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"Kenyans have lots of tribal issues and this is a boundary;
I am always teaching about not having boundaries"
- Moses Mbajah (Yogi-African Yoga Project)
Roundtable Films are part of the team that brought you the critically acclaimed and Sundance Film Festival double award winner Afghan Star, a documentary film about an American Idol style show in Afghanistan.
This year we are focusing our attention to the Yoga world with the film Yoga For Unity, a documentary film about how Yoga is bringing transformation to parts of Kenya long torn asunder by tribal violence, political strife and poverty. This is a story about young African yoga teachers who are changing their communities, and how they themselves being transformed in the process.
A child born into the slums of Nairobi walks an uphill path from the start. Tribal warfare. Endemic poverty. Violence. Disease. Lack of opportunity. It's been this way for a long time. The millions of Kenyans scraping by in these slums need so many basic things – security, sanitation, healthcare, jobs. It may seem that the last thing they need is yoga.
But one organization sees things very differently. The Africa Yoga Project (AYP) was founded in response to horrific violence that followed the contested 2007 presidential election. AYP has since grown into a vibrant community of unlikely yoga teachers, a haven of peace in a city ringed by some of the worlds largest slums.
These yogis were themselves victims of the same tribal violence and poverty that grips much of Kenya - that is, they were victims until yoga showed them a way out. Now you can find them venturing daily deep into the slums of Nairobi and into regions of Kenya seething with tribal discontent. The go out to soothe the wounds of war, to restore dignity robbed by poverty, and to march ever further from their own darkness into a life of possibility. Their work had taken on a new urgency as Kenya faces down what could be another era of violence: the 2012 elections are just around the corner, and they know that Kenya needs them -- now more than ever.
Their commitment to transformation is truly inspirational. This is why we're doing a documentary - the world needs to know about this better way.
The Africa Yoga Project was founded by Paige Elensen, an American yoga teacher who saw the magic and power of yoga as a vehicle for personal and community transformation. One of her primary teachers is Baron Baptiste, the founder of the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute. Baron's powerful blend of yoga practice, philosophy and transformational development work inspired Paige to see new possibilities and contribute to people in unimagined ways. Paige's early work in creating AYP in turn inspired Baron, who became a strong development partner and champion of the project, by leading training for students in Kenya, sponsoring students, encouraging volunteer participation, and providing significant financial and training support.
Roundtable films is partnering with Anthem Multimedia in America and Vivid Features in Nairobi to document this story as it happens. But we need your help! Please join our team and support the yogi's mission to beat back tribalism and violence with your donation. Every sponsor who donates $50/£31 or more will find a special thanks in the credits, and will receive a DVD of the final film.
Every sponsor who donates:
To thank you for donations of any amount, we will provide all donors with access to constant video updates so that you can follow the yoga teachers as they quest throughout Kenya for peace and healing.
Stand by for video updates… But for now, please enjoy our trailer for the film.
Thank you to everyone who has sent us donations so far!
We need sponsors to ensure that this film is completed and the good work of the AYP does not go unnoticed.
The aim is to raise £250,000 through funding by commissions from UK/US broadcasters and distributors as wll as crowd funding through our website; Facebook campaign and on sites setup for that purpose, such as IndieGoGo.
We also have a special rate for Kenyans. For every Kenyan sponsor who donates 1,000KSH we will offer a special thanks on the credits and access to the video updates on this site.
(Donations via our website are made through PayPal with a charge of 3.4%, at PayPal standard rate. T's & C's apply: All persons making contributions must be 16 years or older. All donations made will fund The Africa Yoga Project documentary. Yoga For Unity will pay for hire of personnel and equipment needed to make the documentary and will make no profits. All donations are kept in seperate account only to be used for the making of this film. Should the film not go ahead all remaining funds will go to The Africa Yoga Project. Service provided by Yoga For Unity Limited. Helpline 0207 836 5941)
Security & Privacy: Donations are processed through paypal. Your financial information will not be shared with Roundtable Films or the Africa Yoga Project. - PayPal. Safer. Simpler. Smarter.
If you are in the UK ONLY!. You can give £6 easily by texting "yoga" and your email to 64343. This grants you access to video updates of the yoga teachers on this website.
(Texts are charged at £6, plus standard network rate. Amount to be contributed: For £5 messages, is £3.95 for Vodafone, T-Mobile & Orange, 3.97 on Three, O2 and £2.87p on Virgin. For £1 messages, is 60p for Vodafone, T-Mobile & Orange, 62p on Three, 59p on O2 and 37p on Virgin. Yoga For Unity will pay for hire of personnel and equipment needed to make the documentary and will make no profits. All contributions are kept in separate account only to be used for the making of this film. Should the film not go ahead all remaining funds will go to The Africa Yoga Project. Service provided by Yoga For Unity Limited, GU34 5BX. Helpline 0207 836 5941)
For all the very latest news find us at:
On the 18th December 2010, yogis around the world took a stand for peace.
Three Yoga Flash Mobs happened in LA, London and Kenya in support for The Africa Yoga Project who are healing tribal boundaries in Kenya and the documentary that is following their story.
Yoga For Unity used the Emmanuel Jal track We Want Peace in their Flash Mob video to support peace in Sudan.
In return Emmanuel has become a patron for the documentary
"I enjoyed how Afghan Star used a pop idol style show, to communicate important topics on Afghanistan to the audience.
I believe that with Yoga For Unity we will learn interesting social issues about Kenya, using yoga as the vehicle."
"The practice of Baptiste yoga in its broadest sense – a powerful physical practice infused with principles of possibility and peace – causes deep transformation in individuals, and leads to strong positive change in communities.
I designed and evolved this practice and its underlying philosophy over many years to stimulate healing and create new possibilities on many levels; when people develop peace within themselves and a purpose for their lives, the natural next expression is creating peace with others – family, community, tribe and nation."
Provided the soundtrack 'We Want Peace' as used in the flash mob video
For the full version of update 1 video and access to more exclusive content, please donate in any amount
This footage was filmed in July 2010, in Nairobi.
A snapshot of some of the AYP Yoga teachers going out in and around the slum areas, in particular, in this update we follow Moses Mbajah, the coordinator of the AYP.
Faith in Huruma, April 2011 update.
This is a brand new update of Faith in her slum of Huruma where she teaches yoga and talks to her neighbours who've encountered tribal violence and hatred.
We hope to bring you further updates soon... The YFU team!
More updates on the progress of the Yogis
Age: 27
From: Kariobangi, Nairobi
Tribe: Luhya
When you meet Moses, you're struck by the clarity and gentleness of his presence. He's a natural leader and exudes goodness and cooperation. Physically, he's beautiful and strong, and his body language is eager, as if he is looking for an opportunity to be helpful. He is a powerful mentor and teacher to his peers, and has emerged as new director of the Africa Yoga Project. .Moses intends to take Yoga out to other towns in Kenya affected by the violence: Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru and Naivasha; the intention is to reach as many people affected, help them resolve their conflicts through Yoga in the hope that there will be no violence in 2012. Meanwhile, however, Moses struggles with a dark side that at times threatens everything he has worked a lifetime to achieve. Yoga for Moses is a way out, a way to truth, a way to connect with what's possible in his fellow countrymen and in himself.
Age: 20
From: Kariobangi, Nairobi
Tribe: Kikuyu
Margaret is a gorgeous young woman who comes across as very strong, often brash and loud, and very tough.This makes sense, given her life to this point: she comes from extreme poverty and privation, her brother is a glue-sniffing street kid, and she had become a thief and delinquent herself: she took part in the post-election violence in 2007 by looting and stealing.
Margaret has experienced a complete U-turn in her life. She attended a week-long yoga training with renowned yogi Baron Baptiste in April of 2009 and emerged a changed young woman. She now devotes herself to diffusing violence and hurt wherever she finds it. She soothes HIV-positive female inmates during bi-monthly yoga classes in a Nairobi prison, and has made it her personal mission to diffuse tribal tensions before the upcoming 2012 election. She works for peace in her country, as she works for peace within herself.
Age: 29
From: Huruma, Nairobi
Tribe: Kikuyu
Faith, another AYP instructor, witnessed her Kikuyu's neighbors' homes go up in flames at the hands of the Luo. She has stared at death from the wrong side of a machete. But when she looks into the moon faces of her two young children, she finds the courage to face down thugs and gangsters with nothing more than her yoga teachings to guide her. Watch as she turns a Mungiki ganster away from his weapons toward a practice of peace - towards yoga.
Age: 27
From: Coast (now lives in Nairobi)
Tribe: Mijikenda
Musa is on the surface a very sunny and positive person. He is incredibly articulate, very funny and open and is a bit older than the other students. But any light must contend with darkness, and Musa has had his share of struggle. His best friends turned their backs on him because they thought yoga was a religion, and that it conflicted with their Muslim beliefs. He himself struggles with the discipline of body and spirit that yoga demands, but remains convinced that through self-discipline, war will cease.
