WS-Artist statement & background

Artist’s statement
I want to contribute towards a happy, healthy, diverse, positive, global environment. I want to learn, educate and inspire people. I want to explore the toil and the awe of communities and individuals around the world. As a filmmaker and as a visual artist I strive to portray a message that both educates and compels individuals to become involved in their own world. I am departing from my path failing to saving the world from its many issues and instead embarking on a new journey to live inside the actual reality of a situation. This means I encourage sustainable development patterns however I realize that the only change that I can make the world a better place begins within me. In the creation of my last short film, The Memory Game, I isolated shooting and developed a type of dogmatic style. This film uses symbols, movement and light to address uncertain ideas like the processing of the brain in regards to visual and environmental circumstances. I developed my production skills and watched as ideas changed shape and emerged anew. This film gave me a real sense of the opportunities and limitations of filmmaking. I experienced re-shoots, scratched emulsion, funding problems and persistent deadlines. I have a strong interest in editing, to connect and expand the boundaries of the medium.
Visually, I believe the right medium is essential to the development and portrayal of that idea. I am desperate to work with film while I am here in Kenya. I believe that the vibrancy of the culture and landscape can only truly be documented in the celluloid medium. For in eastern Africa there is a diverse mix of ancient cultural heritage meshed with new technologies and ideologies. I am excited by this project as it is an opportunity for me to work with talented Canadian artists as well as the beautiful Kenya participants. One thing that Africa is teaching me is that patience and dedication with a calm joy for life is the way I want to be.

Background information
Watoto Shamba

When I first visited this school in Nairobi I was warmly greeted by the headmaster, Moses, and taken on a tour of the 7 different levels crammed into one small wooden hut. Each class had 30 or more students, smiling at the white visitors, enjoying the disruption of regular class, greeting me with “hello teacher” in unison. At first I was nervous to video tape, embarrassed by my own privilege, shocked by the sheet metal construction of the cubicle walls separating each grade level. It was the hundred smiles, and positive energy and the two boys giving me the peace symbol that really made me remember that I was there to help and share. Once we poked our heads into each class and the small under stocked teacher’s preparation space, which was lacking textbooks, we made our way up the hill further to meet the primary school class taught by Silvia, Moses’ wife. I could see a chart with colorful geometric shapes, reminiscent of my kindergarten years. This was definitely the largest group and Moses informed me that the numbers fluctuate on each child’s changing home situation but when he started he had around 60 and the recent count was double that. One of the reasons attendance has reached 130 children in a very short time is the fact that they serve food to everyone and incorporate music and fun into learning. I could see for myself that the school, like many of the children, was growing to big for their coverings. On top of it all I later learned that the land on which the school is located on is being developed so they must find another space. Although they are still paying rent on the land the builders have come in and started cutting the few trees on the hill. Still the teachers continue a day to day existence, teaching arithmetic and preparing ugali. One the east side of the main schoolhouse is a painted banner, white with a red heart stating WE LOVE MUSIC. And they do, I spied some children playing buckets like drums while on a class break. Farther east is the Nakumat Junction a huge superstore mega mall which we stopped at on the way in to pick up treats for the children. It reminded me of the Loblaws back in Canada, taking a long time to find soda and biscuits for 130 kids, which came to about 1400 Kenyan shillings, just above 20 Canadian dollars. After the classroom tour we crossed he road, into the valley and the garden where the choir was to perform. I sat on a bench under a thorn tree and the audience section of the excited children on the red ground while they sang Swahili song and dance. Moses boasts that when they are able to compete in national competitions they always win. He has such a pride and loving respect for each child. His family includes a variety of ages plus 30 of the orphans which attend the school. It is clear that they are a talented group and he, like all the voluntary teachers at the school care very much. The part of the school which impressed me the most was the public garden, the namesake of the school. The shamba itself houses one plant for each child in the school, never mind that they all look dry, because of the impermanence they are planted in plastic bags of soil. The way they have built a community garden in the most run down of spaces and welcomed everyone to enjoy the space draws attention to the need for more public green space in the slums of Kenya. People who are poor have very little land access although there are many public parks in Nairobi. In fact it has a national game reserve within the capital city, where you can see lions and skyscrapers in the background. If you have no transport fare, you are unable to access parks or natural spaces. The Children’s Garden is a way for the people of the ghettos to enjoy their own land, to take responsibly and stewardship for it and recognize the power of nature. Within the valley a few thorn trees line the perimeter of a aerial map of Kenya. By using trees, small plants and traditional mud huts they teach the children geography, cultural heritage and ingenuity. Near the center is a large rock representing Mount Kenya and near the border with Tanzania where Tsavo national park is they have photos of lions, hippos and other wildlife. This idea has really given the disadvantaged children a sense of belonging and pride for their own country.