YALI RLC East Africa Cohort 28: Hub of Inspiration

A section of Cohort 28 at Karen Shopping Center, during the cleanup on 22nd, 09, 2018

It’s only one week since the program began yet every participant has a bunch of stories, inspirational quotes, memories and moments to share. Well, when I started applying for the training, I was somewhat timid and unsure if the “serious-academic-like” program had any space for a musician like me. I remember at one point I just discarded my application and gave it a break till this year. 

The motivation came from the fact that in February, I was called for an interview for the Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF, 2018). It was so influential that the regret letter that followed the interview didn’t deter me from anything worth trying. I will stop the description right here and just talk about Yali-Rlc EA, Cohort 28.

We arrived on Sunday 16^th and as usual I had beside my bag a violin and a guitar. Truth is, it always feels awkward when you imagine no one else will be carrying the “unnecessary” stuff that lag you. However, having some little knowledge in Swahili, I usually cling to the proverb mficha uchi hazai which means one can not beget a child if one conceals one’s nakedness. Since music is my profession, it’s my land and my economy, I dare not leave the tools of trade behind whatever the circumstances. My roommate, Mr. Desire (please pronounce in French) from Burundi arrived at 11.00pm, after I had finished my practice, that meant any discussion about the presence of music gadgets would be the following day.

The following day we had a whole day of orientation and this is where I began feeling home even though the rooms seemed small for a musical performance. Thankfully, and unbeknownst to me, my needs were catered for. This was not only an academic center, but also a holistic center where brilliance was understood not to be limited to papers and theories. Well, we got a little scared by one Mr. Imran, the head of admissions but I remembered campus life. Whatever face he put on was matching his job.

Mr. Francis led the orientation in the most effective way and when he announced that we’d leave Kenyatta University for Bracken Hurst Hotel, I recalled his friendliness and reached.

“Hello sir…, I came with my guitar and I’d like to carry it with me because I can’t stay two days without practicing,” I said, eyes full of hope and my face brimming. 

Whether it was for the presumption for him or the excitement of making it here I can’t tell. I just recall him saying,

“Sure, no problem.”

Bracken Hurst presented wonderful bonding sessions that helped us know one another before engaging in class work. As young people, we made friends quickly as it took just the first tea break to see small groups emerging and of course teams of pairs; I mean, ladies and gentlemen. The first exercise reminded me of the series ‘QUANTICO.’ We were told to find out from minimally five people various aspects of life. Two people came to me and asked me a question which I guess it was because they had seen me with a guitar. They forund out that I have no problem singing before people. That being my daily hope, what followed broadcast my passion to the whole team.

 Mr. Robinson from Uganda was the first one to finish the assignment. He read out my name and when the facilitator noted the characteristic, he asked me to prove. That’s when I recalled that we had left our luggage outside. He then pointed me to a grand piano on his right hand side! This was way beyond my expectation. We all know that such moments are never to be wasted. I went and introduce my song, SAY NO TO POOR LEADERSHIP. Since the lyrics are easy to follow, one minute was enough for the whole hall to be warmed up by the chorus.

I must say that the short presentation earned me friends (of course by God’s grace). Thereafter, there was a group of five to eight young people around the piano together with Chrispin a fellow Kenyan who had come with his guitar. We sang a few hymns and pop songs before I taught them what I called Stand for Change (YALI THEME). I started composing this song as soon as I got a congratulatory message from the admission desk, a month before. The chorus can be sung in English, Swahili and French and I just loved how the youths grasped and appreciated the lines.

The High ropes activities deepened our budding bonds the more as we learned the essence of trust, team work and the importance of daring to risk. I must admit this was something I had never tried and it was somewhat scary but eventually everyone pulled through. The last day at the hotel began with an exercise to solve an African problem. Our team, The lions had a skit, poem and a song which tackled illiteracy in Africa. Just to let you know, the song was composed within twenty minutes by a section of the team and the end f our presentation was not without everyone on their feet, dancing and singing thus:

We are the agents of a better Africa,

Educated Africa

The week ended on a pick as we learned the essence of an Inclusive society. The teaching on selflessness is never an easy one. However, the team must be applauded for the way the whole program is tailored to ensure everyone understands. On Friday, a challenge from Riara University was presented to us in our various groups. The day was a bit long as we took time to pitch ideas.

On Saturday, we were invited to participate in a clean up exercise at Karen shopping center which we did cheerfully. On the way to and from Karen, I couldn’t get mind of my new album called Ubuntu.

 The aim for this is to sensitize the society to go back to the basics of being human. We love technology and yes, it is very important. Even so, I am sure that I am not the only one under pressure to ignore the people around me while laughing with others I might never see overseas. Ubuntu is about Africa, love, community development and letting youths know that no one will create it for us.

As I reflected, I recalled the session on Social Inclusion by Mr. Moses Okumu. He emphasized the point that humanity comes first before we are anything else and that we are the ones responsible for the change we want.

 I hope my fellow leaders didn’t find it weird that I took a lone seat both ways. The result of that is a tune that I think is beautiful and educative as well as entertaining. In filling up my Ubuntu Album, I had the concepts, but I must admit, that for this song, it was not until this weekend that it came out. I’m so grateful that it comes out in the presence of leaders from East and Central Africa. God willing, Africa shall get the point home soon. You can get the song on YouTube by clicking Mimi na Wewe (Africa is Waiting for Us). The following people are highly appreciated for accepting to do the draft with me till 10:00Pm:

Stay tuned especially for the next three weeks. Lots of fun coming your way!

Ruth Lelei : Vocalist_Kenya

Tushabe Immaculate: Vocalist_Uganda

Chrispine Bosire: Vocalist/Guitarist_ Kenya

Josue Sincre: Vocalist/Video recorder_ Rwanda

Joseph Jinju: IT Support @ Dowe Music & Arts_Kenya

The writer is the founder of Dowemusic &Arts

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Art4Leadership Season III: Empowered To Empower

DoweMusic junior students.
From left: Kyle, Sonia and Scott

August 24, 2018 goes into the records of Dowe Music & Arts as one of the important days on which an Art4Leadership event was organized. We can never be thankful enough for the Kenya National Library Services in conjunction with The American Corner for availing the ample and efficient space. 

The theme for the day was “Empowered to Empower” where more than fifty young people discussed the importance of giving back to the society. The outstanding fact was that one is never too poor to offer a helping hand. 

The youths were challenged not to wait until they are well endowed resource-wise for them to consider empowering others. From a discussion that sought to find out what unique ability distinguished each one of them from the other, the message that at least everyone in the world has something they can do better than others was driven home.

The event was spiced up by Dowe Music & Arts junior students performing with guitars. The speaker of the day, who is also the director of the initiative, joined them with his violin accompanied on piano by the Academy's admin Ms. Mwihaki a.k.a Michieygial. 

This was an event which also saw children from New Life Home Trust attending. Even though they had come to see one of their own, Sonia performing, the children were lively and some shocked the whole group by the way they participated actively in the discussions. Two of these, Oliver Daima and Judy Bahati became darlings of the whole team due to their boldness and eloquence. When asked about what she had learned, Judy calmly responded, "How to love people!" Led by Mr. Daniel Omitto , Adminstrative assistant, the group is a lively time one wishes to stay around them, all the time.

Towards the end, YALI Alumni gave short speeches sensitizing the youths about the need to join the network as well as giving tips on the just opened application for cohort 31 and 32. If you are interested in applying, click here. Take a look at the photos below to get the  gist of the event as you plan to attend upcoming events.

 Applications for Cohort 31 and 32 is now open. Apply!

Youths from Nakuru Listening actively 

Judy Bahati from New Life Group
 responding to a recap question

YALI Alumni Kate Cheptoo on how to 
apply for YALI RLC opportunity

YALI Alumni Amdany enlightening youths

YALI Alumni Oliver Jemuge on how to join YALI Network

Music performance by DoweMusic Team

From Left: YALI Alumni Oliver J.,
New Life Group child Oliver Daima and
MLM Consultant Oliver Kibet

Oliver Kibet Pitching his idea

Young Oliver presenting a song

Ms Mwihaki,
DoweMusic &Arts admin
 rehearsing for the event

The author is the founding director of Dowe Music &Arts and the frontier of Art4Leadership

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Blogging and Human Rights

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According to the Swahili dictionary, Human Right refers to:

Any basic right or freedom to which all human beings are entitled and in who’s a government may not interfere

There are various ways in which blogging can help foster protection of human rights in Kenya. Below is a highlight of some of the ways.

The first step Is for the blogger to get acquainted with the concept of human rights. This is not just about the definitions but one has to know what rights the Kenyan citizen is entitled to. The basic rights include but are not limited to: right to life, right to education, freedom of expression and freedom of worship. These can be read from the Kenyan Constitution which is available both as a hard cover document as well as mobile phone apps. It’s easier to write about something one knows as one has the confidence to stand for ones opinion and stated facts.

Secondly, through blogging, bloggers create awareness to the society. Many people do not know what their rights are. With a tough economy, the Kenyan citizen is too focused on making ends meet to spend time reading the constitution. Since blogging is a creative venture, bloggers can present the information by the use of cartoons or other attractive ways. The advantage of this again is that in blogging, the main aim is to get the reader understand as easily as possible. The writer breaks down the rights in a simple language avoiding the professional jargon that scares the average reader.

In the same vein, bloggers can carry out interviews with both human right specialists and post on their platforms to increase the awareness. Since this is a social media era, such information can instantly be shared on all platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and so forth.

In addition, since a blogger commands follower-ship to some extent, it means s/he is a leader. In that case, and this being the 21^st century, bloggers need to lead by example. It is not just enough reading and posting about the human rights. They need to make sure that they are not infringing on anyone’s rights and freedoms. One can only speak against a vice if one is pretty confident that one is not a perpetrator of the same.

In conjunction with the above statement, bloggers need to be part of the organizations that enhance protection of human rights. Examples of these include Oxfam, Transparency International, Red Cross to mention but a few. In the event that they feel these organizations do not serve the right purpose, there is freedom to form their own associations to voice out their protection of human rights. Some of the human rights defaulters are the big fish of the society and it is only easier and/wiser if attacked through agencies.

Lastly, blogging is a good skill to use in reporting violation of human rights. A blogger is in a way a whistle-blower. Being able to do research on an ongoing vice, involving the authority using the right protocol(including talking to the authority) is a great step towards human rights protection. Readers always want to know what, why and how a scandal came to being. Bloggers have a chance to feed the society with the right information. It is important to note that with technology, time is of great essence. If a blogger decides to look into a case say sexual assault, then s/he has to utilize the technology such as use of cameras, screenshots, text messages effectively to acquire the relevant information fast enough. Being late is unforgivable.

To sum up, blogging is a wonderful tool that can help in promotion and protection of human rights. This can be achieved when bloggers are well informed of the human rights, have a willingness to create awareness and educate the citizens about their rights, report human rights violation and get involved in activities that promote the human rights. It begins with me.

Douglas is the founder of 

Dowe Music & Arts

 based in Nakuru

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Art4Leadership In Nairobi

Douglas Giving A presentation on Transparency 

Photo: Joseph Jinju

 The line “Say No to Poor Leadership” that makes up an easy chorus to sing is slowly gaining popularity as more youth’s pledge to stand up for sound leadership not only in Kenya but Africa at large. Much gratitude to the various organizations that have given Dowe Music & Arts the platform to demonstrate leadership through music. These include but not limited to Fatuma’s Voice (Still longing to see them in Nakuru), Kenya National Library Services (knls), American Spaces and most importantly Young Leaders Initiative (YALI) Network. 

At Dowe Music & Arts, we believe that it is not just enough for an artiste to learn the musical language but how to use the skills and/or talents for the benefit of the very society s/he speaks to is very paramount. That is the reason we have Art4Leadership, an initiative that seeks to mentor youths for both present and future roles whether or not they get leadership posts.

On 3^rd of August, 2018, Dowe Music & Arts a privilege to host an Art4Leadership event at the American Reference Center, Moi University, Nairobi campus. The topic Good Governance and Transparency was well embraced with young people learning that it is not only the role of the government to foster good governance, but also the citizen’s task. A challenge was posed on the youths to get involved in the leadership forums to be able to understand fully how they can cause positive change in the society.

Transparency was widely discussed with the weightiest point being that for a country or any organisation to grow well, systems must be created to ensure accurate dissemination of information on time. The youths learned that it is not just whistle blowing that is the key to achieving transparency, but the how. 

The speaker quickly reminded the energetic minds that voicing out for change doesn’t have to be violent. He pointed out that one ought to take the right measures including making use of established bodies like Transparency International to share concerns. He also encouraged the artistes to use their talents well with an aim of speaking out the change they envision.

The event was spiced up by Music on Africa. The audience found it easy to sing a long the simple but rich message passed across through the music. Songs, as you may tell, are persuasive in nature and singing along helps one to reflect on their role as citizens of Kenya as well as sons and daughters of the black soil. You can listen to Say No to Poor Leadership and Carry On by clicking here: Afrika Songs Below are photos of the Dowe Music Band. 

Photos: G Kariuki

As the event ended, it was a privilege for the young people meeting the co-founder for You4She Initiative where they empower girls and women on Menstrual Hygiene Education. Elizabeth Mang’eni, Mandela Washington Fellowship 2017(MWF 2017) and Young Africa Leadership Initiative-Regional Leadership Centre (YALI-RLC Cohort 11) Alumna enlightened them on the why and how to join YALI NETWORK. She encouraged them to reach out to her for essay reviewing and consultations regarding MWF and YALI RLC.

Elizabeth Mang'eni advising youths

Photo: Joseph Jinju

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WHO SHOULD SING GOSPEL MUSIC?

There’s always a ‘strange’ reaction from the populace when a renowned secular artist releases a song that carries a biblical message. In some cases, the fellow gains more fans especially from the lukewarm ‘saint-group’ and even some of the ‘staunch brew.’ For the Luke-warm, it’s normally a gate pass to formally declare their support to the artiste. However, we know that they have always been fans, at least, behind the scenes. For the staunch one, it could be for the very hope that the artiste is moving towards salvation. This, if you can relate, is the very feeling that has surrounded the Kenyan Gospel industry in the recent past, when Sauti Sol released their song “Kuliko Jana” and when Nyashinski came out with the celebrated “Mungu Pekee.” If someone brought to you the lyrics of the above songs without the names of the composers, and assuming you have not heard anything about them, would you tell that they were sang by secular artistes?

Well, someone is about to say, “Yes, I got the Discernment Spirit.” That’s alright, whether or not you know the artiste, take the same lyrics, put on a beam balance with some of the lines we get from some of the fulltime gospel musicians. I bet you won’t really need to stress the Holy Spirit to show you the right lyrics to embrace. Let’s get back to the big question: Who should sing gospel music? Perhaps we should define the term ‘gospel.’ There are just thousands of people who have defined this word whether in school, church or even in the devil’s camp. However, for the sake of this post, I will just state the simple meaning. The word gospel refers to “Good News” and in the Christian circles, it’s the good news about Jesus Christ, the man who died on an old rugged cross for the sin of humanity. This portion of the holy scriptures can help amplify the message better:

 Luke: 4:18-19: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

`
I tend to think that any song that should be classified as gospel needs to meet the above criteria as set by the master of Good News Himself. In this sense then, does it matter who does it? In some instance, days after Jesus had died, Paul, a murderer who would later become one of the important pioneers of the church, noted that he did not care whether or not those who preached the gospel did it out of malice or not. The main agenda is to see the message moving. Years before the coming of Jesus, his great grandfather would cry out thus: Psalms 150:6: Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. This statement validates not only human beings but any other thing that has life to talk about the goodness of the creator, acknowledging the wonderful works of the maker.

The only danger of relying on the secular artistes in relaying the gospel is that doing so puts the Christian at a vulnerable situation to fall into heresy. So, it is important to scrutinize the lyrics before fully endorsing them. This, I should add, requires a deeper understanding of scripture since the composer may not be aware of the errors they make. Perhaps a simple advice I could tell secular artists is to always consult their Christian friends whenever they want to write a gospel song.

The problem with this again is that many a Christian are too shallow to be relied upon for such a task; otherwise we would not be having some shameful songs on our Television sets, on top of the charts, composed by ‘Born Again’ fellows. Wonder how this comes about? Check who their mentors are! God is not limited, if He used Nebuchadnezzar, changed Paul’s heart, he could send a gospel tune to anyone. Let the shallow Christian continue with gymnastics, He said he will even use rocks.
By now I know there's someone who feels that I'm just trying to justify secular artists. Yet the same person doesn't feel Christmas is complete without the church putting O Holy Night on the carols list. Follow this link to read the story behind this acclaimed hymn: The History of O Holy Night

 The writer is the founder of Dowe Music & Arts 

 and one of the worship leaders

 at Mavuno Church, Nakuru

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AFLEWO NAKURU Graces ASK Show

 AFLEWO at the 2018 Nakuru ASK show

The Gospel Music Industry has and will always be under scrutiny, with critics from all over the world. Well this is a good thing and it just confirms that a Christian is like a lamp set on a hill. In Kenya, it seems there are those who are dissatisfied with the content in the songs that gospel artists produce today. Just recently, we even heard Mr. Felix Oduor a.k.a Jalang’o, a comedian advising the Christians to rethink their songwriting skills. The nation is begging for authenticity.
However, the truth is that God has always had a remnant in every generation. There are within us, yes, just here in Kenya, gospel artistes who have a personal relationship with Christ and who compose music inspired of the Holy Scriptures. Some of them are not very famous but their music uplifts, entertains, refreshes and above all, glorifies God.
Apart from artistes, there are bodies springing up to encourage the true worshippers to keep the fire burning amidst the present confusion. Today, I will mention one of those bodies (Please note that this is not some sort of endorsement on any group but just an insight into some of the activities that the larger body of Christ and/or worshippers can emulate in the quest to equip the church in true worship)
Africa Let’s Worship(AFLEWO) is a non-profit organisation whose major aim is to bring together members of the body of Christ to worship. You can read more on the AFLEWO Website. The organisation has various chapters in Kenya as well as other countries in Africa. The main activity through which it achieves its mandate is through Music. There are however, other activities such as prayer, corporate social responsibilities as well as evangelism that become building blocks.

One becomes a member of AFLEWO through auditions which take place at the beginning of the year and then registration. Well it is important to note that all those who participate in the annual events do so at their own volition with a calling to serve. It is a voluntary task that one must be willing to serve and give their resources in terms of time and money. Even so, the registration fee is quite affordable since it varies from chapter to chapter depending on the economy of every city.

The registration for AFLEWO Nakuru has already been done. If you wish to participate as one of the ministers, you might want to start planning to join next year. Be sure to check in here for updates on the same. It’s amazing how God is using young people and the elderly alike to break the denominational barriers in Nakuru. As the practice sessions continue, everyone realizes that the very God we worship in different churches is the same and all He seeks is a heart of Worship. 95% of AFLEWO’s participants are worship leaders and/or gospel artistes, gifted instrumentalists but each of them submits to authority and on your first day you might think none of them knows a thing in music, as they follow the lead of the music director. How do you behave in your worship team?
It is important, as one may realize through following AFLEWO’s events, that worship is more than just a song or music. As worship leaders, we are called to lead others in an all-round manner of lifestyle. We’ve got to get in touch with the community, if our impact is to be felt. Gone are the days when servants of God would only appear on the pulpit on Sunday, preach like they don’t care about the earthly problems that the congregants go through and disappear for the next six days.

Last Sunday, AFLEWO graced the Nakuru Agricultural Society of Kenya(ASK)'s show through music ministry. This is just spectacular. In this respect, it goes beyond the norm where ministry has been known to happen only in church. I believe it is in interacting with professionals in various fields, just where they are that makes it easier to prove to them that God is looking out for them. Have you ever felt condemned on that day duty called at your workplace and you had to miss church? Don’t you think it would have been different if someone had come around and offered a prayer and perhaps read a scripture to you say for thirty minutes? Christians must seize these opportunities whenever they come because whether we like it or not, not everyone can come to church but we can take church to where everyone is. That’s the mandate in Matthew 28:19-20

Coming Saturday, AFLEWO Nakuru will be on the streets of the town doing worship through cleaning. Again, this is a pointer that a true worshiper has to embrace a servant-hood heart. How clean will our county be if churches took turns in maintaining the city? Remember, for AFLEWO, it’s an annual activity that takes place once in a year, and since membership is not permanent, the body just functions to reinforce what the church should be doing. See the flyer below for the update on the upcoming activity on 14th July.

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Groove Awards: The Call for Credibility

I am curious. Just how credible are the Groove Awards? Can all the winners stand above reproach, I mean tall enough, without an iota of doubt and say, “Yes, I won, and God is in this?” dear reader, I know this topic sentence has in a way driven you to imagine that my aim is to demean the wonderful work done by the Groove crew! Far be it from me. As a matter of fact, I hope to be one of the contestants someday to come.  The platform has contributed to the appreciation of Gospel music in the country in in an incredible way. However, the question of credibility in the one-month process between nomination and the awards day is what has been bugging me ever since I started following Groove events in 2014.

Since Groove is a gospel platform, I think it’s recognition as the largest and perhaps the best awards wing has to achieve a high standard as far as Christianity is concerned. Anyone involved in the process should realize that s/he is the salt and light of Kenya and that in most cases whatever s/he does is likely to be an endorsement to the others. Kenya is a growing democracy which is still struggling on matters transparency and good governance. With great names such as Groove and the many respected artistes we watch on TV and interact with, it’s only fair that, if these names belong to true believers they must needs understand that they are a lamp set on a city hill. Then we can use groove as an example every five years when we vote for national leaders. In my opinion, I think the Groove Awards Team can look into the following areas that compromise credibility in their voting system:
This is 2018, Technology is at its best
It’s very easy to send continuous messages for the whole month without one having to create a new one every time. All you need is to download an automated sms program, create a message and the receiver’s number. Then you set the frequency of your messaging. Well, we are normally encouraged to vote as many times as possible and this maybe is the best thing one can long for. The question is, what does the voting as many times as possible mean? I tend to think it’s just enough for me to vote once, and since we are just enough a crowd in this country, most of whom love gospel music, one is enough. There’s need for a criterion that prohibits voting beyond once. This way, we are likely to get genuine winners. Since Safaricom is among the sponsors, I’m pretty sure they have a way of effecting this. I just hope I am not destroying any business.
Africa’s Battle, “the rich vs the poor”
With the open system of voting, there are ‘brethren’ who are likely to marshal their way up to the trophy table via sms system. If one wants to win the groove award by all means, just like our honorable politicians, their pocket will have their say. This is how: Get a few youths from your fans in various regions. Buy some lunch or supper on the selected days and buy different sim-cards. There you go, you have a voting ‘company.’ Wait for the big announcement on the D-day.  On the other hand, if you are just beginning your journey and you’ve released a nice, scriptural song but there’s no cash, in this system, “wait upon the LORD.”
Anyone Can vote
Groove has come a long way. It’s no longer at the stage where the team is struggling with publicity. In the Kenyan law, one cannot vote in the general elections if one has not attained eighteen years. And even after that, it’s a must for the citizen to register for voting. Since music is a worthwhile career and if we want to maintain its pride, it is high time the crew thought about changing the voting style. They can borrow a leaf from Grammy Awards. I don’t think just anyone should be allowed to vote. We end up getting votes from people who have not even heard the songs but because they are buddies with the artists, the ballots are cast.
 I hope this message reaches the organisers and if they deem it fit, may they implement it.

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