STORY: Chinese-trained Kenyan acrobatics coach passing life-long skills to local youth
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 9/Nov. 21/Dec. 9, 2023
DATELINE: Dec. 14, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:13
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: SOCIETY/CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Kavita training students
2. various of Kavita showing documents and photos that he had in China
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): MATHIAS KAVITA, Kenyan acrobatics coach
3. file photos from Guangzhou Acrobatic Troupe of China
4. various of Kavita training students
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MATHIAS KAVITA, Kenyan acrobatics coach
6. various of acrobatic performances
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): ERIC MUSYOKA, Acrobatics trainee
8. various of Kavita training Liu Libo
9. SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): LIU LIBO, Chinese working in Kenya
10. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): MATHIAS KAVITA, Kenyan acrobatics coach

STORYLINE:

Mathias Kavita, 52, went to China to study acrobatics at an early age under a China-Kenya cooperation agreement.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): MATHIAS KAVITA, Kenyan acrobatics coach
"They were to choose only a few out of over 200 people who were selected, they wanted only 24 students to go for that training. So I was lucky I was amongst the 24."

Several years later, Kavita came back to Kenya accompanied by his Chinese instructors, and the acrobatics training went on, paving the way for his mastery of an unexplored art in his motherland.

In the mid-1990s, Kavita started his own venture, Sarakasi Dome, a performing arts hall located in downtown Nairobi.

More than 1,000 people have benefitted from Kavita's training.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MATHIAS KAVITA, Kenyan acrobatics coach
"I think from the day I arrived in Kenya, I started being a coach at that age, because many people wanted to learn what I had learned in China. Many people wanted me to teach them what we had learned in China."

One such youth is Eric Musyoka, who enrolled for acrobatics lessons in 2017.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): ERIC MUSYOKA, Acrobatics trainee
"I met Mathias in 2017. He was the first one to teach me gymnastics and acrobatics. I never knew what I was doing can take you to places you can never imagine in life. If our coach was doing this, then even we should do at least better than him."

Liu Libo, a 34-year-old Chinese working in Kenya, has been attending acrobatics lessons conducted by Kavita, to the surprise of many. 

Liu feels that the lessons have offered him a platform to interact freely with local communities and appreciate their cultures.

SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): LIU LIBO, Chinese working in Kenya
"When we greet in the morning, he (Kavita) says 'good morning' in Chinese. They also teach me Swahili. During my communication with them, I found that both of our cultures are full of diversity, which we can learn from each other."

SOUNDBITE 5 (English): MATHIAS KAVITA, Kenyan acrobatics coach
"For me, what I am doing now, I'm merging Chinese skills with African skills to be one and come out with something unique. We mingle all these things to be one, to show the connection, the unity, this culture and this culture into one and come out a new thing."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)