Lupita Nyong’o, Kenyan Oscar
Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress, has urged
guardians to be supportive of children with an affinity for arts while
attributing her success in the film industry to a distinctive and motivational pattern that fanned her
passion.
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| Lupita shares a moment with students after a mentorship session at KICC |
Speaking to students and artists during a session dubbed “Arts in
Education” at the KICC; the Hollywood actress said she grew up in a community
that fosters creative self expression and around guardians who “validated her
dreams.”
“Without their constant and vigilant belief in me, I wouldn’t be where I
am…a dream can only be realised when it is validated. First by yourself and
then by those around you,” said Lupita.
The actress frowned upon the fact that “arts education is often
dismissed as non-essential” in Kenya and called on parents and teachers to
create room for children’s self realisation.
Reflecting back at the times that made her as an artiste, she credits
her teacher, the late Mutegi Njiru, and her debut role as a passerby in the
play Oliver Twist at Rusinga Schools as
an epochal moment that kicked off her life on stage.
Mutegi Njiru, an English teacher at Rusinga and an ardent thespian would
later die in the 1998 bombing of United States Embassy in
Nairobi. The following year, Rusinga would introduce the Mutegi Njiru Memorial
Shield to recognise students with exemplary contribution in the field of
theatrical arts. Lupita Nyong’o was the first to clench the award.
The
actress laid emphasis on reinforcing children’s abilities and talents as
opposed to imposing careers on students. “Self expression is the most pure part
of self; the part that yearns to communicate in a different way,” said Lupita.
On the
fringes of mentorship session Patricia Kariuki, a Head Teacher at Rusinga
Schools emphasized that guardians had an immense opportunity to up the chance
of a kid’s success if they understood from the onset that achievers are not
born but bred.
Lupita’s
sister, Esperanza Nyong’o, an alumni of Rusinga School says the fact that the
institution allowed her to freely exercise her talent saw her join the school’s
football team eventually pursue Sports Management at Real Madrid Graduate
School.
“If you
reward and recognise intelligence only, you are inadvertently telling your
child that only stature matters, that way you bring up a risk averse child. The
idea should be to recognise effort so that children learn to take risks, make
mistakes and take out lessons from their experiences,” said Patricia.
Lupita
also lauded the Government for its efforts in making Kenya an attractive
film-making destination through zero-rating film equipment and wooing Hollywood
to shoot movies in Kenya. Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario confirmed that
Richard Leakey’s story in the upcoming movie Africa, which features Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will be shot
mostly in Kenya.
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