Categories: Lifestyle

Tanzanian Acrobatic School Thrives, Provides Bright Future for Students

In Tanzania, acrobatics has its place in society as a popular pastime and career, and Mama Africa school serves this need by instructing the youth in the art of acrobatics. Here, one can see photos of the Zimbabwean school founder Winston Ruddel‘s school, which offers a dynamic view of the Mama Africa experience.

During U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama‘s 2013 trip to Dar es Salaam, one of the chief ways she and her family were entertained was with a youth performance of acrobatics by Baba wa Watoto dance group.

Watch Baba wa Watoto dance group perform here:

The performance is indicative of the love many Tanzanians have for acrobatics, which explains why when Ruddel (pictured below), a circus performer, decided to look for young acrobats for a

School founder, circus performer Winston Ruddel

performance he was holding in America, he came straight to Tanzania.

“I was offered a contract in Las Vegas for a circus show, so I came to Tanzania to find youngsters with some good basics of acrobatics.”

But, according to Ruddel, the Americans didn’t like the boys’ performance, so he was compelled to find them other jobs as acrobats — and this brought unexpected opportunity for all.

“We put a show together, but the Americans didn’t like the boys. I had already promised them a contract, so I started to look for jobs for them.

“In the end, we got so much work that I had to open an acrobats’ school to meet the demand. It went from a small mistake to a big success.”

To date, the school, which was founded in 2003, has trained more than 300 students who train during holidays, weekends, and after school. And while the school isn’t funded by the government or privately, all students are ensured a plate of food by the day’s end.

Mama Africa alumni and teacher Ally Kibwana Ally says of his experience, “For me, getting involved with Mama Africa meant that I was able to make a living out of my skills. I have toured the world and learned a lot from my experiences abroad. I am now passing that knowledge to other students so they can have the same chances I had.”

See photos of Mama Africa students and trainers here:

Mama Africa students

13 photos

Mama Africa School Empowers Through Acrobatics

Abena Agyeman-Fisher

Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Face2Face Africa. Most recently, she worked for Interactive One as the Senior Editor of NewsOne, she worked for AOL as the News Programming Manager of Black Voices, which later became HuffPo Black Voices, and for the New York Times Company as an Associate Health Editor. Abena, a Spelman College graduate, has been published in Al Jazeera, the Daily Beast, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, the Grio, BlackVoices, West Orange Patch, About.com, the Source, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Jane, and Upscale Magazines. She has interviewed top celebrities, icons, and politicians, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Civil Rights activist and diplomat Andrew Young, comedian Bill Cosby, Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott, actress and singer Queen Latifah, Olympic Gold winner Cullen Jones, international supermodel Alek Wek, and five-division world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. Most recently, she served as the First Lady’s press reporter during President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Summit, Young African Leaders Institute event, and the 2013 presidential trip to Senegal, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tanzania. Abena is also a 2015 International Women's Media Foundation Africa Great Lakes Fellow, where she reported on women candidates and Chinese sweatshops in Tanzania for CNN and Refinery29.