A group of acrobats from the Faith Evangelistic Ministries (FEM) Family Church in Kikambala carried the day during a festival which took place at FEM Kikambala Children’s Centre in Kilifi County recently.
The six young men thrilled the audience with their acrobatic styles which left the spectators yelling for more.
Though there were other performers at the event, the audience was mainly attracted to the acrobats.
“People just like them. They know their game and they are a hot item during ceremonies in these parts,” Rebecca Mutero, who is the events coordinator at the children’s centre, said.
The Kikambala acrobatic group compromises of Lukas Tsuma, Vincent Amunga, Justine Mwangome, James Julias and Alex Kadenge.
The group head is Moses Chiko.
Amunga says that the group undergoes numerous tough exercises every day in order to achieve perfection.
“Discipline is the key word; our motto is “no lateness for rehearsals”. We have seen many of our friends and age mates go down that way,” says Amunga.
“Bodywork is what we believe in and do. We earn our living from our bodies.”
Kikambala is largely marginalised and the youth keep themselves busy with performing arts, Amunga says, adding that they use their acrobatic skills not only to earn a living but to show others that this can be a constructive way of avoiding being drawn into social vices.
If only the youth could be shown other ways of earning a living, they would be a productive segment of the society in the area, says Amunga.
“These guys from this region just need to be empowered. Our group is hoping, with time and more opportunities, to incorporate more members,” says Chiko, the group’s coordinator.
The event was attended by FEM founder and director, Rev Teresia Wairimu, Lamu West MP Stanley Muthama, Pastor Erastus and Pauline Maina of FEM Family Church Mombasa and Pastor Kim of FEM Family Church Kutus among others.
Mr Muthama lauded Rev a Wairimu for supporting over 400 children who attended the Kikambala children’s party.
He said the FEM Family Church in Nairobi has been a blessing to Kikambala as it has been feeding the children and paying their school fees.
The Kikambala children’s festival was organised by Operation Give and Grow, which runs the Kikambala Children’s Centre.
More than 400 children, most of them from needy backgrounds, were treated to food, entertainment and drinks.
Those who live away from the institution were given food to take to their families.
Other groups which performed at the festival were Upwards Dancers, a group of contemporary dancers, and young boys and girls from Kikambala.
They entertained the audience with renditions of various pop songs as well as their own compositions.
FEM Kikambala teen dancers performed Mijikenda traditional dances to the enthusiasm of the locals.
They performed Giriama, Digo, Pokomo and other Mijikenda traditional dances.
“Philanthropy goes down well with entertainment and we will continue to give the youth opportunities to excel in performing arts,” said Pastor Pauline Maina.
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