Allkidsshouldplay

It started around the fireplace in september 2010. I was chatting with 2 dutch people about the things they were trying to achieve by starting a lodge and doing lots of projects with the local community. It was a miracle that I had these conversations as I had a severe fear of height when I came into the Usambara mountains in Tanzania.

I stopped in Lushoto and felt like I didn’t wanna go anywhere else at that time. The locals were trying to convince me I should go further into the mountains as there was a beautiful thing happening 60 kilometer up the road. My fear of height,was one reason to object, but also the people that were doing ‘that beautiful thing’ were dutch and why would I go and visit dutch people in a faraway country.

However, I was convinced and compromised to my travelpartner as long as we would not travel by bus anymore. So I paid for the taxi and off we went.

Somehow I was impressed with how these two people were enthusiastic about what they were doing, in the same way you can be inspired by a band that can talk about how their music is so unique even though you feel you have seen it all before. As long as people are enthusiastic and genuine, I may be sold. And here that was certainly the case.

So when the topic was about doing something theatrical, as that was one of the things they were missing from home. I suggested that it may be a good idea to do something with children as a start, as there were about 2500 kids under 14 years of age, at a total population of 5000 people. And about 10 minutes later I promised I would help set it up somehow and it was gonna be a circus.

With no background in circus I figured I would just find people who doe and then convince them to head over there and set it up. So I talked to people about it, I was directed in various ways to people who did run circus or had been involved in the past or knew people who knew. Everyone was very excited about the idea. But when it came to saying “yeah I’ll go” it remained very quiet.

So with my background in music and in sports after 2 years I decided to just buy some unicycles and do it myself. The 2 dutch people already found someone who would wanne be the teacher, so all I had to do is teach him how to teach those tricks that I would be able to come up with. Unicycling, juggling, acrobatics and walking on stilts to name a few.

So it started in the beginning of 2013 with about 15 kids who remained after the first few weeks. I was there pretty much 2 times a year for a few weeks in the first 2 years, a couple months in the beginning of 2015 and pretty much full time from december 2015 onwards.

I found a way to combine it with Smoeff where I had others do the physical work at home, the testing of amps, reskinning of drums, the meet and greet with bands at the airport, deal with annoying people at customer service of some postal service when bands send merch again ‘as promo’ and get back back on the road after their van had been broken down.

I just did all the initial communication, a few hours a day when lucky and up to 8 hours when busy, but apart from that had me hands free to set up this exciting event deep in the mountains.

It is exciting to start something from scratch and then slowly see it evolve into something which you would have not expected. But not having these expectations actually makes it possible that anything can happen. The moment I thought ‘oh now this is gonna happen next’ it went wrong and these things didn’t happen. But what did happen?

Some of the older kids have become teachers at the circus themselves now. Some of them are now helping a local artist to do drawing lessons at the local primary schools and decorate the classrooms with the kids at the schools. Some kids had been coming at the lodge once a week to learn about cooking in the western way and then ended up working at the lodge when there was shortage of staff and when it was very busy. They also cook for the circus kids now when we are on a full day or multiple day trip. One boy, sadi, started cycling with me about a year ago and then was invited to do a race in Arusha, was going out with some tourists on three day biking-trips and soon will be starting to do a 2 year bike repair course combined with english lessons, cycling-training and lessons in entrepreneurship so that after the 2 year he can start his own business.

The newest thing on our plate is that I noticed that loads of kids are out in the streets at a very young age and basically not do much. I felt we needed to do something with them. 4 year olf kids were looking after their 1 or 2 year old brothers and sisters, taking responsibilities that we in the western world cannot comprehend. In that way simply not be a child anymore, but instead a very young responsible person.

Then someone was telling me he read some studies about why such a high percentage of children drop out of school in places like ours. There are many reasons, but the lack of confidence and the lack of rolemodels are two internal reasons. Turns out that the lack of self confidence starts in the age of 4 to 8.

So I got the last little push to actually start playing with kids. Things kind of fell into place. We had the rolemodels, I wanted to avoid that these rolemodels would move to bigger cities as there wasn’t any jobs for them locally. And they had the skill already to teach and coach.

Apart from my personal involvement there is also a Smoeff involvement. First of all we have donated about 5000 euro every year since 2013 to finance the projects and to build a house in which volunteers can stay when they are over. Secondly we have shipped a container with musical equipment that was given to us by befriended musicians and that was paid by us a few bands that donated records that we sold for it. Thirdly Rogier came to Tanzania in januari 2016 to make music with the kids before doing his own tour through the country.

Smoeff was started in 2000 by me as I was “inbetween jobs”. I wanted to tour with NoMeansNo and rent out that equipment that I had for a while and then see what I would go and do afterwards. But afterwards never came, as Smoeff did well and now we work with 200 bands a year or so. It was never planned this way though, so the fact that we do so well just means I have the finances to do this thing on the side.

This year however, the natural progression of the circus and everything that is coming out of it is getting a little bit too big for me to pay for. So for the first time I am trying to find people / institutions who can help me.

This is what it will cost me in 2017

• The teachers of the circus 1000 euro
• The teachers of the street playing 2000 euro
• Material for the two activities maybe 1000-1500 euro
• Sending Sadi to Arusha, housing and living costs 600 euro (then 1200 in 2018)
• Food for all the circuskids when they come and practice, and pay the kids who cook for them 3000-3500 euro
• Washable sanitation pads for all girls in secundary school, so that they don’t have to stay home every month when they have their period 1200 euro (and 500 euro every year after for the newcomers)

The last two items are inspired by experience. We found a way to make washable sanitation pads that would last for at least 4 years and have a group of women who run a medical clinic voluntarily make these (as a way to support them) and we are trying to have some of the circus girls sell them and educate other girls about them.

The fidea of the food for all the kids was based on the last month before I went home again late april. I invited all the kids in groups to come and eat at the lodge and saw how they were fighting about who was gonna be allowed first. It made me think about the fact that a lot of these kids often have just one meal a day, and often that would be very basic. To have food before practice every saturday and sunday would mean they would be even happier kids, but it would also mean more kids would be able or willing to come to the circus. The food would be an incentive.

So what can the bands we work with do? First of all, keep renting gear from us off course. If we are able to maintain the quality and quantity we supply now, we will most likely be able to keep putting the 5000 euro a year into this. Secondly we are open to any kind of sponsorship that a tour could create. Like doing a special tour shirt, a 7″ or anything else from which the proceeds would go to this, or a special item that is rare and you wanna donate for us to sell somehow. Or whatever other idea you can come up with, surprise us!

And no! We are not asking anything from anyone, we know that most bands we work with are no big money making entities. That is why we are still asking for the same prices for what we do as we did in 2002. However, we are in the lucky position that we can afford to do this. And when I talk to bands about what I do in Tanzania and why I spend so much time there, it felt like a good idea to throw this story out in the open and put it on the website.