Kenya: With our Hands an Feet on the Wall

Final DOH article from Moses Okonji, Photography teacher and director of the Inspiration Centre

Photos by Gideon Ochieng

The week was great as I try to reflect on what each class did and their teachers. Saturday was the climax of everything that all the teachers have been doing. We were a little bit scared of the weather when it started raining. Bearing in mind that all our presentations were done outdoors, we took our chances and let things be. Fortunately all went well. The entire presentation was amazing; starting with the poetry class led by Godfrey, Mwaura and Kylee presented a peace poem.  

This class started on a high note on Monday because they had their own room, this was before they were kicked out by the school because the school was using the room for exams. It was closely followed by photography class led by myself, Gideon, Quinter and Boi. We were also using one of the rooms from a nearby church before we were kicked out because we didn’t give them money. It was sad to imagine that a church in the community is there to serve but not to extort money from its poor community. Bearing in mind that this is a community event and the main key players are the children. One thing that was clear is that they saw “white” folks who according to them represent “power” and “money” in this community and this brought about the need for them to demand for money. We had to finish the rest of the class outside in an open space in the community. We had already developed more than 100 pictures for display. 

The photography class had an opportunity to visit a studio in town during the week and saw how pictures were being processed and developed. Being one of the teachers in this class, I had an opportunity to realize the potential that these kids have and how gifted they were able to tell their stories through the lenses. Another class that was sensational was drama which had a lot of drama from the “owners” of the space they were using. This group was led by Rebekah and Said. They had a great presentation; conflict between two groups and how peace could be achieved. The next group that had a lot of children was dance class. This class was led by Queen Celmali and Jack. The children had an opportunity to learn Salsa, Merengue and Rhumba. I managed to sneak one of the days to learn some salsa when my class was taking photos in the community.  

Celmali had a situation when her cell phone fell in one of the toilets, you don’t want to know how she screamed when she saw a Mathare resident pick it using gloves. This was hilarious because everyone kept laughing at her. Their presentation was amazing because the Mathare community had the chance to learn and see them perform. Then the last class to present their work was the mural. This class was led by Pyre, Aimee and Katie. They had managed to divide the wall into two parts that represented conflicts and peace. Their presentation was amazing since everyone had the opportunity to print their hands on the walls.

We also had a chance to have a thanksgiving dinner as teachers. This meant that a turkey had to be slaughtered by one of the teachers. It was surprising for the Kenyan teachers when they saw the Americans being scared of seeing a live turkey being slaughtered. This was great especially for me since it was my first time to eat a turkey or to share a thanksgiving dinner with friends. The entire event can easily be summed up as superb.