Kibera Has Talent

Story by Rebecca Musanga
Photos by Rebecca Musanga and Nicholas Gisemba

The fourth annual Children of Kibera Music Festival, which took place at Kibra Academy over the weekend was the place to be, on 22nd and 23rd June. This year’s theme was responsible  leadership in elective positions where over thirty primary and secondary schools participated including: Kibra Academy, Olympic Primary, Ayany Primary, Baraka Za Ibrahim Secondary school. Dance groups were also part of the event as they showcased their talents in the art world. Some of the participating  groups included Kibera Hamlets and The Girls Soccer Academy, which entertained the people present.

The performances had  participating schools pass different messages and themes in relation to  good governance, education, election violence, peace, political instability, among others. These were well portrayed by solo and choral verses not forgetting dances which incorporated both traditional and modern dances.  A lot of creativity was shown in terms of costume, choice of narration, words and types of dances performed but the judges were looking for the most outstanding performance to earn the most awaited trophy.

Different organizations were present, including Uweza Foundation as we were invited to have the opportunity of having our own table.  A team of some of the youth from our soccer and journalism programs explained to Kibera children what we do as Uweza. We were able to recruit more kids into our existing programs and welcomed those with an interest in journalism, art and soccer to register and leave their contacts with us.  We also displayed some of the paintings from our art program, which attracted a lot of interest.

Uweza's table at the event

The event was sponsored Children of Kibera, an NGO working in Kibera.  On the open air stage the competition kept getting stiffer since every school wanted to be the best.  Dressed in different attires, the students and pupils out did each other with an aim of winning an award.

And as the event entered the second day, all participating schools had an opportunity to convince the judges why they deserved to win in different categories. Judges had a very tough time coming up with the best performance because all the schools did their best.  Upon completion of all the performances it was time to announce the winners. Kibera Glory Secondary School took the trophy for the best overall performance since they won many trophies. Both the secondary and primary students had a moment to shed tears of joy as they lifted their trophies high as they danced to different tunes. This proved that their effort was worth it as the day came to an end.

Some of the winners celebrate as they accept their trophies

It then started raining as a sign of blessing to the whole event.  What a well spent two days seeing the talents among the Kibera community which can be nurtured to greater heights.

More photos of the event can be seen here.

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Rebecca Musanga and Nicholas Gisemba are members of the Uweza Journalism Club.