John Shilitsa
8 March 2008
Nairobi — Juggling two trades can be a tricky affair. Not so for Peter Chitambe.
The office messenger in Mumias town always finds time to join his Dramadama theatre group at the local Nabbing grounds to entertain a big crowd that, by noon every Friday, is seated and ready for action.
Comedians Chitambe and colleagues Geoffrey Ashioya, Cassia Abubakari and Leonard Sill founded the drama club in 2003 shortly after secondary school. The name is an acronym for drama for development and marketing awareness.
The four were active members of school drama clubs and led cheering groups at sports meetings. This explains the healthy relationship five years years later.
Their teachers who had noticed their potential often encouraged them to develop it. "When I left school and realized that I could not be admitted to university, I thought it wise to exploit my talent," Chitambe says.
As luck would have it, what the Dramadama thespians were doing impressed an NGO, Family Health International (FHI), so much that it sponsored them for a three-month course to hone their skills.
"During the crash programme, we majored in magnet theatre, a course that helped us to hone our skills in preparing thrilling skits and plays because our trainers were experts in that field," adds Chitambe.
Satisfied with the progress the group had made, FHI helped them to perform as a volunteer group across Western province, highlighting social issues such as HIV/Aids and female circumcision and suggesting solutions.
Ms Stella Juma, an FHI facilitator, says she noticed the youngsters' talent and gave them the opportunity to develop it for the local community's benefit.
Chitambe says Ms Juma became a role model to the group and "every one of us worked so hard to emulate her."
FHI paid Chitambe and his colleagues Sh400 each a day after a string of performances in the region. However, the deal came to an abrupt end and Dramadama became dormant for some time.
An organisation called Population Services International (PSI), which had watched Chitambe and his team on stage, entered into an agreement with them to sensitise the community on the dangers of malaria and to educate local people on the causes and prevention methods.
This was yet another opportunity for the group to prove themselves. They made more fans as they traversed the region visiting schools, market centres and churches to inform the people about the killer disease.
Then came the election campaigns last year when each of them was hired by different politicians to entertain crowds during their party rallies.
Committed to developing his talent, Chitambe embarked on producing a solo debut CD comprising several short plays. From his little savings, he hired experts to take footages of the work and edit it.
Chitambe, whose stage name is Kamaliza, says the CD should be ready later this month.
"I know its contents will be appealing to my fans and everybody else watching it," he says.
The CD, titled Majizi Fresh (sober jokers) contains eight short plays which he believes will steer him up the ladder.
Lack of funds has always been a major setback and the comedian calls upon well-wishers to help the youngsters to exploit their talent. But Chitambe is upbeat that he will soon be an accomplished comedian.
Besides, he plans to go for further studies as he produces more CDs for college fees and his family's upkeep.
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