Our work

Our Work

Anno’s Africa's remit is to bring to underprivileged children in Sub Saharan Africa opportunities that are normally beyond the hopes and dreams of most children growing up in some of the most overpopulated and poorest places in the world.  The programme currently offers an alternative arts education to over 2,500 children across Africa, with classes in six major disciplines; Art,  Creative Writing, Dance (including ballet) Drama, Music and Circus skills.   The charity has been running in Kenya from 2006 and in Malawi since 2017.

In Nairobi the charity runs workshops and teacher training programmes, headed by volunteer professional artists and performers from Europe who work alongside and offer advice and support to the 17 local trainers, many of whom have been with us since the charity's inception. These Kenyan teachers then continue to run the twice weekly after school classes in three non- formal schools in the slums who receive little or no Government supports. In this way we can maximize our access to the kids who need us most.

This year our German sister organization, One Fine Day with the support of the German Government’s GIZ development programme, have built a wonderful arts centre in the heart of Kibera which will help to guarantee the sustainability and growth of the arts programmes by allowing classes to be held throughout the days and at weekends, thus expanding the number of children and young adults who can attend. The programmes will be run by our Kenyan CBO partner, Anno’s One Fine Day when the centre opens on January 31st 2024. This new space  will not only allow the children and their Kenyan teachers and trainers to study in safety but also to enjoy the marvellous facilities and equipment that it provides.

In Malawi we are holding classes in the same arts disciplines but with a particular emphasis on circus skills since through the development of a circus school and a troupe who can perform professionally, Anno’s Africa Malawi can become financially self-sufficient in the future

The excitement and confidence that the arts projects bring to the children as they discover their talents not only give them huge pleasure but also promote a new found self-esteem that will help them on their path to adult hood. And, given the lack of further education available to most of them, the courses provide these naturally gifted kids with an opportunity for future careers in the arts and a means to escape  from the poverty trap in to which they have been born.

OUR WORK TO DATE 

Since our inception in 2006 we have held workshops in various non-state funded schools in Kenya, primarily in Nairobi, in the slums of Majengo,  Mathare and Kibera.  We also did hold some programmes in Nakuru, a town 4 hours north of Nairobi - and in Kikuyu, in the heart of the tea plantations just north of the capital.  However we have now centred our work in Kibera where the new arts centre is based but will continue some new outreach programmes in the future.

We started our programme in Northern Malawi  seven years ago and now have a team of five teachers working with over 800 children in two schools in the vicinity of the  northern city of Mzuzu.

Each year in both Kenya and Malawi, we hold performances and exhibitions of the children's work where they showed off the skills they learnt to their parents/ guardians and members of their communities.

Finally, in order that every penny we raise goes directly to  support the children, none of our European teachers are paid for their work. Only basic costs - economy fares  and subsistence- based communal living -  are funded by Anno's Africa. The teachers  volunteer their services and give us of their precious time for free - for the which we and all the kids who participate,  are extremely grateful.

Our Aim is to provide many benefits for the children who participate in the project, namely:-.        

• To teach them practical crafts which will greatly enhance their chances of paid work in the future. with particularly talented children moving on to Advanced Anno’s Africa workshops where they can learn more specific skills.

• To push them to explore their individual human potential and creativity in a much broader sense; who they are, what they think and believe, what they want for their futures. This raising of their self awareness and what they are capable of achieving will impact on and enhance every aspect of their lives, giving them the confidence and self esteem so that they can become young adults who can develop their own thoughts and beliefs and know how to be self-starting, ingenious and entrepreneurial.