Greetings and power to you!!
We are back in the US and ready to get down to business. We had a very fruitful Africa trip where we got to meet youth engaged in very serious initiatives focusing on empowering themselves via use of urban culture. After visiting several groups and talking to several different individuals and entities, we are glad to announce the beginning of our fist project. This we will name ‘Chocolate Bars’. The name chocolate comes from the nickname of Kibera ( chocolate city) and bars comes from hip hop lingo of bars,which make up verses……this is because the project revolves around urban( hiphop) culture and how it is being used in the hood to empower youth. For those of you who do not know, Kibera is one of the largest slums in world ( debatable between Kibera and the Rio Favellas in Brazil). Over a Million people live in Kibera slums, where most hoses are made of mud ( nickname- chocolate), and have Tin roofs. The poverty levels here are uspeakable
Kibera Slums
Kibera
Xpect
CLICK HERE TO GRAB SOME QUICK FACTS ABOUT KIBERA ( OPENS IN NEW PAGE)
. In January 2011, the hiphop4africa org team, led by Executive Director Dj Xpect visited Kibera slums to meet with a 23yr old underground hiphop rapper named Henry ‘Octopizzo’ Ohanga. This young man has created big ripples in the local Nairobi hiphop scene for his superb lyrical wordplay skills. Discovered during the popular WAPI events, Octopizzo has built a huge fanbase and following on the streets of Nairobi. 
Performs at WAPI
Octo Performs in The Hood
What is most touching about Octopizzo’s character is his selflesness. If he wanted to, he could easily run with the fame to uplift himself to unknown heights and focus on self- interests, afteral he is not only an orphan but also a single father. He however gives 100% back to the community of Kibera where he lives. With his meager earnings gained from hiphop shows and events, he rounds up local youth and provides them mentorship and space to work on their artistic and expressive skills, then leads them into various competitions where they can get exposure……..and if they win any money or awards, they keep 100%. He does not ask for anything in return. After speaking to some of the youth we met at their YGB center ( Young, Gifted, and Black), we learn that some of the youth were gun totting gangsters, and thugs, with no way to earn a living except for robbing people. Octopizzo stressed to Xpect that the main problem the youth were facing came down to employment. They were not lazy or idlers, as sometimes purported by mainstream media. They just simply have no means of earning a living. He took us on a tour around the slum area where we saw people hard at work trying to earn a living off anything they could. There were young carpenters at work, metal workshops, traders, name it. Everyone was engaged in some sort of business or another.
Xpect asked Octopizzo who provides them with financial backing to continue the YGB projects and to our surprise, he said ‘no one’. They have absolutely NO FUNDING from anyone. All the community cleanups and engagements are done out of self-initiative and self-drive.
YGB Cleaning exercise in the slum
YGB Cleaning Exercise in Kibera
Octopizzo said that at the end of the cleaning exercise he usually tries to buy the volunteering youth a cup of tea or sodas as a sign of gratitude. This was very moving. The center /mini office they have was donated to them by a group called Umay, and Umay also pay the rent for the center ( UPDATE: Upon reading this article, UMAY pulled out from supporting the boys and they face eviction from the youth center as of March 2011. We are trying to raise rent money. It’s about 20,000 kshs a month (about $250 or so ). It is great that they have a location they can call their ‘base’.
Their base however has absolutely no furniture or any raw materials that can help them spread their initiative. Their ‘office’ has only a desk and a computer monitor.
Only furniture in the office. A desk and computer monitor
Not even a seat. We found some YGB youth practising a dance routine for a competition they were about to get into…all they had was a tiny cassette player on the ground. We also asked Octopizzo what materials they had that were used for the cleanups, and he mentioned that they only have one wheelbarrow and a few rakes. These kids are doing big things with barely any resources, and they do not look angry, or stressed They are glad to offer back
This is all they have for cleanup. One wheelbarrow and a few rakes....A wheelbarrow only costs about 50 us dollars, rakes, cost even less. This is all they have. These kids have no funding or financing. They do all this on their own
Look at how tiny the cassette player they use for rehearsal is
Xpect reiterated to Octopizzo that the goal of Hiphop4Africa Org was to empower underprivileged youth socio-politically and economically via urban hiphop, and asked Octopizzo what he thought could help boost them with a means to create revenue for their group to self-fund their projects and become more efficient. What we noted down was:
1: PA System : If YGB had a PA System, using the connections and wide networks they have in Kibbera, they could rent out their PA system to different parties and generate revenue. For those who do not know, a PA ( Public Announcement) system consists of speakers, microphones, mixer boards, light, e.t.c. A decent PA System can go for about $1500 to $2000. Nothing fancy, but at least a means to get them off the ground
If YGB Had such a PA System, they could rent it out and generate some revenue for their initiatives. A PA system would cost about $1500 to $2000
2:Recording Studio Equipment/Mini radio station: YGB consists of mainly Hiphop artists, dancers, choreographers, and graffiti artists. All elements of hiphop covered. Their Base is large enough to host a recording studio/small radio station but they just lack equipment. We want to see how we at hiphop4africa Org can help them put one together by reaching out to our connects on this end. We do not have a fixed amount cost of the equipment but will tally that.
Recording studio equipment donated to them would be very helpful. This is also one of the larger projects but very doable, if embarked on bit by bit
A mini- radio station would be one of the more costly projects but it can be eventually done bit by bit. Nothing has to be brand new. As long as established radio stations can send them their used equipment, once eveything is pieced up, all needed would be training, licenses, and Kibera will have a voice
3: Radio Station: Kibera is the largest slum in Africa, but has no ‘voice’ of Kibera by Kibera. Octopizzo nd YGB have expressed their extreme desire to hopefully set up a voice of Kibera radio station or outlet to express themselves as well as represent the Kibera people. This station would not only have music programmes but also educative and initiative programs related to life, empowerment and social affairs. We at Hiphop4Africa believe that this would be one of the most powerful initiatives that could ever be put together for them, but also would probably be the most expensive, due to costs of equipment, training, licenses e.t.c….this however is very possible with the right sponsors
4 WATER: This probably would be the easiest to set up. Water shortage is a huge problem in the area and what some businesses do is buy huge tanks of water, then contract private companies to come fill the tanks with water, and the tank owners sell to individuals per the gallon or so. While it is not a ‘huge’ revenue generating project, it does bring in profit and is very stable. YGB already have a designated spot on their land where they could place such a water tank. The cost of the tank ranges between 150,000 kenya shillings to 200,000 kshs ( around 2000 Us dollars). Filing the tank is about 3000 kshs ( 50 US dollars). We are considering probably working on this water tank project first, while we slowly arrange for the bigger revenue generating projects. ny individuals or companies who would be interested in adopting this water tank initiative can contact peter.kerre@hiphop4africa.org so we can coordinate this. Some donors prefer to buy products online then have delivered to location. For water tanks, the only site we have seen with an online presense is http://kentainers.com/kent/kentank.html . Feel free to contact us. Thank you!
Water tank: This is probably what we want to embark on as the first project, just because it is easy to accomplish and we can have theyouth generating some revenue ASAP. A water tank like this costs about 160 000 kshs ( 2000 usd), then filling it up once will be about 50 usd, and they can take charge from there
There are several other initiatives that could generate revenue for these youth. Octopizzo has a touring company called ‘Chocolate City Tours’ and he charges a very basic fee to take visitors on a tour of the slum. His only competition is surprisingly from a European gentleman who has hired locals to work for him and charges for tours. We’d expect that a foreigner would be trying to give to the slum dwellers, not hire them to eat off them, but oh well…..we will stay focused on our projects
WHAT’S NEXT??
VIEW DETAILED PROJECT ESTIMATED TIME FRAMES ON THE PROJECT PAGE HERE
Our next step is to engage our contacts and see what we can do about some of these projects. We do not only intend to reach out to US Hiphop artists and personalities, but also African diaspora. Anyway we can help our youth back home would be highly appreciated. What we did when we were home was note down all necessary needs, then we also have the group a ‘handshake’ ( some $$$$ ) to hold on to , while we return here to get the big wheels rolling. As we mention over and over, our goal is to not beg for money but rather ask for help with provision of materials to help fund different initiatives. Nevertheless, we would never turn away anyone willing to donate something small towards the cause. Below you can find the paypal ‘donate’ button and we will publicly list all donors and amounts unless you specify that you want to remain anonymous, and you can do so by emailing info@hiphop4africa.org . Thank you!
VIDEO
We have video clips from our tour with Xpect interviewing Octopizzo, as well as some clips showing the Kibera clean ups. We will post them shortly. Thank you!
