A Grassroots Miracle!


hElLo AlL...

Today we are pleased to announce that AYC will soon be undertaking a United States based fundraising and awareness tour. AYC Co-Founders (John, Tesfaye and Meshu) will be presenting at events in NY, MA, CO, RI, CA, PA, etc. In what could be considered a "grassroots miracle" we actually got visas for Tesfaye and Meshu! To read more about the tour or donate in order to help us continue to make this grassroots miralce happen click on the following AYC US Tour Letter

Also today we would like to do a little thing we call "Instant Awassa"...the following two pictures were taken this afternoon here in sunny Awassa, first it is the progress on the first paved, public basketball court in Ethiopia. We are amazingly on schedule for the big opening next week! Take a look....






Also, today One Love was training for next weeks progam where they will debut a new show that addresses feelings and emotions behind HIV/AIDS as opposed to direct messages. Here they are today, training away....



Finally, we thought we would leave you today with a picture capturing a common mode of One Love transport....



One Love, One Fight.

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Posted by Jkayo at 9/16/2008 5:44 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
The Face of Famine

gReEtInGs WoRlD...

We hope this finds you well, safe and not believing the hype. Ethiopia has been making the news, again, these days amid fears of famine in South Western part of the country. Much of the media surrounding these stories is accompanied by the go-to images of suffering, despair, etc. Pretty simple: hunger is not a happy thing. However, as some of you may know we recently visited South West Ethiopia as part of the "One Zany Blossoming Love" Tour. And, we can say this seeing the fields of stunted, brown, wilting maize is like witnessing a fatal car crash in slow motion. However, despite this people there are very much still alive, and, amazingly enough giving the opportunity are more than willing to smile. While a smile can not be equated to food in times of hunger, it is a source of strength, it is proof that you are still alive. Thus, today we offer you a bit of a different image of famine and simply say FAMINE IS HAPPENING ONLY BECAUSE WE LET IT...



...the follwoing photo is one of reasons people were smiling that day...





Finally today, we have a bit of EXCELLENT AYC news...first, yesterday with the much-appreciated assistance of the Awassa City Administration we managed to secure permission for the Awassa Basketball park. Yes, it is already under construction but that is another story. Second, yesterday was graduation here at AYC, a class of 6 kids, whom let's just say life gave them a rough deal, finished a summer tutorial program here. The class was faciltated by both International and Ethiopian volunteers. For their hard work AYC will pay their schools fees, provide supplies and also offer a lunch program for the new students. PLEASE NOTE we have yet to secure the funds for this, if you are interested in helping us out with this (or with any of our programs for that matter) just let us know. We leave you today with the happy graduates....



One Love, One Fight.

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Posted by Jkayo at 9/6/2008 9:59 AM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
History in the Making...

gReEtInGs...

Good morning from beautiful Awassa, Ethiopia. Today's blog is the first glimpse of a what we consider to be small, yet significant, bit of history in the making here. Namely this week we broke ground on what will be Ethiopia's first paved, hence proper, public basketball court! Thank you to all those whom made this dream a reality.






Finally, today there is a couple more photos of what was also a bit of "history in the making" a couple weeks ago. Namely, our theater tour to the Omo valley. It was history for two reasons 1) to the best of our knowledge no one has taken a production of this scale and provided it to people there for FREE and 2) the majority of visitors to Omo mainly travel their to people watch, take some photos and leave, this tour was about giving back to the people of the Omo, even if it was just a smile. Yes people, this is what CAN be done.







One Love, One Fight.

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Posted by Jkayo at 8/30/2008 11:48 AM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
ONE ZANY BLOSSOMING LOVE, pt. 4
hElLo WoRlD...

We continue today with some more pics of last week's tour. While the photos are great they can't really do justice to the magic of the tour. Life remains very vivid, undiluted in the Omo and the tour seemed to reflect this.

One the road...



...anxiously awaiting the first show of the tour....



...a big, blue-sky finish...



One Love, One Fight.


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Posted by Jkayo at 8/21/2008 10:55 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
ONE ZANY BLOSSOMING LOVE, pt. 3

gReEtInGs OnE lOvE pEoPlE...

We freshly back from the road, namely the "ONE ZANY BLOSSOMING LOVE" tour. A 1-week journey that took us to Ethiopia's remote, historic and jaw-droppingly beautiful Omo Valley, home to some of the most unique and stunning people's on the planet. With a cast and crew of 34 we piled into a bus and made the 2-day journey to Jinka, the capital of the Omo Valley. There and along the way we performed 7 shows for over 12,000 people!!! All performances were performed with a live band, free of charge and conducted in venues such as town squares and market places. It is safe to say that majority of audiences had never seen anything like this in their lives and, thus, were gracious, respectful and fun. Even in places were the quality of life could be a "bit" better, smiles filled the audiences. The tour concluded with a packed-house performance in Addis Ababa's historic Hagar Feker theater. Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the audiences, artists and donors who mad this truly unique opportunity possible. There will be more photos to come this week.

A tour map (South Western Ethiopia), yellow is our route...



...travelling takes it's toll...



...though luckily there was no shortage of scenery...



....nearly 40 hours were spent in the bus but there was also some flying too...



stay tuned....

One Love, One Fight.

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Posted by Jkayo at 8/18/2008 5:20 PM | View Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
ONE ZANY BLOSSOMING LOVE, pt. 2

gReEtInGs EaRtHlInGs...

We are in the midst of a workshop this week. Though not the kind of typical workshop that merely brings together a bunch of so-called "experts" to discuss their mistakes only to repeat them at a higher pay scale. Oh no. This is a different workshop, it is a ONE ZANY BLOSSOMING LOVE workshop. Bringing together 3 different groups (One Love, Fikat Circus, Zany Umbrella Circus) to collaborate on a special show that we will take on tour to Ethiopia's historic Omo Valley next week! Fun. Today we debuted the show to a great response at a nearby school for an audience of manily children, the best critics possible. Here is a sneed peak of the past week of training, show pics to come soon...












One Love, One Fight.

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Posted by Jkayo at 8/8/2008 4:38 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
"ONE ZANY BLOSSOMING LOVE"
gOoD pEoPlE...

We hope this finds you sturdy. Two very important things to mention on this Thursday Blog. The first is this Saturday we will begin the "One Zany Blossoming Love" workshop and tour. Let me explain. The workshop will bring together 3 circus groups...the Zany Umbrella Circus(www.zanyumbrellacircus.com) , Fikat Circus (Addis Ababa), and One Love Theater...together to create a show that we then will take on a tour across Ethiopia! Culminating with a show at the historic Hagar Feker Theater in Addis Ababa on the afternoon of Saturday, August 16th. Oh, Fikat means "blossoming" in Amharic...hence ONE ZANY BLOSSOMING LOVE. More to come, be assured.

Secondly, this morning One Love travelled to Yirba (about 45 km outside of Awassa) and performed in the market for a very excited and excellent audience of over 1,000 people! As always, the show was performed with live music and, if nothing else, seemed to make everyone involved smile. It looked like this, only better...







One Love, One Fight.


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Posted by Jkayo at 7/31/2008 5:10 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
A Mornings Wurk...

wOrLd...

Today. Morning. Bus. Market. People. Theater. Circus. Music. Art. Smiles.





















One Love. One Fight.


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Posted by Jkayo at 7/23/2008 4:27 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
AYC Event!, pt. 2

hElLo FrOm SuNnY/rAiNy AwAsSa....

Last Friday, July 4th, AYC organized a 3+ hour extravaganza aimed at celebrating the end of school, hope, endurance, life, etc. We would like to thank all the artists and youth whom made it possible. Beyond that let the photos do the talking...



















One Love. One Fight.

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Posted by Jkayo at 7/15/2008 5:10 PM | View Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
AYC Community Event!

gOoD pEoPlE...

We hope this finds you all well in your respective niches of the World. Last Friday, July 4th, we had the first AYC Community Event. Held at the park located in front of AYC, it included aikido demonstrations, a One Love Theater performance, several talented youth musicans and Fikat Circus from Addis Ababa. Despite torrential rains and power outages over 1,000 people attended the 3-hour event!!!! The following photos give an idea what it takes to make something like this happen. Hopefully soon we should have some photos of the show. For now, enjoy...







One Love, One Fight.