it's been a minute...things have been getting crazy as usual...Toby got his equipment and we are starting to build what he needs to get printing and his kids are really getting into his class! he's an amazing Negus! Oh and the movement is strong in UG---->NEGUS UP!! the adventure continues.....
Today is my Earth Strong...33 years of gaining knowledge on this planet. Damn time flies when your globe trotting... Out of all the lessons I've learned...there are a few that stick out in my mind today..."YOUR LIFE IS ULTIMATELY SELF-DETERMINED" meaning you have the power to create the life you want in this world as long as you have the vision to see your destiny, the passion to make it happen and the will to keep going... By breaking the slave mentality that our governments, religions, and corporations have been using to suppress our spirits and light for so long, we free ourselves and allow ourselves to be open to what the universe has to offer which is love, happiness, and mental freedom. In the words of Dead Presidents 'Let's get free". ...and..we cannot change the past- we can only learn lessons from it. We cannot be consumed by the future because it might not come. In this moment we are alive- live it to the fullest and let the world see you shine....OK... I'll stop preaching...lol
So I started out my day by teaching my 1st yoga class. Granted I'm no Yogi but I can get my Zen on...I've been doing it every morning solo until Toby joined in...then Brian, then David, then the whole boxing team...LOL. I'm still working out the best routine and my style but...it went pretty well. After I ran and trained with the boxing team , Toby and I cooked UGB's as a special B-day Breakfast...UGB's are Toby's Uganda Burritos- so bomb. Onions, green peppers, garlic, tomatoes, eggs, and avocado wrapped in a chapati...did I say da bomb. After breakfast classes started as usual...I filmed a bunch of the classes and was teaching one of the hip hop students "B Start" how to use my DVX 100. I have been teaching him how to do photography the last week and felt he was ready to step to video. He's doing all right but needs some help on framing...in 2 weeks...he'll have some 3rdi swagga.. Haha. The rains came in hard and fast this afternoon...nothing like some UG down pours to wash the dust and smog of the city away... David chef'd it up in the evening with some Gnut (peanut sauce) rice, sweet potatoes, and some cabbage veggie melody. Man we eating good at the BAV house. After some down time we chilled and went to the Backpacker Hostel. It's a cool international youth hostel 1000 shillings (50 cents) Boda ride from the house that has cold beer, snooker, and wireless internet...I finally got on! It was a little slow but the spot is cool and you'll start seeing me more online. So yeah...the night was filled with a lot of Bell and Nile (UG Beers), snooker, laughs, good conversation, and reflection... I wish I could of had my whole crew here celebrating with me- but I felt all the love and spirits from around the globe and thank you to everyone who showed me love online. It brought a big smile to my face!!! The feelings are mutual! All my love and respect worldwide. I'll get up soon. xoxoxox
Ahhh....yeah...so the day after my birthday I got word that I need to pack it up and go to Nairobi, Kenya to film the Black Mambas... Which are the UG champs at soccer under 10 division...You might be thinking to yourself...huh? Well Seb is sponsoring the team and they are part of his "We Got Skills" program. I actually filmed these kids the 1st week I got here at a big Soccer tournament here in Kampala. So oh course I took the mission...I've always wanted to go to Kenya...It wasn't what I expected...so I went to meet the team and coaches in Makeyan and get ready for our departure. So 1st things 1st...I was told we were taking a bus, we'd be there in 8 hrs. and staying at a hotel. Cool. I meet up with everyone and find out we are taking a Matatu (16 passenger bus) and we have 18 kids, 2 coaches, a driver, and a 3rdi...cool- I got shotgun....on the way out I find out it will take over 12 hours on a rough and crazy ass stretch of makeshift highway...ahhhhh cool... So all I can say parts of this highway are straight out of Iraq. It's like some F-16s came through and bombed the shit out of some areas...there's huge trucks and buses screaming through and we have the craziest driver ever...I was holding onto the oh shit handle because my life depended on it...i made myself pass out so I didn't have to watch anymore...so I'm going to go on a quick rundown on the things that happen to us on this quick trip to Nairobi....haha...I laugh now but I wasn't laughing then... Lol So crazy huge potholes everywhere. One crazy driver that liked to charge through the potholes and play chicken with 18 wheelers and tour buses. Corupt Kenyan cops with road blocks every 20 miles checking us with flash lights and wanting money. We had to pay 3 out of 20 stops..not to bad but we dialed in our stories and had the kids wear their jerseys while we showed off our trophy. Hotel ended up being a 20 by 20 classroom in a school called Mary Happy in the hood across from one of Africa's largest slums (I really wanted a local to take me in to film- didn't happen) in a Muslim/Somalian area. Women in full garbs which was very strange yet mysterious to me...I wanted to know so much more then I could see on the street. Oh and a cold ass shower- I should be used to that- lol The dopest taxis ever with awesome hip hop, raggae, pop, hollywood graphics plastered all over them and all named like hip hop lyrics. So funny. They didn't even stop...you had to run and jump on and off...old ladies get swift on their hop offs...it was a trip. The city was clean but everything outside of that was really dirty, dusty, and hot...you really had to watch your back for thieves and street hustlers. Glue heads everywhere...which was very sad...young kids (8 to 30ish) huffing glue in plastic bottles...man they were scary looking...eyes all red and burnt, there bodies hardened and stiff making them walk like zombies...i felt really bad for them. 2 car accidents. Our driver took out a boda boda driver...we looked back and he got up...the driver didn't stop and then yelled about his head light being broke...then the other was in a round about that our driver missed our turn and sped up to blast into a car coming in from another part of the round about...we all ended up in the middle of the round about...fortunately the cops broke out the pad and paper, drew the accident scene, decided the other guys were to blame and that we needed to work it out amongst ourselves...what? Yeah. On a good note. The team did really well and were a bunch of great kids...we had a lot of fun hanging out, playing soccer, and I showed them how to breakdance...I had to break out some skills from back in the day...haha but the boys got 2nd place. They kicked ass the whole tournament and lost in the finals. It was 1-1 at the end of the 2nd half and they lost by one in a penalties shoot-out. They were bummed but was over it half way into our 12 hour ride home...plus I bought them all cookies. We also saw baboons and zebras on the way home and a beautiful sunset over the Kenyan plains...it was cool...but the fun doesn't stop yet... More police road blocks. Some guys tried to jack us 4 hours outside Nairobi. They parked their car in the middle of the street and when we attempted to pass they sped up and tried to knock us into a ditch. Luckily our crazy driver knew what was happening, drove up in the ditch almost tipping us over, and fish tailed our way across the highway and out of there leaving the jackers in the ditch yelling at us...ahhhh....we were like what the fuck just happened?? LOL Then at the border...UG shut it's side down and I didn't have $50 usd to get back in UG because I spent it on our gas and food for the kids...so they walked me quite hostly I might add across no mans land back to Nairobi...I told the drive and the coach to wait at least an hour and I'd find away across...15 minutes later the coach said some dude was going to help me out...but we'd have to squeeze him into our van and bring him to Kampala to pay him back...I wish I would have just snuck back...but it was probably the safest thing to do... Yeah I'm crazy...but it's just another challenge to me...haha..oh so the border was still closed so we had to wait 3 and half hours until they opened it up again...3:30 am we got on the road again...the driver was pissed, tired, and speeding soo fast...I passed out and woke up to film the sunset...it was so pink over the dusty morning...we made it home alive...ahhh...UG...so I got the dude his loot and he bounced a little bit ago...haha...so thats my Kenyan story...I'm not going back for awhile...xob
Let me start out by saying it has been 3 long years since I have been back to Uganda. The last time I was here, I was shooting my first documentary “Diamonds in the Rough”. The film was a major growing experience for me as a film maker and a human being. As a film maker, I had a small clue about what I was getting into since I had never worked on a documentary before. My only preparation was watching some documentaries before I got on the plane to Africa. To some that might seem foolish, but to me, it allowed creative freedom to discover my stories and bring a raw urban feel to the African landscape that most have never seen before. As a human being, I had lived and visited many places on this earth but Africa...Africa brought my soul back to where life and human kind began. It humbled my mind with the understanding of the state of the world today and that we have the power to make a difference as an individual and as a collective. After my 3 month adventure...my life would never be the same.
Fast forward 3 years later...we locked the film in February and premiered at Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. Since then it has been making it’s rounds in the film festival circuit and has been popping up at Universities around the states. It has also won the “Audience Award” at the Dances With Film Fest in LA and “Best Documentary” at the Peace on Earth Festival in Chicago. It has yet to be shown publicly in Uganda because of the political statements within the film and the threat to the artists lively hood.
Today I am writing you from the Bavubuka Community Center in Bulangeb Village in Uganda where I am currently working with some amazing teachers, artists, musicians, and children. The Bavubuka Foundation was highlighted in DITR and started by one of the artists from the film, Babaluku or as a lot of us know him by Silas. In 3 years the Bavubuka Foundation started as a dream of Silas and has now manifested into a beautiful reality with a house/community center where children from local villages come everyday to learn English, Math, African History, Art Design, Hip Hop, Poetry, Basketball and Boxing classes. Together with local and international teachers, the foundation has taken a new path of youth development and brought hope, happiness and education to children in the local region of Uganda. This is where a new chapter of my life begins.
For the next month I will be in Uganda reporting my 3rdi adventures which we all know will take us in many directions and locations...things have all ready started getting crazy but I will let you know about everything in due time...by writing this I hope to give you some insight on the Bavubuka Foundation, Uganda and my life. Thank you for reading...xob
Wow...it’s been 3 years since I’ve been back and while driving from Entebbe airport towards Kampala I find myself having flashbacks of a country that has grown so much in such a little time. Even the airport...the last time I was there I was walking on the Tarmac to get in the plane and now they have an air conditioned walk way directly leading you from the plane into a brand new wing of the airport covered in Coca Cola adds...weird. I was greeted at the airport by my boy Toby from LA who got in earlier that day and will be teaching the kids T-shirt screen printing. Unfortunately all the screen printing equipment is still in Costumes and Toby, 4 days later, is still trying to get it out in a cheap and timely matter. I was also greeted at the airport by Bavubuka’s Boxing teacher Brian and a student of Bavubuka named David who is one of many success stories coming from the Foundation. We will hear his story unfold later. During the 40 minute drive from the airport I saw many familiar things... Tons of people on the street selling anything from Chapati (Ugandan style tortillas), chicken skewers, furniture, to hand me down Lakers T-shirts. I also saw my favorite way of transportation, Boda Bodas which are 200cc motorcycles taxis with extended seats for passengers...we take them everywhere and are soo fun to ride around the city on...and dangerous. I saw a few recs last time I was here...I’ll cross my fingers. Anyway we reached the Bavubuka house to a huge greeting from some students and resident teachers. It was so nice to see Silas, Seb (head of BAV Sports), Divinity (head of BAV Girls) because the last time I saw them we were all planning our trips and programs for UG and they have all been here the last 3 months. Walking into the house I was engulfed by the beautiful artwork by the kids that are plastered all over the walls. It brought tears to my eyes reading the uplifting comments and amazing poetry from the kids...the hope and happiness these children feel and are sharing showed me that...we are making a difference in their lives. I’m so happy right now.
So I am finally settling in and getting busy. My sleep schedule is still a little off...7 am my eyes pop open and I’m ready to rock...crazy because I don’t ever get up that early unless I’m catching a flight... So I’ve started a short and sweet yoga practice to get my day going followed by training with the boxing class that starts around 9 am. Brian the resident coach, is super cool, great with the kids and kicking my ass... I didn’t think I was going to be in UG training...but I feel great. All the other kids start coming in around 1 ish and classes start at 2. Silas teaches a Luga Flow Hip hop class that shows the kids how to write, rhyme and spit lyrics and spoken word. He also teaches then how to express themselves openly and freely in a positive way. It has been a minute since I have seen him back in his element with the youth...true inspiration. There is also a African history, english and sisterhood classes going on inside with Divinity the director of Bavubuka Girls. So inspirational, Divinity is really being a shining example of a Queen to these girls. Just checking out the black boards covered in names and faces of strong African women who have inspired her and showing the girls they can accomplish anything they put their minds to. So great. So classes go on until 7 ish. Throughout the day tons of kids ranging from 4 to 25 come through the Bavubuka House. Some are in the classes, some are just checking out the scene and others are friends of friends. The beautiful thing about the house is that it is a safe creative place for kids in the community to go and be around positive adults that are embracing the kids in an open manner that allows the kids to figure out what they want to learn and explore.
Man....I am soo stoked right now...Today was the Muslim holiday IDI and all the kids were off, so we (all the teachers- a group of 8) decided to go to Jinga which is an hour and half outside the city and the source of the Mighty Nile River. Man the energy of that water...so rejovenating and beautiful. Just the presence of the river and its surrounding are breath taking...we had to go in. Toby, Brian, and I were the first to jump in. The water was very powerful and filled with the energy of the core of the earth. Wow- as we climbed out to go back to jump in again...we saw a huge Black Mamba snake check us out and take off into the water...whoa! The most dangerous snake in Africa...Crazy- but that wasn’t going to stop us from going in again...we swam in the Niles currents for awhile then moved to a more chill area so everyone could swim. The spot had a great dock for us all to flip off of, hang out, and listen to reggae on the river...what an amazing place. After hanging for the day we all grabbed Boda’s to Bujenggalli Falls to watch the sunset...Bujenggalli falls is a series of water falls where the Nile rages through. There’s some class 4 waves there where some kiyakers were getting busy and tons of families from the local areas were taking their holiday. There was also some guy mobbing the big waves on a jerry can (big yellow plastic water container similar to a gas tank). Toby and I wanted to charge it but it was getting dark and we couldn’t find the dude with the jerry cans...we are coming back for sure to get busy!! Lol So we all watched the sunset over the Nile River and took in the pure beauty of this moment and the motherland... This is Africa.... I can’t wait for you to see the pics!
Today was another great day! The hip hop class Silas and Mo have been teaching and training the last 3 months finally got to go to a studio for the first time and actually record a track. The kids have been working on their Luga Flow everyday honing in on their personal styles and lyrics. So we all went over to Chief Azzi’s studio in Bwaise where he was hooking up the Bavubuka All-Stars with a 3 hour free session....the kids did great and the track sounds dope. After that we went to Silas’s hip hop night and kicked it...Toby did some spoken word and Bataka killed it as always. I’m going to DJ next week with dJ ApeMan and going to rock the house...I love rocking the spot in UG!
