Three Days in Kisii

We’re spending our last night in the guest house at the Margaret Okari School tonight before moving along to the Masai Mara. We spent about eight hours a day recording many different student singers in lots of different variations. We recorded large singing choirs, smaller vocal groups, duets, soloists and even some songs written by Grimis and our friends. We could not be more excited about what this album is shaping up to be and the good it has the chance to do for the Okari School and these amazing kids.

The school and the Andover Youth Services crew also wants to give a huge thanks to those people from back home who donated education supplies, art supplies and clothes to the students and thank Pete’s mom for the special dolls she made for the kids.

The past three days with the students of the Margaret Okari School have been really profound. These kids are unbelievable in their enthusiasm, their spirit and their wisdom. At some point there will be time to collect all of our thoughts on this experience, but for now, a few enlightening tales from Africa:

***Yesterday Andy went down to a tree on the Okari School land with a number of the students and their music teacher Jared Andamo. Mr. Andamo told the assembled group, Only those of you telling stories can stay; the rest must go now. Andy said a little girl got up and said, I have a story, God can count all the hairs on your head…Thank you.

***Grimis has assembled a small All-Star group of singers who helped us record two of our newer songs, “Four Years” and “White Apples and the Taste of Stone” as well as a song by a friend of ours, “Melanie,” and a Paul Simon cover. Their ability to grasp the songs and sing them with such love and conviction is startling. Their sweet accented English sounds so pure and untouched. It is really beautiful. Also, it seems like every single kid in this school has an incredible sense of inner rhythm. They are loving the beats Pete has been dropping on the congas.

My favorite moment of the recording sessions came today when we taught a small group Paul Simon’s “Born at the Right Time.” It was very moving to hear these students, most of them orphaned after AIDS took their parents, singing the words Never been lonely/Never been lied to/Never had to scuffle in fear/Nothing denied to/Born at the instant the church bells chimed/The whole world whispering/You’re born at the right time. The reality, it would seem, is that these kids have most certainly been lonely and fearful and had very much---friends, family, material goods---denied them. But spending a few days with these kids made it clear that the words to that song couldn’t ring truer. And where do myself and our crew fit in? I’ll let Paul Simon say it best: Me and my buddies, we are travelling people.

***Peg Campbell and Glenn Wilson, both past visitors to the Okari School, advised us as to what a force of nature the school’s founder Kwamboka Okari is and they were very right. This afternoon she took us to visit the village elders a little ways down the road from the school. We went to a man named Tom’s house and walked through his backyard into his home where five very old men sat on wooden chairs at the back of the room with a number of younger locals sitting on stools around the room.

Tom welcomed us and we all ate the bread and drank the sodas we had brought. Then the elders spoke to us through translators. One old man said that when he was growing up if he saw a white man coming, he would run in the other direction. He never imagined a day when white people would come into his village as revered guests. The younger people’s respect for their elders was palpable. Many of the elders spoke of their desire to visit America. One said he wanted to travel to America and pick up his education where he had left off in Kenya decades ago.

The concept of America among the students and villagers is fascinating. I wonder what many of them might think upon finally arriving in our country and seeing a land of shopping malls and super highways? Theirs seems like an America of the mind just as our conception of Africa was an Africa of the mind before we came here and saw some of it for ourselves.

***A little girl came up to Pete today and said “Are you leaving tomorrow?” “Yes,” said Pete. “We will miss you very much.”

***Our friend Mark is going to be really psyched that a cadre of Kenyan school children now know all the words to his song “Melanie.” They even asked me to write out all the lyrics for them to keep. They now know where Nantucket is.

***Bill brought one of the elders a poster of President Obama. The villagers all erupted in applause and two old men rose and cheered. Bill had promised to bring a poster back upon his return to the village. “You are a good man,” one of the elders said to him. “You kept your promise.”

Lots of photos and videos to come…stay tuned. Off to the Masai Mara tomorrow to see more beautiful sights and get up close with some animals.

Nairobi to Kisii

Greetings from Nairobi. We got in last night and stayed at the beautiful Fairview Hotel across the street from the Israeli embassy. We awoke early this morning for an amazing breakfast and then went into Nairobi to buy instruments to take to the students of the Okari School. We bought a bunch of acoustic guitars, some congas and percussion instruments and a keyboard. We also met up with Bill's friend Michael, a local guitarist and songwriter who led us all in a rousing sing-a-long in the matata as we rode from the streets back up to our hotel. The crew and our terrific driver Alex is currently loading up the van (which is totally packed to the gills) and preparing for our ride west to the village of Kisii. We'll be there for four nights working with the kids there.

Here We Go Again

The Youth Services crew is back in the saddle again. It’s Monday and we are sitting in Logan airport waiting for the first leg of our trip back to the Margaret Okari School. We’ve eaten dinner and are listening to Bill tell AYS travel stories (anyone remember when AYS went to New Orleans to help the victims of Katrina?). Honestly, does anyone tell better stories than Bill Fahey? Anyone? We didn’t think so.

Our current travel crew consists of Bill and Summer Fahey, Tony Lombardi, Andy Doherty and David Tanklefsky. We arrive in Amsterdam tomorrow morning where we are meeting up with Pete Michelinie and Thomas Blanford. Pete checked in a few hours ago from JFK where he had flown in to from Portland, Oregon. The plan is to get into Nairobi Tuesday evening and try to meet up with Andoverite Lisa Mueller, who now lives in Nairobi with her husband Kristofer and her young daughter Grace. Wednesday morning we are leaving for the village of Kisii for four days of recording, art projects and spending time with the students of the school and the villagers. This afternoon at the AYS Pearson Street home we packed a ton of art supplies and other items for the students including candy, music paper and writing utensils. A ton of stuff is packed inside a big surfboard case. We brought a guitar, a bunch of cameras and digital media stuff in addition to the recording equipment. We ain’t rollin’ light this time around.

Last night a bunch of us had dinner at Bertucci’s in North Andover and were treated to a great presentation by Peg Campbell, a big supporter of the Margaret Okari School and someone who has been a great help in getting this trip off the ground.

We just ate some $19 burritos from Fresh City and Summer got a burger from Fuddruckers (we nabbed a few of her fries when she wasn’t looking shhhh don’t tell anyone). Departing for Amsterdam in 39 minutes! Talk to you in Africa!

-From the four rookies and their fearless leader.

The Global Neighborhood

After a long journey, with much preparation, time and effort, we finally landed on the moon. We are now in the world of the global neighborhood. Because of the efforts of Susan Frey and World Wide Waldens, we overcame our technical difficulties and at 6am Kisii time and 11pm Concord time, we connected the Kenyan students with the Walden Youth Summit Team and it was undoubtedly a great success.

The Kenyan team in Concord, led by our good friend Kate, greeted our Okari School students with a few verses from "This Land is Our Land". The Okari students sang the Kenyan National Anthem in return. The Concord team opened the summit with some great questions for our team. They wanted to know what projects have been going on at the Okari School, an explanation of the water catchment systems, tree planting, organic farming, and the importance of the chicken farming. Our students were a little shy at first and did a really awesome job explaining each of the projects to the young people in Concord. We are proud of them because English is their second language and they practiced hard to prepare their answers in English for those listening in at the Thoreau Institute. It was then the Okari students turn to ask questions of the Walden group. They asked about sustainable projects going on in the US and there was some funny conversation about the issue of water - one of the Kenyan students asked the kids in Concord if they had to "walk to the river" to get their water. They also asked if the students in America eat snakes - which made everyone laugh. Somehow there is rumor going around Kisii that Americans eat snakes. We think that it was Mike, the President of the Board of the Margaret Okari School, spreading these tales to the kids at the school.

After much discussion on sustainable communities, the importance of water and food, we lightened up the summit and let the students go freestyle back and forth with questions about their respective lifestyles. Vincent, one of our Okari students, asked, "What do you do in your lazy time?" Which brought about laughs on both continents. But it was clear that in two different parts of the world and different cultures, they had a lot in common as young people. Both groups loved music, sports, and an interest in making this world a better place for all those in the present and those to come in the future. We commend both groups for doing an outstanding job and being the pioneers in creating the global neighborhood.

For us it was inspiring to see the young people connect and share common goal and purpose. You have to understand that our group had never seen a computer until we showed up. They had never used a keyboard, the internet, google or skype. The Okari students were extremely happy that they could see and talk with students all the way in America. They thoroughly enjoyed their part in the youth summit and the connection they had with other students. They felt like they had learned a lot about what is going on in America and felt pride about all the projects that had been taking place at the Okari School in the last year. We hope that this will inspire the students to continue to work hard and help Mother Earth and we hope anyone reading this will take action in their own town, neighborhood, or city.

You have done a good thing at World Wide Waldens and thanks for making us a part of it. One thing is for sure - we have found our next project at Andover Youth Services. Our World Wide Walden is the Margaret Okari School. We have made lots of powerful connections with the students, the elders of the community, and Kwamboka Okari - our dynamic, thoughtful, and visionary leader. We have been welcomed into the community of Kisii and we are now family. We have worked hard the last 15 years to create community in everything we do at the Youth Services and we will now take that experience, strength and hope to our beautiful new friends at the Margaret Okari School. We hope you come along for the ride because if you know anything about us, we believe that people are everything. Our hope is to help this slice of heaven continue to operate, get the resource it truly deserves, help thousands of kids who are now orphans get a chance to live a purposeful life. Please call us or email us at the Youth Services and become part of the AYS Team that will give Kisii an endless stream of support and love.

We are preparing to leave which will be a huge challenge for us. In a very short time we have become connected to the students and teachers in an indescribable way. Both sides are not going to want to say goodbye. Colton has had an amazing experience and we are contemplating leaving him here and coming back next year to see how he is doing. The funny thing is: he is okay with that. If you are reading this, it should help you get a greater understanding of what has occurred this week. For now it is easier for us to say, "Asante sana kwaheri."

Bill, Colton and Glenn

The final Colton Fact is: Kenya has changed him for the better. He is an expert in Swahili and made many new friends. And that is that.

Good Night, Kisii - Not Good bye

We spent our last day here at the Okari School its late in the evening and we are getting ready to go to bed. There is a feeling of sadness to leave a place where we learned so much and feel we have been accepted into the Okari School as family members. From a youth perspective, there is so much for people to learn from the students here and the community of Kisii. They know how to live in the moment, and even though they don’t have much in terms of materialism, they are very rich in a spiritual context. They truly place great value on the simple things in life: a meal, a glass of water, the importance of rain, the necessity of shelter, and true respect for one another. Everywhere you traveled people would welcome you into their homes and were sincerely interested in you, your story, and how you are doing. God lives in these hills of Kisii and we are changed people because of it.

Tonight we had a celebration in honor of the students at Kisii and not surprisingly Kwamboka, Joanne, Bill, Glenn and Colton were the guests of honor. From preschool to eighth grade the kids performed eloquently for us. The final song was the best. The kids all danced in a circle and chanted the guest of honor’s names and before we knew it we were out there trying to keep pace with the students as they grooved to sound of their beautiful voices. Afterwards we had to say a few final words because we are leaving in the morning after an early morning skype with the Walden Summit. We promised the students that we would let the world know about these amazing young boys and girls who are so intelligent and talented. We asked them to keep working hard and believe in themselves and if they make it to sing in front of their President we would find a way to get them to the states and sing in front of President Obama. We will keep that promise.

We are grateful for all those who have supported our trip and endeavors in Kenya. We thank Colton in believing it is right to help others. We thank Heather, Summer, Solana, Nevada, and Harmony for supporting this special trip. We’d also like to thank Peg for believing in us for the last 15 years. Thank you to Kwamboka for her beautiful smile and for showing us what a true leader is made of. A big shout out to Joanne who has cared for us here in Kenya and is unique and powerful person in her own right. Last but not least is the AYS Family on Pearson Street - thanks for taking care of business and believing in us enough to give us this opportunity. It has been such a wonderful gift.

Love and Peace to you all,
Bill, Glenn, Colton and the 3 inch mosquitos

Margaret Okari School is victorious!

Ever since we arrived at the school we have been witness to the students practicing for a competition with the other schools in the area highlighting their performance skills, choreographed dancing and singing. Kwamboka said that the song they chose was about someone coming to their farm and stealing their cows and she sang it as a little girl. The contest was scheduled for a short 1/2 mile away from the Okari school but due to the heavy downpour overnight the roads were washed away and the contest was moved to another location 5 miles away. The staff at the school was disheartened to hear this news but decided that it would not be fair to the kids after all their hard work not to participate so they decided to walk the 5 miles to the location of the new event. At 10am the students and teachers headed off to the muddy roads with no food or water but high in spirits. We were laughing because we were thinking - could you ever imagine students from Andover or anywhere else walking 5 miles to participate? (the question is - why wouldn't they?) At about 8pm we could hear some singing coming up the road and the cheers of "Okari! Okari!" getting louder as they marched into the school compound. One of the girls ran up to us and said that they placed 1st in all categories and would advance to the next round in hopes of making it all the way to performing for the President of Kenya.

We are all very proud of these hard working students and God has blessed the Okari School. The AYS will be throwing a bash for them in the dining hall at approximately 7pm Kenya time. Hope to see you all there.

We've continued to work with our six students on the environmental issues of the school and surrounding area. We have been extremely impressed with their knowledge of organic farming, greenhouse development, chicken farming, water conservation and catchment systems. adn the importance of creating a sustainable, effective community. Tonight at 6pm we will begin the World Wide Walden Youth Summit with the Team Kenya greeting. Our team is very excited to be involved in this project and look forward to talking with the students at the Thoreau Institute this evening.

If you are reading this blog, please check out the World Wide Walden website and take heart their message that they are conveying to us all. Live simply, everyone in Kenya already does.

The highlight of our day was our arranged meeting with the town fathers and mothers. It was held in a hut overlooking beautiful farmland and filled with historical artifacts from the Kisii area. It was an extremely powerful situation - we were asked to share with the elders our reason for coming and details of our lives. One after another, each person spoke about community, connection, brotherhood and sisterhood, and becoming a single family all with the sole purpose of helping the school and kids of Kenya. Bill was a little uncomfortable when asked to get up and speak because the person who introduced him to the elders recognized the fact that he was white and although the man's grandfather was killed by white colonists he said it was okay that Bill spoke here today. The elders were very impressed with Colton and his speech to the group. Colton's presence was important to them because they believe that he will be forever changed by his experience to Kenya and will serve as a link to the US and the community of Kisii.

Colton's Kenya Fact of the Day: the average woman in Kisii has 9 children and the area is one of the richest producing regions of Kenya. 80% of Kisii is under cultivation.

New Roots

Today was similar to the days back at the Andover Youth Services. We were up at 5am and proceeded to learn, play, sing, and dance with lots of laughter in between with our awesome new 88 friends at the Margaret Okari School. We also had the opportunity to meet and talk with our World Wide Walden/Kenyan students. We had long and lengthy discussions regarding the work they have accomplished at the school which is nothing less than amazing. They educated us on the importance of water catchment systems, organic farming, the greenhouse, and the chickens that have been purchased which feed the kids and provide local job opportunities for residents.

We purchased, after much debate, a certain tree which we feel will best suit our goals and complement the school’s needs in the future. As you may have guessed (by the blank spot in last night’s blog) the tree we selected is the jacaranda. Team Kenya grabbed a couple of picks that looked like they belonged in the Andover Historical Museum and we ventured out to plant some trees. Colton, Vincent, Rodgers, Geoffrey, Shae, Lewis, and Nevian dug holes in the red African soil, mixed in some manure compliments of the on site chicken coop, and planted 30 jacaranda. Yes, we will be back on a yearly basis to check the progress of our saplings. The kids were all excited and it felt good to plant these trees.

Glenn hung out with some locals and got to know the local motorcycle taxis drivers and took one for a spin while Bill went to the market to get refreshments for the entire school. We threw down with cookies and warm soda at 6:30pm Kenyan time and it was a bash! Its been a long and eventful day - needless to say we love Kenya and the Margaret Okari School. We are in a cabin tent outside the dining hall where they meet and sing songs. We will be falling to sleep tonight as we listen to these beautiful voices sign “London Bridge is Falling Down” in Swahili. As our good friend Captain Al says, “It’s a beautiful thing.” Yes, Al, it definitely is.

PS - A shout out to Dave of Whirlaway Sports - thanks for your donation of soccer balls and footballs. The kids love them.