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Wednesday 19 December 2018

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN NAKURU?


Mr. Imran (Right) Awards YaliNakuru
Most Active Chapter 2018
November 2014 is the month I got a link from a High School friend for Mandela Washington Fellowship. Now if you have ever applied for this program you know well that this was an expired link. Let me just say I discovered this after days of gathering thoughts on what to write. I was however happy that there was an option to join the network through email.

In November 2017, while working on my brand Dowe Music & Arts and the Art4Leadership Initiative, I saw a poster about a program in the Kenya National Library Nakuru Branch.The facilitator was Maureen Changawa (MWF2017), and there were YALI Logos. I recalled then that at some point while I was training a music band at Geothermal Development Company, Maureen had mentioned that she’d be away from June. This brought to a halt a recording project we had started. Learning that in fact what she was leaving for was MWF made me more interested in the program. Well, I had signed up for all platforms on social media and even done courses in YALI but I had never thought there was anyone in Nakuru who knew about it.
Maureen (MWF 2017) addressing youths during
 Art4Leadership Concert

As it is my custom, I carried my violin and thankfully to the moderator, Mr. Joseck Olala (YALI RLC Cohort 25), I got an opportunity to perform. This opened the next uncountable opportunities. We discussed after the event and he was enthusiastic about an artiste who had an agenda for sound leadership.

Towards the end of the month, the US embassy organized an information session headed by Mr. George Kamau (Chairman, American Spaces) on YALI LEARNS that I must say helped me understand the program better. That is the time I reached out to Christine (one of the Facilitators) asking her whether YALI could accommodate a musical event. The response I got was so welcoming that I immediately started planning for the concert a month before. With her help in inviting participants through mail, the attendance was so overwhelming that the chief Librarian asked me to limit the number to sixty in future events. This was on 19th January 2018.

It suffices to say that this event was the start of a broadened network both within and without Nakuru county, and by extension without Kenya. As Dowe Music & Arts we have carried out more than eight Art4Leadership events in partnership with YALI and the Kenya National Library. One needs to know that I did not wait to become and alumni to start the events. It is actually almost impossible to become vibrant just because you have graduated from a fellowship. The drive needs to be in you.

Yali Nakuru Chapter has become a family that I never had. Since February, every cohort has had three to four participants from Nakuru. We have grown not just in numbers but in impact. If you are active on social media especially the YALI Network, we don’t let a week go without an event. We are a team. We are formidable. We are selfless. We are servants and we are deliberate in our actions. If you think I am just blowing fetish kisses, dare to visit us in any of the events. We understood what commencement day meant.
After Setting 2019 Strategy
As we wrap up the year, we just did a successful tree planting last week on Jamhuri Day. We planted over four hundred trees in Ngata and Milimani Primary Schools. The video in this post will show you the kind of energy these young souls exhibit. Thankfully, God has given us talents which are really appreciated. We always have music in our events. Who would think that a Design Thinking Workshop would require music?
A tune for the seedling?

Just yesterday, I was among the panelists evaluating Design Challenge Prototypes by 47 youths from Nakuru, courtesy of Knls. Other panelists were Oliver Jemuge (Chairperson) and Catherine Lagat (Events Coordinator) The facilitators of the three week program were Joseck Olala (cohort 25) and Joseph Njinju (cohort 28).  Apart from other awards, one participant got a partial scholarship to learn any musical instrument at Dowe Music & Arts. Isn’t life getting better?
After Tree Planting, More sense through Music
We are not missing out on cohort 29 commencent coming Friday 21st 2018. Njinju and I will be welcoming the new leaders in the Yali Alumni. See you there if you make it. Stay tuned to this platform for more inspirational stories.
The writer is the founder of Dowe Music &Arts

3 comments:

  1. Niiiiiice!!!!! Good work team Nakuru. Continue with the good work you are doing of impacting lives.

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  2. wow! 👏Douglas, what you do is admirably, passionately amazing!...You are going far!🙌

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  3. I must say you are an inspiration Daggy,,, commonly known to us during the time i met you in primary school while you were a time keeper, great singer and you liked cu more... Kuddos sir...

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