Emerging Voices - On the Topic of Wings

I WISH I HAD WINGS by Pauline Adhiambo of Kisumu, Kenya

My soul is tightened with sorrows. I want to be safe.
The more I stay in this world the more my life becomes terrible.
I feel like going beyond the sun and staying forever.
But no one could take me there, where I can breathe.
I wish I had wings with me I could have fled away from the Earth.

My dreams had turned negative, all I had done had vanished
I had never thought of living in such situations.
Ooh my friends had gone against me, they never thought of helping me.
My enemies laugh at me, they enjoy life and forget about me
I wish I had wings with me, I could have fled away from the Earth.

People keeps on giving me empty promises, they say I will and never
They force me to do negative things and run away from me
Am always in problems because of my close friends
Peace and love is all I need, But all I get are opposite
I wish I had wings with me, I could have fled away from the Earth.

Day and night I come across temptations, but I had never gave up
Am longing to stay a lone where no one will see me
I had tried to forget my friends, but due to my love for them I can’t
The only thing I can think of, are the good times we had together
The solution is to safe away from this world
I wish I had wings with me, I could have fled away from the Earth.
Up!!Up I go high high, to the sky.

Emerging Voices - On the Topic of Subconscious/Unconscious

More poetry written by a Kenyan artist for inclusion in The Microphone Sessions weekly artists development workshops. This one on the subject of Subconscious/Unconscious.

OH POOR HE AND SHE
by Dancan BAM Ochieng of Kisumu, Kenya

She was still watching them dance
The dancing girls were from France
Their dance vigor and full of romance
And then she stopped to make a glance
She was optimistic he had slept by chance

He had once opened the door at night
His face was bright, his arms were light
He was already playing with his white kite
Without cognition of the danger at night

He headed straight to swing plus his kite
Tonight the wind was not hissing nor teasing
Neither was she n’ her sis thinking of any kissing
He was not sneezing or thought to be wheezing
He was on her mother’s warm hands freezing
Devoid of consciousness he had done this thing

She said that this was inherited from his very dad
He got involved in a crime case that was very bad
How could he have murdered him without a damn
His lawyer proved that he was asleep at that time
Oh my God, unconscious actions are really a damn

Emerging Voices

Voices for umoja is connecting Kenyan artists with artists in the U.S. through participation in The Microphone Sessions weekly artists' development workshops. Each week a topic is chosen for the next week. Participants are instructed to write or prepare a piece on topic for the following workshop. Topics have included TRUST, WIND, CONFESSION, HEALING, and SUBCONSCIOUS. We will be posting some of the Kenyan artists' work here.

On the topic of CONFESSION

CONFESSION!!!
By Oscar Constant of Kisumu, Kenya

Colorful event where we admit our mistakes
Open our heart to atone for our crimes
Noticing the important of confession
Forgetting after asking for forgiveness
Ending weird thoughts that lead to sinning
Sinning no more and being safe
Storage back of my body and heart to sanity
I then become free of huge burden
On what I did to make it all wrong
Now here I am a free man or woman

SO I CONFESS
By Pauline Adhiambo of Kisumu, Kenya

I know am a lost sheep in the wild
For I no longer graze in the compound
Of the church, I miss the congregation of our church
All the gossips of people who are prêt endings
Promiscuous couples and misappropriate church funds
I miss the night meditations where
We use to sneak girls in the dark
It does not feel right anymore
So I confess.

The last time I went to church
Our beloved pastor misappropriated all funds
Use the money to take his children for further studies abroad
He is a man of God so we delved not to speak
Lest we faced the wrath of the most High
Soon after a notice was released to the church
Any money less than one hundred shillings,
It would be no longer accepted as offerings
My conscience would not allow me
So I confess.

I was staunch member of the choir
Singing and rejoicing was my calling from God
Everybody has a partner in the rejoicing team
After practicing session we escorted each other in the dark
And deed everything that darkness could hide from the day
I got sick of it so I left
I know I need Gods forgiveness
So I confess.

I don’t want to be duped by thieves
Who pretend to be religious leaders?
I don’t want to give so much offering
That I cannot feed myself
I don’t want to gossip of the righteous and the unrighteous
And I don’t want to turn your holly
House to a brothel
God I don’t want to come to church
Because it will move me to do all these
And that will be a sin
So I confess.

Art Harvest LA - November 14, 2000

4pm-10pm
November 14th, 2009
The Stephen Cohen Gallery
7358 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles 90036

Bringing together good food & libations, music, art & photography from emerging international and local artists

all to benefit local non-profit organizations' current grassroots projects working with refugee children and other vulnerable populations in Africa

The Niapele Project
and
Voices for Umoja

At the door:
$20 donation includes open bar, appetizers and 5 raffle tickets
$10 donation includes open bar and appetizers

Featuring:

Drinks

Food by A Catering Company

Sweet treats by Whipped, Beat & Battered

Music

Silent auction and raffle with awesome prizes from Steven Arroyo (Cobras & Matadors), Anti-Body, Urth Caffe, MAC Cosmetics, Aveda, Mary Kay, Smashbox, D Man Designs, Third Eye Tattoo, Lisa Robinson Photography, DW Drums, Spork Foods, Artasan Jewelry, Bikram Yoga of Silverlake, BLD Restaurant, photographer Nick Brandt, and more.

Fair trade sale featuring items made in Kenya and Ghana

Photography & Art by: Chris Leombruno, Pierre Letulzo, and Kenyan youth.

A curated exhibition titled Between the Surface, a photographic exchange in response to the use of beauty within contemporary image making. Among other participants, Calvin Lee both reveals and dismantles constructs present within imagery found in daily life, resulting in photographs that are not so readily consumable. In her piece from the series Nami, Kelly Kleinschrodt re-photographs images of waves, engaging with the photographic surface while simultaneously denying the viewer's ability to dismiss its status as a reproduction. Also joining this conversation are Allie Carr, Greg Hayes, Alexis Hudgins, Ivan Iannoli, Ian James, Laura Kim, Sidonie Loiseleux, Lakshmi Luthra, Joanne Mitchell, Job Piston, Maria Schriber, Katie Shapiro, April Totten, Lindsay Tunkl, and Katrina Umber.

For more information & pre-sale tickets contact celina@theniapeleproject.org.

If you can't attend the event but would like to make a donation, please click here.

The Birth of the Opuk Jakinda Cooperative

In the last year, Kisumu has undergone a social transformation over as it grappled with the effects of a bitterly contested presidential election that resulted in extreme cases of violence. Unfortunately, the women and children bore the brunt of the violence. Given that the society is patriarchal in nature, many women were victims of sexual violence, others lost property, while still others lost their breadwinners in the violence and since have been exposed to increased poverty and ill health. At this time of economic recession, the country is unable to adequately provide its people with basic needs and food prices continue to skyrocket. This has lead to cases of increased incidences of HIV/AIDS and food insecurity as women are forced to use various means to make ends meet.

Following the trauma, fear, and injustice of the December 2007 elections and their aftermath and given the economic challenges facing the community, Voices and its partners have facilitated trainings and networking for groups comprised of primarily women in the Kisumu area in an effort to develop viable and sustainable income generating projects to assist them in providing livelihood for both their families and orphans in the community. Through these trainings, the Opuk Jakinda Cooperative was born.

Opuk Jakinda means hardworking tortoise in the Luo language. Opuk Jakinda Cooperative makes marketable products such as jewelry, paper products, and woven mats from recycled materials and the water hyacinth plant, a plant that spreads over Lake Victoria at an alarming rate and is linked to increases in vector borne diseases, reduced supply of clean potable water, blocking irrigation canals, and a decrease in biodiversity. Voices is working to connect this cooperative and others with partners in the U.S. to earn them a fair wage.