Lupita has shown the way, talent can help the youth achieve their potential

Oftentimes, the role that talent plays in self-advancement is lost or underestimated in a culture that emphasises achievement in education, as happens in Kenya.

Yet, the role of education, ideally, ought to be to nurture all-round individuals in the sense that they are functionally literate and can conduct their affairs in relative comfort because they have the requisite skills.

In the Kenyan public culture, however, education has been touted as the only key that can open the doors of prosperity. This is true for a vast majority, but it is not the whole truth because, as many individuals in business and sport have demonstrated, one can get ahead in life purely on the strength of a talent, a special capability, or sheer discipline.

Because achievement in education has taken a larger-than-life role in the public psyche, children are compelled to regard it as the only arena where success and achievement are considered worthwhile. Therefore, those who do not make it, even when they are endowed with other talents, are made to feel like second class citizens as their parents agonise about how to get them to secure places in the next level of education.

Yet in other cultures such as in Canada and some European nations, the role of the teacher — and to a great extent the parent — is to identify a child’s strongest areas and build on them from early in life so that by the time they are young adults, they have achieved a measure of success — and financial independence — largely or solely by exploiting their skills and talents.

NOT THE FIRST KENYAN

And this is where Lupita Nyong’o, the Kenyan actress who has conquered the film industry, comes in. Through her industry and many years of staying the course, Lupita has made it to the big stage.

She may not be the first Kenyan to have gone in search of greener pastures in Hollywood, but she is now without a doubt the most visible.

Lupita’s story of tenacity is akin to the legend of the person who became “an overnight success” after many years of struggle, invisible for all the time but celebrated in the hour of glory.

She is a product of Nairobi’s National Theatre. Until the East African Breweries said it would spend some cash to rehabilitate it as part of Kenya’s golden jubilee celebrations, the theatre was run-down, thanks to a combination of factors, including impunity, corruption, and neglect.

But because it has produced an artiste who has made it to the very top in her field, it ought to attract renewed attention as a place that can nurture future stars and help many others to earn decent livelihoods from the arts.

Because of the nurturing that the theatre provided, and also because of her own industry and determination, Lupita has made it possible for Kenya to dream about the possibility of one of her own winning an Oscar.

NUMEROUS SOULS

The first time it happened in India, when Slumdog Millionaire won, or when the South African film, Tsotsi, achieved the same feat, the success appeared to be dreams made in another world because they had not won in the foreign film category, but in the mainstream after competing with the best that there was. Now, Kenya could have its moment of glory too if the gods of creativity and achievement smile on Lupita.

But the point that needs to be taken home as we wait with bated breath for that big day is that there are numerous souls — many of them young — for whom this dream is not too far. All they need is encouragement. But before they can become world conquerors, they will need to prove their mettle at home, just as Lupita did. And for them to do that, they will need to be involved in more productions.

Of course, a lot of investment needs to be made for this to happen and it must be accompanied by public education campaigns aimed at getting the viewing public to be willing to spend money to watch a local production instead of choosing pirated DVDs.

The bottom line for policymakers is that we need a system that makes it possible for talented individuals to profit from their skills and a willingness among those who are entrepreneurs to invest in such ventures. It has happened with the music and boxing industries in the US. Will it happen in performing arts?

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