hookworms and diseases, and also leaving cracks that reflect their sad, untimely lifestyle stories.
We thought, “If Shoes can bring a condition of comfort and prosperity, why can’t it create peace, and be used as an empowerment tool towards real positive social change”.
From this experience, an idea was born that has been constantly developing.
We thought of coming up with a project. “The Nafsi Afrika Acrobats Viatu (shoes in Kiswahili) Initiative.”
Our aims are;

• Create a community of purpose driven individuals with a passion of forming social change, and a difference in others lives.

• Integrate our professionalism (acrobatics, arts,yoga, music and dance) with community work, by identifying correct tools then setting social trends -a rebellion where the society abandons its apathy.

• Spread awareness of poverty and need to eradicate it globally by connecting people of upper class and lower class thus unleashing a civic spirit.

• Build a structure to nurture talent and social awareness programmes that may allow artists to be increasingly aware and involved with their communities.

We hope to achieve this through our show-repertoire- called “viatu”.
“Viatu” means shoes in the local East African language-Kiswahili.
“Viatu” has a storyline revolving around a shoe that integrates, harmonizes, gives hope, motivates and empowers a certain community.
The story (which also depicts urban slum life) employs the use of strong acrobatics skills blended with yoga poses (asanas), contemporary and ethnic African dance styles, theatre and nature sound.
Getting along to getting things done, we will exhibit this show first in Nairobi mid December.
The exhibition will be a benefit to fight poverty where live music, photos and paintings exhibition, huge shoes and arts auction will be used to raise money towards a fund.
Just a pair of shoes will be the admission price to watch the show.
We are soliciting for shoes from companies, schools, individuals and churches.
These shoes will later be donated to Kibera and Kawangware slum schools and to street children in yet other organized distribution events.
Our aim is to raise over 10,000 pairs of shoes in this first event.
Later we will build networks in slums and form clubs that will sustain the idea.
On this note we also envisage sourcing machines that can help in customizing shoes, and set up a small scale shoe customization project for some street children, providing them with a source of livelihood.
Also create a traveling exhibit, traveling to physical locations (Kenya and beyond), and also visibly online, with the same purpose of raising shoes but for different causes (Shoes for prisons, juvenile remands, children homes disaster victims e.t.c)

Every change begins with an idea, then a vision, and finally a decision to take action. This new concept of fund raising has been brewing in the back of our minds.
The returns we seek are not for profit but in advances towards education, healthcare, children empowerment and poverty alleviation.
As we gather more ideas to put down in our concept paper for presentation, we are seeking for willing partners, initial support, co-founders, and more ideas.
We are looking for connections to a network of like minded people to make this idea live and grow.
If you are a social entrepreneur, activist, academic, founder, philanthropic  person, Charity organization, businessperson, journalist e.t.c who spend time looking for people, places or opportunities to influence a course of events towards social change then “lend in your shoes, fit in our shoes, let the slums fit in your shoes, or help us tie the laces.”

Footnote; Poverty is not lack of money, but it is lack of the sense of meaning.

Commercial Activities
Aerobics classes, acrobatics classes, drumming classes, carving and playing of djembe drums trainings, dance and instrumentals classes. Also, sale of artworks (most of the works/carvings produced by us), theatre and live performances, family fun shows (face painting, puppets and marionette shows, clown, bouncing castles magician, comedians, candy floss, balloon artistry, pony and camel ride. Find our brochure). Movies and commercial adverts production, social functions and mobilization (giant puppets, stilts, and hand puppets), launching and promotion of products and services, co-operate events, functions and occasions entertainment.

Non Commercial
We have also extended social responsibilities within our society like doing regular clean-up campaigns, talent shows, HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns and sitting in community forums to discuss issues affecting the youth.

NAFSI AFRICA STREET CHILDREN EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME
There exist a strong attachment between us and the kids as most of them are from families we know. Currently the programme is run from four training centres in the Ghettos; Kawangware Lutheran Church, Waithaka Social Hall, Huruma Centre on the Ngong Hills, and Dagoretti Market training grounds.
The problem the groups faces currently is integrating, sustaining and keeping the kids together always as it forces us to respond to some of their daily needs as in feeding them, and providing them with clothing. Due to the above problem most of them are on and off, forcing as to reach out to them and search them always for training.
In the near future the group plans to set up a day care centre from where all activities shall be run and some of the children's basic needs responded to. Nafsi Afrika street children outreach programme is designed to capacity build street children and empower them on gainful livelihood in the field of arts and arts – related activities in the city and it’s environ. Emphasis is put on developing the capacity of the street children and other unfortunate youths to participate, as appropriate, in urban poverty reduction responsibilities, and also elimination of such vices like crime and drug abuse. Its rationale lies in the provision of a friendly approach to training opportunities in acrobatics, dance, music, drama, and fine arts and crafts. We provide training and capacity building activities that attract huge interest from street children and youth. Our trainings take place at informal training grounds in street children bases, poor slum areas, community centres, formal schools, churches, street children rehabilitation centres and orphanages. At the moment we have extended our trainings programmes to: - Kivuli Centre, Huruma Children’s Home(Ngong), St. Joseph Church(Kangemi), Lutheran Church(Kawangware), Lutheran Church(off Ngong road), Kwa Mumbi School and Street Children Rehabilitation Centre, Waithaka Social Hall and Kawangware Street Children’s Base.

The overall aim of this project is to provide artistic empowerment services to street children, especially those most vulnerable, residing in Nairobi, aged 3 to 26 years. In response to the alarming situation of street children in Nairobi , Nafsi Afrika acrobats empowers the street wise generation to have ownership of the reformation and development process and be agents of transformation in the city of Nairobi.
The mission is to facilitate the empowerment of the street children in the city to have greater ownership of the development and reformation process through disseminating relevant information, imparting appropriate skills and formation of performing teams, so that the competence and professional qualification achieved, may be placed at the service of these children and street youths, thus contributing to the development of the city of Nairobi and assist in prevention or alleviation of the street children and steet youths or rather street families problem.
The street children and street youthful generation need to acquire or exploit their relevant artistic skills to help them take decisions and actions that give them more control of their own lives and thus enable them participate actively in the boarder development process instead of graduating into car jackers, bank robbers, muggers, conmen, or criminals.

Area of focus for the project includes:

• Participates in the outreaches, identification, consolidation, convincing, training and evaluation of training progress and the training programmes. providing in particular, assistance in training and facilitation of traininig equipments and props.
• Assist in providing, or help in negotiating for show employment-counseling services to competent groups and in particular, in job search and marketing of their artistic careers.
• Assist in coordination of contract opportunities and in the formulation of job opportunities matrix, which links employers or agents with artists job seekers.
• Assist in identifying /soliciting for existing donors and coordinating referrals of the formed acrobatics and dance groups with willing donors and employers.

The basic components are:

• To provide Contracts ,a plat-form for artistic improvement and marketing, employment opportunities so as to have more access to job markets to these artistically endowed street children and street youths.
• To promote and empower the street children and youths with relevant information and artistic skills on employment creation.
• To undertake activities geared toward preventing criminality among the
• street children and youths.
• To assess street children and youths needs.
• To reduce street children and youths vulnerability especially those residing in the urban areas and ghetto settings by initiating programmes that address their plight.
• To develop a network of street kids and youth, youth organizations, government (through the local administration), N.G.O's,Arts agents and employers.
• To provide up-to date information and involve the street children and youths in the following areas -: Employment, Culture and sports, Health, Education and training, Environment, IT training.