Los Angeles Drama Club is proud and honored to be invited by director Dr. Auma Obama to be Guest Artists in Residence at the Sauti Kuu Foundation. Sauti Kuu – meaning STRONG VOICES – has sought out our youth arts organization to further their mission to provide a positive outlook for the future for children in Africa.
In August 2019, Executive Director Julia Walker Wyson and Artistic Director Blaire Baron will be traveling to rural Kenya with four of our teaching artists and four of our high school student director/mentors to spend a week living and working with the Sauti Kuu students.
Our theme for the week, “All The World’s A Stage – How Will You Play Your Part?” will not only focus on theater, drama and expression, but also on personal development (one of the four pillars of the Sauti Kuu mission). Through bringing their voices and perspectives to Shakespeare’s most extreme characters, participants will reflect on how they can ultimately make the best and most informed choices for their lives.
Lasting and meaningful friendships. Bonding and team building. Cultural exchange on a visceral level. (Not just a tourist visit.) The benefits of volunteering in Africa reverberate in ways we can’t imagine. Now my African friends follow me and I follow their lives – (perhaps the most positive aspect of social media). But we also have kept in touch directly. Brooks Kamanakao (my host guide in Africa) recently visited Los Angeles came see the youngest LADC kids perform AS YOU LIKE IT. After the show, he came onstage and answered questions from the children and adults in the audience about life in a rural village – how radically different is is from our lives – but he also talked about what we have in common. Something that has inspired our Shakespeare program in his rural village school of Motopi. I am honored to return this month to those children and carry on. (many thanks to the Collins Foundation)
~ Blaire Baron
Read more about Blaire’s experience teaching in Botswana
We expect remarkable things from our volunteer visit to Kolego, Kenya in August. Working with 100+ children in another rural village – that happens to be the ancestral home of President Obama’s father. We expect a long term relationship with Dr. Auma Obama’s Sauti Kuu Foundation and all its young members. Our students and staff come from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds and experiences – and they each initiated themselves and are fundraising to make it happen.
We are proud of them. We trust this will have a long term impact on everyone involved, including and especially those who donate toward this endeavor.
We invite you to become a part of this exciting cultural exchange by making a donation below …