Have you found your calling yet?

Peter Bwire has an ambitious quest for youth unity. The 26-year old Theatre Arts and Film Technology graduate of Kenyatta University believes that to contain the many ills that are almost synonymous with youth in Kenya today, this group should embrace unity and responsible living.

Peter, a volunteer peer communicator, is the founder of Dots Village, a platform that brings together upcoming Christian artists to showcase their works, such as music, drama, drawing, poetry and film.  Peter works in partnership with churches, orgnisations and schools, to organise art workshops, and uses these gatherings to propagate among participants the values of oneness and discipline in their artistic undertakings.

 “With our various ambitions as young people, we are like dots. My aim therefore is to bring together the dots to build a strong community. My greatest joy is when communities grow together in harmony and love,” he says.

In December 2016, Peter successfully mobilised Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) church in Roysambu to support a two-day art forum that brought together more than 500 youth from across Kenya. The event also attracted gospel musicians, professionals and officials from various county governments.

What exactly compelled him to take this path?

“My secondary school education was a fragmented stay between home and school for lack of school fees. I was always behind my classmates. At one point in 2010, I stayed at home for nearly a term due to lack of school fees. I did not think that I would sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams.”

SEED OF COMPASSION

This critical moment pushed Peter into intense self-evaluation, constantly interrogating his purpose. Just when he was at a breaking point, he met his mentor, who, besides paying his school fees, anchored him on the plane of what he would eventually do in life: advocating for unity. 

“Pastor Dawson Mudenyo introduced me to youth leadership activities such as mentorship, Bible courses, and concerts, and gradually, I became actively involved with community outreach programmes in Kitale, where I grew up. He was and still is a father figure to me.”

Before joining Kenyatta University, Peter volunteered as a peer communicator at Chanuka Youth Group, a project of Handicap International that promotes behaviour change among people through sensitisation programmes on health issues. In 2011, he joined Imani Radio in Kitale as a gospel presenter. 

“I have been a volunteer since I completed high school. Voluntary work sowed a seed of compassion in me. It is something from which I draw tremendous gratification.”

His leadership acumen is hard to miss. In 2014, then the chairperson of Kenyatta University Performing Artistes Association, the university selected him for a student work induction programme (SWIP) and placed him on internship at Seven Seas Technologies Group.

“Mike Macharia, the CEO, reinforced my desire for transformation of the youth during my internship at the organisation. I decided it was what I want to do,” says Peter.

In 2015, Peter took part in the making of Angles of my Face, a short film directed by Manu Maina whose thematic message was hope in the face of turbulence. He was the production designer.

The film received wide acclaim, showing at IMAX and at the Zanzibar International Festival, where it was voted the Best East African Short Film in 2015.

In January 2017, PAC University unveiled a discipleship programme where university-bound students are taken through a rigorous training on Christian values, social behaviour and academic integrity as they prepare for life in college. Peter was put in charge of this year’s 85 participants, all due to join various universities starting mid this year.

“From drug abuse, radicalisation and sex at an early age, young students are introduced into an almost lawless world that quickly erodes their ideals if they do not get proper guidance,” says Peter, adding that PAC University started the initiative to open up the minds of the students, and to offer a glimpse of what they should expect when they join college.

While Peter’s journey after college seems like a pleasure cruise, he maintains that discipline, responsibility, and a quest for excellence have been the plank in his rise within the ranks of youth leadership, attributes he says were inculcated in him by his parents while growing up.

YOUNG LEADERS

“Being entrusted to guide my peers through such a fragile and important transition in their life demands sobriety. It is a sensitive role that requires not only maturity, but lots of patience as well.”

Even internationally, Peter’s youth unifying efforts have not gone unnoticed. The Mandela Washington Fellowship selected him among thousands of other young leaders across the continent to participate in this year’s edition in Washington DC, Starting June 16 to August 3 this year.

The Fellowship is a project of the US government through the Young African Leaders Initiative. To become a fellow, one must have a proven record of leadership and accomplishment in public service, business and entrepreneurship, or civic engagement.

This person must also demonstrate a strong commitment to public or community service, volunteerism, or mentorship.

Peter hopes that the interactions with young leaders like him will yield more possibilities and insights with which he intends to use to run his platform.

Currently, Peter and his team are working on a feature-length film that will recap Kenya’s leadership journey. “Leadership, religious or political, is an integral ingredient of the well-being of our country.

The film will be a reflection on our journey so far, and also a beacon of where we are heading. The objective is to help us understand our intended role as the Christian art community in leadership and governance. We hope to complete the project by April 2018.”