Vinspired volunteer snapper Dwiko Arie gave the Lake of Stars crew a tip of an artist they should be looking out for. Tamanda Walker came in to chat through all things inspirational with Rosie our core volunteer at vLOS towers. We ended up getting her to volunteer her talents for our Rich Mix gig on April 7 and at the festival in October. Watch out for Tamanda in 2010…
"Volunteering gives you a sense of who you are and what you have to offer the world no matter what walk of life you are from..."
An Introduction to Tamanda Walker...
"I’m originally from Botswana, and am currently in the process of setting up some volunteer arts and music based projects over there. I’ve set up a non profit company called Creative Planet, and the main aim is to go and create performance opportunities for artists out in Botswana, and also to run a series of workshops related to music production, performance and even dance. The idea is eventually to run an arts based exchange project so that we can get artists from the UK and Southern Africa collaborating and increase exposure for the arts in Southern Africa here in the UK."
Have you ever done any volunteering?
"Yes, I’ve done a fair amount of volunteering– I’ve performed for charities and at one event in particular for a charity called Gua Africa at Cargo in Shoreditch. The event was run by an artist and friend of mine called Emmanuel Jal. Emmanuel was a child soldier in Sudan, and he was taken away from his parents to fight in the war when he was barely old enough to hold a gun. Fortunately, he was rescued from that situation by a British Aid worker and taken to school in Kenya before eventually coming over to the UK. His albums are about his childhood and experiences in Sudan, and growing up with the tension between Muslim and Christian religions and all the issue that goes with that. He’s put the money into setting up a school, the Emma Foundation, for other children in Leer, Southern Sudan. They are basically working to help less privileged young people get a better education and a better start to life."
"I think volunteering is huge really. I grew up in Botswana, so a slightly different culture, but I’ve always had the British influence as my dad’s British. All the way through school, from a really young age, we always had to do afternoon activities with a community service element – along with sport and arts– which meant we went out and volunteered at our local charity, or worked with AIDS orphans. I’m really fortunate because thankfully, I've never had to struggle like Emmanual or so many others, but I think we all have a lot to learn from volunteering. It gives you a sense of who you are and what you have to offer the world no matter what walk of life you are from – it helps you appreciate what you’ve got. It’s also about knowing there’s more to life than the everyday stuff you get caught up in living in a big city – the tube not running, being somewhere on time, your boss giving you loads of work – there’s more to life I think. And you don’t have to have money to volunteer because often time is the most precious thing a person can give. It’s also about just getting to meet people and learning from them, whilst you volunteer."
What do you think of the work of vinspired?
"I’ve heard a lot about the work that vinspired are doing and I think that there’s definitely a sense of community in this country but, you know there is always more work to be done and often I think we could do more as members of the great British public. I think it’s really great that people like vinspired are pushing for more and making the call for community heard, making young people feel as if they have got a purpose and something to give back. So often you meet young people who maybe haven’t got a job, or aren’t in education and they maybe don’t realise that they may have a really good way with people and that they do have a skill to share, that they have something to give the world as well. They maybe don’t know until they try something new. So I think young people getting involved with vinspired is really good for confidence building. And now, more than ever, with a recession it also looks great on your CV!"
What do you think of vLOS?
"I think vinspired Lake of Stars is really doing what it should do for Southern Africa. I think it’s such an untouched territory and there’s so much to be done there. LOS is one of the biggest festivals in Africa, it’s great. There’s huge amounts of music and culture in Africa, but there’s not so much in terms of official infrastructure in so many countries, so vLOS is what’s needed. The more things like vLOS that start to crop up, the better things will be for Africa. vLOS has already paved the way for more festivals, meaning more interest, more people going out and experiencing a beautiful continent, more performance and more awareness in the UK about the real Africa. It’s all about sharing the idea and the truth and LOS do so much to help."
Photos were taken from Tamanda's performance at our Priceless Live event in Rich Mix, London. A review of the night will be posted soon. Meanwhile, you can find out about Tamanda Walker's Music on her MySpace page.
Words by: Rosie Ponting
Photography by: Dwiko Arie Nugroho of DwikoArie Photography
