This mural is about the importance of education and says in Swahili
MONEY WHEN USED DECREASES BUT EDUCATION WHEN USED INCREASES
This mural is about the beauty of one's community and says in Swahili
GO EAST, GO WEST, HOME IS BEST
This murals is about the reward of work and says in Swahili
ONE WHO WORKS IN THE SUN WILL EAT UNDER THE SHADE
This mural is about food and cooking and says in Swahili
THE BREAKING OF THE COOKING SPOON DOES NOT MEAN THE END OF COOKING
I hope you all agree they are incredible and show that beauty and talent come from all corners of the globe, in all circumstances and at all ages. I still find it hard to believe these youth were able to create this with only 2 weeks of very basic art instruction.
I had recently visited the one and only fine African art gallery down the coast in the tourist area of Diani Beach a few weeks prior and told the gallery owner about our project. She invited us to bring all the students down for a private gallery tour and we decided to do so as a final end to the project and their spring vacation. So last Saturday, April 30th we piled 31 kids and 6 adults into 3 matatus for the 20 mile ride down to Diani. I will not go into detail describing the ride but suffice it to say I have a few more gray hairs! The plan was to have the students visit the gallery so they could see first hand fine African painting and sculpture, then head to the beach for a picnic and some fun time in the water. For 19 of the 31 they had never been to Diani Beach even though it is only 20 miles from their homes in Likoni. We take for granted the ability to get out and see the world around us but for these kids just going a such distance is a real luxury.
Ruben one of the gallery staff giving everyone a tour
Being crazy at the beach
Me and Gabi the cofounder and director of Hatua Likoni
Some of the boys being boys!
More of the kids.
So now that the murals are complete what comes next? Though one of our main goals was to expose the students to art and to let them have the chance to do something creative we also have a goal to leverage this project to raise on going funding for Hatua's mission. Candidly we were not sure if the murals would be of a quality we could do so, but now that we've seen the finished product we know we can, and I'm moving ahead on a number of fronts.
First I've come up with a name for this project since calling it The Mural Project really didn't cut it. We are calling it THROUGH THEIR EYES. I wanted a name that could be used again in the future and was not specific to Hatua or Likoni. It also needed to capture the essence of this project and not be too wordy. These murals reflect the students' reflection vision of life and culture in Likoni as seen "through their eyes".
Right now I am working on three different initiatives. First setting up production and distribution for a small line of items such as t-shirts, tote bags, beach towels, calendars etc that show reproductions of the images. These will be sold in the Diani Beach area. We've already gotten a commitment from one of the major hotels that we can sell during their weekly market day where they invited vendors into the hotel to sell to their guests. We also have a commitment to participate in Saturday Market Days at Diani Beach Shopping Center. These take place during high season from August through January. Our two hurdles here are finding reliable, high quality producers that will do limited quantities for reasonable prices, and someone to act as our sales rep during these market day events.
The second initiative is to set up production of our gift items in the US and create an on line store. Along with that we are working on a YouTube video based on clips and stills taken during the three weeks of mural making and shots around Likoni. We'll use the video as a way to draw traffic to the website and create awareness for Hatua.
The third initiative is a mural tour in the US. Gabi has gained commitment from a friend with a gallery in NYC to hold an event to raise money for Hatua and to display the murals. I want to do something similar in the Bay Area and plan to contact Oakland and Berkeley galleries. My ask of all of my readers is if you have gallery contacts please let me know. I also plan to reach out to MOAD (Museum of the African Dispora) in San Francisco. I figure they might have an interest in showing the murals. Finally I suggested to Gabi that she contact the Kenyan Embassy in DC to see if they might be willing to hold a small event and show them to the community. Our goal from the mural tour is to raise awareness and direct donations for Hatua's work.
So that's where things stand with the Through Their Eyes project. Now for my other news. I've decided to come home early. I'm leaving Kenya on May 17th and will enjoy a 36 hour journey back to SF. I feel at this time I can do more to help Hatua and continue with this project from the US than here in Africa. I've committed to Gabi that if I am able I will come back to Mombasa at the end of the summer to help launch the gift business in Diani. In the meantime I will work on these other initiatives and in addition just applied for a summer fellowship at the Women's Initiative in Oakland. They provide micro enterprise and micro finance support to low income women starting businesses. It's something I'm very interested in and think I have strong talent to apply. I have an interview with the executive director 2 days after I get home. As for longer term career decisions I'm not making any at this time and will see where life takes me over this summer.
So that's it for now. I will post again to wrap up this amazing experience and plan to put up a link to all of my pictures in a Picasa album so everyone can see them all.
