Ten teenage dancers from one of the roughest slums in Kenya will visit York next month, thanks to the charity efforts of a city shop owner.
Jeremy Piercy, who owns Shared Earth in Petergate, has been raising money for the past two years to help youngsters in the Mathare slum in Nairobi. His charity, Walk Against Crime, supports a community project in the slum, giving young people an alternative to crime and he is now set to welcome a group to York. It will be the first time the teenagers have been more than 15 miles from their homes in the Kenyan capital. They will perform in York from August 5 to 12, sponsored by the charity.
The project in Mathare organises football and dance classes to help keep youngsters away from crime in an area where violence, drug abuse and prostitution are severe problems. Thi Vu from the charity said: “The lives of more than 200 young people have been changed through dance, football and education.
“Not only does the project keep young people from going into crime, but it also helps to rehabilitate criminals.”
Success stories include a teenager called Milton who had been a notorious gangster in the slum, but who became the manager of a jewellery workshop employing 30 people.
Seven of the 10 dancers have enrolled in a computer college in Nairobi for a 3 month course funded by the charity.
Mr Piercy visited Kenya in 2011 and was so impressed by the dancers that he invited a group to come to Britain to perform and raise awareness of the effect of poverty in much of Kenya. He has since been working to raise about £25,000 to fund the trip, including through coast-to-coast sponsored walks.
In York, the group will perform in a concert at the Spurriergate Centre on the evening of August 10 and they hope to busk in the city centre several times during the week.
Visits to York Maze, Whitby and the Jorvik Centre are also planned, and they are likely to meet the Lord Mayor.
