Circus: Mambo Maonyesyo Mazuri

There are weekly training sessions on Saturday- and Sunday afternoons. These are preceded by a wholesome meal, which is also prepared by the kids themselves. The afternoon is split in two, in which the the younger kids train first and the older ones after that. At the moment the trainings take place on the football pitch, because the newly bought piece of land is not ready yet to organise activities there. Very regularly performances are given in a hotel in Mambo, when there are many guests, but also at schools, for instance at official occasions.

Barabarani: pre school activities.

The older circus kids have taken the initiative to start playing with young children in several areas in the village. Children playing is not a matter of course. Children from the age of four mind their younger brothers and sisters. They assist in housekeeping, get water and firewood. Playing with the youngest kids in Mambo is called: Barabarani, which literally means: “being in the streets”. This is the name that the children themselves came up with. Barabara means : street. The Barabarani take place at fixed parts of the day in a growing number of areas. Always under the guidance of a fixed couple of an experienced trainer and a younger co-trainer. The parents have been asked permission for their children to join. They welcome it enthusiastically. Apart from the fact that playing is fun, children can go to primary school better prepared. By being read stories to and singing songs, they learn better Swahili, the official language at school and already get a bit acquainted to English.

Cycling

There are steady groups of boys and girls that go cycling in the mountains. In this way they become very adept at cycling and they learn cycle routes. In due course they can guide tourist during cycling tours in the beautiful surroundings. Because of the very steep surrounding area quite a lot of stamina is needed to be able to complete these tours. In a half year’s time the progression of the group has been such, that Gijs has moved from looking back to looking in front of him whether he can still see the group.

Music and Dance

Soccer

The village has a beautiful pitch. Children train there and there are regular football matches with teams from neighbouring villages. In cooperation with the schools we now try to play soccer in groups after school.