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Yoga bends the trends in Kenya

New project trains yoga teachers and students in some of the poorest parts of Nairobi.

Benta Atieno, 19, on the way to teach a yoga class in Kibera, considered to be one of the largest slums in Africa. Atieno started the course to become a yoga teacher after finishing dress-making school in 2009.
By Jacob Balzani Loov
Published On 8 Apr 2014

Nairobi, Kenya – Yoga has grown increasingly popular among the poorest neighbourhoods in the capital thanks to Paige Elenson and her partner Baron Baptiste, two American yoga teachers who established the not-for-profit organisation Africa Yoga Project in 2007.

Their goal was to create job opportunities and empower youth in impoverished areas of Nairobi. The two teachers raised $10,000 to found the organisation and train 40 Kenyan yoga instructors. Today, 72 instructors are working in poor areas of Kenya, including at schools and prisons.

Margaret Njeri is one of the teachers. She was an acrobat before starting the yoga-training programme. The young mother says earning a living as an acrobat was not easy. She sometimes even had to turn to petty crime to survive. She is now paid $100 a month to teach five classes a week in prisons, schools and other parts of the city. The rest of the time, Njeri teaches private classes to round up her salary. Thanks to yoga, she is now able to support herself and her one-year-old daughter.

Instructor Samson Muhalia, 53, says yoga has a positive impact on people. “What I really like in yoga is that it brings people together and teaches them how live together. It makes people share and discuss.”

Atieno and her assistant Susan Njeri, 23, teaching a yoga class at a small school in Kibera. Students practice a selection of standing poses, stretching and games.
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A guard massages a prisoner during a yoga class in Langata Women(***)s Prison. The prisoners attending the class are not necessarily guilty, some are awaiting trial. Sharon, a prisoner, said: "When I do it, I don(***)t feel neglected but I feel loved."
Margaret Njeri, 23, and her assistant Catherine Nyambura, 20, wait to leave Langata Women Prison after a yoga class.
Nicole Akoth, 21, and her 3-year-old son Alex stand in her parents(***) home in Kariobangi, Nairobi. Nicole has been practising yoga for two years and eventually wants to open her own art school and yoga centre.
Sarah Neilesa, 21, stretches during one of her first yoga classes as teacher at the Nairobi Aviation College. Sarah is affected by albinism but says she feels empowered through yoga. 
Susan Njeri, 23, practices the Wheel Pose on the railway line at the entrance of Kibera.
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Students practice yoga at Kibera Hamlets School.
Children play a game during yoga class at the Kibera Hamlets School.
Children stretch during a yoga class at the Hafra Hope Academy in the Kangemi slum.
Samson Muhalia, 53, practices the Crane Pose in the Kangemi slum. He worked for UN Habitat for 21 years before becoming a yoga teacher.
Muhalia teaches class at the Marga Education Centre in the Kangemi slum.