Kivuli Acrobats Visit Italy

It was cold and snowy when they arrived in Italy, but for the young boys from Kenya, the experience proved unforgettable. The boys, who are amateur acrobats from the Kivuli Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, were in Italy for a series of performances in several cities across the country. None of them had ever travelled outside their home country, so the trip presented an opportunity to gauge the appeal of their performances with a completely new audience. They did not disappoint.

“The crowds were very enthusiastic,” George Munyua recalls. “They applauded so much, and we gave our best performances ever. I slipped and fell during one show, but in the comfort of their cheers, the bruises did not hurt,” George adds cheerily.

Their journey from Nairobi had begun with hitches. Immigration authorities in Nairobi delayed the issuance of travel documents for some of the boys, forcing the first batch of six to travel on November 25, leaving the rest behind to await their passports. By the time the remaining passports were ready, it was already December. The second group jetted out December 7, but a few unlucky ones were cut out of the trip for lack of birth certificates to back their passport applications.

Once in Italy, the boys were placed with Italian foster families. Then came the road trip through Italy, with performances at various stops all the way from Rome, Milan, Pienza and Bari to Turin, Kazerta and Fabriano. They were excited to perform at Lecco, the northern city where the founder of the Kivuli Centre - Fr Renato Kizito Sesana - was born and raised. 

A typical show would begin with a movie about street life in Kenya. A few remarks from Fr Kizito would elaborate on the situation of street children in Kenya, then the boys would take the stage for a vigorous 45 minute performance. As they cooled off from their first appearance, a documentary on Koinonia’s work with street children and other marginalized groups would be screened, followed by another 45 minute performance by the boys. As the show drew to a close, the boys would be introduced to their audience for chit-chat and other interaction.

Simon Maina, a professional acrobat who was in charge of the boys during the trip, was impressed by the enthusiasm of the Italians.

“We were greatly encouraged by the attendance, with audiences running into the hundreds. The peak was in Fabriano and Matera, where we might have had 1000 people in the audience,” Simon remarks. Simon is from a Koinonia-affiliated acrobatics group called Nafsi Afrika. He trains the children twice every week on voluntary basis.

Although the performances clearly grabbed the limelight, the boys also relished the cultural aspect of the trip. They enjoyed their three-week stay with the affable Italian families who opened their doors to them. Each host family had at least one English-speaking member, making interaction much easier, and in due time, most of the boys picked up a smattering of Italian as well.

“We spent many hours with the Italian children - on their computers and play stations, and sometimes studying together. It was great fun telling them all about Kenya and learning tons about Italy from them,” Ian Stanley reminisces.

“I really enjoyed Italian food,” Emmanuel Obaga chimes in, “Among my favourite dishes were pasta, polenta, pizza, octopus and cheese,” he adds.

Issa Macharia is grateful for a pair of sneakers his host family gave him after noticing his moccasins were badly worn out. On the other hand, Stephen Ndichu still makes his friends laugh to stitches whenever he narrates his indulgence with a honey cake that gave his stomach a blackout.

 “The cake was so delicious,” Stephen recounts with an expression of mischief, “I just couldn’t stop eating it, so I kept going, slice after slice. Then, bam! my tummy went tight, and I was very uncomfortable.”  His host parents gave him carbonated water to relieve the indigestion.

Emmanuel Obaga was fascinated by the good transport systems, which he found starkly incomparable to Kenya’s colonial rail system, reckless matatu minivans, and the maddening traffic jams, without forgetting the deepening gulleys that are fast replacing potholes in most of the country’s once smooth asphalt roads and highways.

“Simply put, their transport systems are functional,” Emmanuel sums up.

The Kivuli Boys’ acrobatics troupe was formed through the efforts of Lenny Stanforth and Patrick Ojwang, two social workers at Kivuli who sought to nurture talents in the boys undergoing rehabilitation at the Centre. Initially, the boys put up short performances with basic acrobatics, music and drumming for other children at Kivuli during “Boys’ Night”, a weekly entertainment session when the children would design their own creative performances.

In 2007, two professional acrobats from Italy, Stefano Bertelli and Lapo Botteri, spent a couple of months teaching at Kivuli, teaching the boys juggling and other acrobatic performances at Kivuli. The troupe got a further boost when Simon Maina volunteered to become their regular trainer. Simon currently conducts training sessions with the boys for one and a half hours twice every week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Apart from acrobatics, the Kivuli boys’ repertoire includes juggling, traditional African folk dance, singing and drumming. Some of their performances incorporate pantomiming, in which they tell wordless stories on stage using only gestures and bodily movements. Simon says he is currently working to establish local and international collaborations with similar children’s acrobatics groups, and whenever he can find a gig using his contacts in Nafsi Afrika, he takes them out on weekends to perform alongside other troupes so that they can improve on their competitiveness.

Clearly, the trip to Italy is an experience that will linger in the boys’ memories for a long, long time. Twelve year old Joseph Njenga was simply happy to touch and walk on snow, which he had previously only seen on television.

However, Kevin Mbagaya found the weather too chilly.

“It was too cold, but what was amazing was that darkness fell as early as 4 o’clock in the afternoon, yet people continued with work and other activities. I hope to return someday during summer, so that I can see the difference,” Kevin says.