APT and Life in the Big City

Since I got back from Uganda and wrote about my trip, I've actually gotten to focus in on the reason I came here: interning with Amani People's Theatre.

First, a little background on APT. It was founded as a department of another NGO, People for Peace in Africa, in 1994, at a time when many surrounding countries had serious issues maintaining peace (civil war in the Sudan, genocide in Rwanda, etc.) A group consisting primarily of university students decided to try to use theatre as a peace-building tool, not just in Nairobi but throughout rural areas in Kenya and even in refugee camps. Hence the name Amani, which means peace in Swahili. APT has since become independent and now runs several long-term programs as well as many short-term consultancies and collaborations with other groups.

There are three ongoing programs in Nairobi I am working with. One is in the Remand Home, where kids who have committed crimes or been lost and found by police live. Some are there for years, and some just for a few days, so sometimes we have 100 kids, sometimes 30. We meet there twice a week and mostly play games to build the kids' capacity for change and creating theatre about significant issues for them.

The next is at a school in Kibera, which I haven't actually visited yet because they have been on break, but it will start again next week.

The newest project is with a youth group in a church in a neighborhood called Kariobangi South. We just started visiting them this week, and will continue to go three times a week. The group is enthusiastic about Forum Theatre, and hope to put together a performance for their community through this workshop.

This neighborhood sits next to a slum built next to the biggest garbage dump in Kenya. Walking through this slum is an otherworldly experience - there is literally trash everywhere you look, the metal rooftops have turned reddish brown because of acid rain, and kids play in piles of filth. People kept telling me that Kibera attracts so much media attention for being the biggest slum in Africa that sometimes other slums in Nairobi are somewhat forgotten.

So I have been spending all of my afternoons co-facilitating theatre workshops, which has been perfect for me, getting a lot of practice being the 'joker', or the leader of the activities in Theatre of the Oppressed. In the mornings we often have work to do, planning or writing reports about our sessions. But we have also had some time to explore the city.

This weekend I am traveling to Malindi, sort of near Mombasa on the coast, for the wedding of Masha's sister (Masha is APT's director of finances and internship programs). There is a traditional wedding tomorrow evening and a church wedding on Saturday. We are leaving at 3AM, so I am planning on forcing myself to stay awake so I can sleep on the way.

Thanks to everyone who keeps updating me from home - even if it takes me awhile to respond I really appreciate hearing from you!