Fall is on it’s way, or so I am wishing and hoping. Has it already been a year since I started this humble blog? So much of my life is so very different in only a years time. The record is finished and out in the world, I’m almost done with school, (this Friday!) I’m getting ready to move again- this is an entire separate story but let me just say Cleon I love you and have loved every minute there and my roommates have been so amazing and like family and I will miss you. And where I am going? Let’s just say Jeremy and I spent Friday afternoon picking out paint swatches and taping them onto his wall. Crazy. Glorious. Right.
I feel a lot more grown up in even a year. I don’t know what that means exactly, maybe I just feel more at peace with what is to come, maybe even more excited. Today on my way to school I bumped into a buddy of mine from a songwriting class and we got to discussing our post grad plans. He said he was moving to Seattle and I said I was staying here and we chatted about music and love and inspiration in the 5 minutes we had like we really had 5 hours, but his words struck me. He told me that the biggest thing he’d learned is that you have to go out and experience life. Music can’t be your all day, every day thing. It just hit me as so true. Sometimes I get scared I’ll never write another song or that I’m getting too old (I hate myself for that one but I have to be honest) or that I’ll never sell as many CDs as I need to and then I just have to stop and remember that none of that is what its all about. I don’t want to write or sing out of fear or a sense of obligation. I want to do it out of joy. Write when I have a story or something to say, sing with reckless abandon and free- spiritedness. Enjoy every moment in my life right now and let all the collective experiences soak into my soul and plant fodder for something creative. So that’s my current goal. Thank you Mr. Wilkinson for your wise words.
I’m playing a ton in these next two months, a lot of acoustic shows and weddings, and then something really special at the end of October. As most of you know I went to Kenya 3 years ago with an organization that my parents are heavily involved in called Watoto Wenye Nguvu. (http://www.kilimambogo.org/) This October, Danny, Natalie and I will be heading up to the Bay Area to play at a benefit concert for this organization through Hope Walks. (http://www.hopewalks.org/index.php/marin-ca) I am so excited to have the chance to do something to help support the children and community that had such a huge impact on my life those few years ago. I’d encourage you all to take a glance at the websites and to come out to the show if you’re up in the Bay Area on the 24th! I’m also pasting this email that I wrote when I first got back from Kilimambogo that kind of outlines my experience and gives a brief summary of what I learned.
“I've been trying for some time now to get the juices flowing and sit down and write out a nice email to everyone and shed some light on my trip to Africa. I've been waiting for the perfect words to come, my favorite memory to recall, the most influential person I met. I've gone over my journal looking for excerpts to share and even my pictures hoping for one to say more that I can. But it's not that easy.
Since returning to the US I've been trying to wrap my mind around the whole experience and figure out how it all makes sense- how is it that my every day life can exist in the same world as the kids I met in Kilimambogo? How can I make sure to remember every last thing I learned when life here is no noisy and distracting? What can I do to start making a difference?
I don't know the answers to these questions yet, and maybe I never will, but that is what's been on my mind ever since I got back to bills and mirrors and emails and tabloids and an endless supply of water.
What follows might be a bit discombobulated (sp?) and stream of thought-ish, but-Here is what I do know- the people I met in Kilimambogo were without a doubt the kindest, most generous and humble people I've ever met. The children have a light about them that is almost indescribable. They are so polite and outgoing, and they sing and dance unlike anything I've ever seen. They know how to celebrate and praise without hesitation or reservation, and they truly use song and dance as gifts. Everyone knows all the words to each song and all the moves to each dance, and there is no shyness or being bashful, they give everything of themselves with passion and excitement. We were all moved to tears several times to see them dance and hear their voices, it was nothing short of pure.
The social situation in Kilimambogo is devastating. AIDS has decimated the majority of the population of adults ranging from mid twenties to mid forties/fifties, leaving vast numbers of children orphaned. The organization I went with is called 'watoto wenye nguvu' meaning 'children of strength' and their mission to account for every orphan in the valley by making sure they have a guardian to care for them (usually a grandmother, great aunt, or relative/family friend of some kind) or providing them with a place to live in a group home run by the organization. WWN also strives to connect each orphan with a sponsor from the US who helps to provide various necessities, health care, nutrition, schooling etc.
Schooling is a tricky situation- primary school (our equivalent of about 1 or 2 grade to 8th grade) is free, but nursery school ( pre k-) is not free, however it is mandatory in order to be able to progress to primary school. secondary school (high school) is also not free. what happens as a result is that there are a lot of kids who are left alone all day long while their guardians work, there are a lot of much older kids starting primary and secondary school or not being able to get further education beyond 8th grade. Another project begun by WWN is the building of the area's only public highschool.
A feeding program has been in the works at all the primary schools in the valley and for many children this is their only meal. When I was there, the feeding program was under a lot of stress bc the food prices have increased by about 70% due to severe drought.
The land in Kenya is just the way you would imagine Africa to be. We visited the Serengetti and it was like the backdrop to 'The Lion King' The sky is piercing blue and hugely expansive, the dirt is red, the vegetation a mixture of colors somehow despite the drought. I was constantly amazed to see such beauty when I would take a moment to put my head up and look around.
We were not there for very long. With all the travelling time on either end, we were really only in Kilimambogo for about a week. WWN is still a fairly new, still developing organization with lots of work needing to be done on the structural end. There were various frusterations and confusions in the midst of trying to organize and plan. I know there is a long way to go before it is completely smooth sailing. But there are good people with gi-normous hearts over there who really REALLY love the kids they are working with.
All the kids I met were unbelievable and I would have packed them in my suitcase if I could have. Ya'll know I'm obsessed with kids anyway, but I'm telling you, these kids were just magic. They taught me a song in Swahili and would drag me around and make me sing it to every single person they knew. ( i think they were really amused to hear a 'mazungu' (white person) try to sing swahili) One night after dinner they had a dance party right there in the dining room and they showed Emi, Elizabeth and I some moves. They had a great laugh at our efforts. i was repeatedly mistaken for being 15 or 16 years old (im not joking) and i was told i was very old for being 23 and not having a husband or a boyfriend. (i almost peed my pants i was laughing so hard) They loved our long hair (every child has a shaved head) and created many an interesting do from braids to buns. They held our hands and sat in our laps and clung to our legs. they have all seen the worst of life- all forms of abuse, drugs, being sold as slaves, rape, losing every relative to AIDS- and their strength is undoubtedly present in the maturity, compassion, and warmth of their faces. i was inspired to be as brave as them.
So that's all for now folks, I'm sure there will be more to say as the weeks progress and I process more of what I have learned. I am so very greatful for the opportunity to go and so thankful for the friendships I have made. Thank you for thinking of me while I was away and keeping us all in your prayers!!
I am reading this really great book right now that will probably do a much better job of inspiring you than I ever will- its called "The End of Poverty" by Jeffrey Sachs. If you need a book to read this one is really really a page turner.
soooo much love to all, xoox-k”
There are some typos and some grammatical errors I know, but I remember rushing to write this when I first got home so I could just let everyone in on the trip and try to illuminate the situation over there. I can’t wait to have the chance to go back. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it now if you got this far in the ole bloggy. I’m off to a little rehearsal, may the rest of your September days be filled with chilly, cozy mornings and the eruption of those fall colors that are truly cause for celebration.
