Press Release
Women Empowering Community
May 2015
Griot Chinyere
Artisitc Director
Rayna Clayton
Secretary
The Team
Nkechinyere Nwobani Chair
Afrakan Woman, does solo 100 mile sponsored walk, June 2015, along the south down way England. Funds used to encourage inner city families to commune with nature for health and well being at the Nne Agwu storytelling family retreat!
Shanti-Chi is a community group of women fed up with seeing our young people;
Incarcerated in prison and mental institutions,
Not full filling their potential and under achieving.
Women fed up with complaining that;
The government is not keeping their promises,
The police continue to be unjust
Education system is failing our children,
Women who just want to do something positive for the future.
Women who want to create a space that is safe enough for our young people and their families to express themselves, explore their potential, learn who they are and discover their purpose for being.
This is the vision for the Nne Agwu storytelling festival. An annual weekend retreat organized by Shanti-Chi in the Ancient woodland of Epping Forest.
This festival aims to bring the participants a taste of authentic culture - We have Europe's finest Afrakan storytellers performing, the finest professional facilitators providing storytelling and personal development workshops.
There will be drum rhythms to excite, intuitive healers corner, sumptuous food to feed your soul, early morning yoga to stretch your mind, forest walks to entice your vision and a market showcasing the best in Afrakan produce, arts and crafts.
Round the fire and under the stars discussions, where we seek to find solutions to real problems that affect every aspect of our community. This retreat will give over 250 young people including their families something to be proud of and something to anchor their self-esteem and confidence onto.
These are women who have great vision and are determined that their imagination and will power, will attract the resources and funds required to reach their target participants. These are women who have formalised their vision in a constitution, project plan and timetable. They will do what is necessary to raise the funds required to overcome any obstacle in order to achieve their goals and progress. These women are trying to save lost souls. These are proactive women!
One of these women, Griot Chinyere award winning storyteller and entrepreneur is challenging herself by doing a 100 mile sponsored walk to raise some of the necessary funds and resources.
Griot Chinyere aims to encourage, inspire and invite her community to appreciate the well being that comes with walking amongst trees, listening to the dawn chorus and watching squirrels scurry. The healing that comes from sitting under the stars around a fire sharing our stories as they massage the strings of our ancestors.
This storytelling festivalvillage is to be a supportive space for participants to appreciate the power of the great outdoors, a pass time that adds value to health and life. “A breath of clean air works wonders on our respiratory systems while sunlight generates vitamin D and activates the melanin”.
What motivates Griot? "The Forest is calming. Nature nurtures creativity while sounding like a well rehearsed orchestra. Mother earth smells divine and balances the emotions. The dark skies set our biological clocks straight. Outdoors activities contribute to improving personal, social and emotional levels. Mother earth supports rapid healing and recovery as the arms of nature embrace us.
Griot Chinyere is being proactive and raising the money by doing a 100 mile sponsored walk from Eastborne to Winchester along the south down. She has estimated it will take her between 7 to 9 days to complete. “My biggest challenge is to get up and walk day after day after day, solo. I trust the divine will guide and protect me”.
We love and encourage
youth energy!!!
Griot Chinyere is now in training. To follow her progress join the Nne Agwu Whatsapp group. Sponsor the walk or buy a place on the prestigious one and only Afrakan Storytelling Festival Camp in Britain or do both - visit www.shanti-chi.com
Lets feel good, as we know that we should
Lets feel fine, Let us rise and shine
So good! So fine!
(In the style of James Brown)
