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Aug 24, 2023

‘We’re stitching whole countries together’: Annapolis youth preparing quilt for new school in Kenya

So far, there’s a pile of dance uniforms, football jerseys and bedsheets. Soon, though, the cut-up cloth will be turned into a quilt connecting the youth of Annapolis to schoolchildren in Kenya.

So far, there’s a pile of dance uniforms, football jerseys and bedsheets. Soon, though, the cut-up cloth will be turned into a quilt connecting the youth of Annapolis to schoolchildren in Kenya.

“We’re stitching communities together and we’re stitching whole countries together,” said Ron-Shaye Clark, a community leader in Annapolis and the founder of M.E.G.A., a multifaceted artistic outlet for children. “Like two different worlds, but they’re coming together.”

As part of Clark’s collaboration with Upendo United Foundation, a Delaware-based nonprofit that conducts resource projects for at-risk children in the East African country, she will be hosting a monthlong clothing drive to collect pieces for the quilt. Once it’s finished, it will become part of the decor of a trade and technical school Upendo is looking to establish in Nakuru, the county where its founder Regina Reithii was born.

The drive will take place from Sept. 5 to Oct. 5. Those looking to participate can contact Clark directly at 302-983-5221.

Though Clark often works with children, she’s asking for clothes from anyone willing to donate, looking for anything that could present and represent Annapolis overseas.

“I think that’s going to be the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen, once it comes together,” Clark said.

Clark launched M.E.G.A. in the fall of 2020. Standing for “Manifesting Every Great Accomplishment,” M.E.G.A. began as a youth dance team in the parking lot of Bywater Mutual Homes, where Clark moved to from Delaware in 2019. Having always had a passion for young people, she said she wanted to give those around her a place where they can “show their worth.”

Ron-Shaye Clark leads The MEGA dance team in the Bywater Mutual Homes neighborhood. (Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette)

“I think that’s what our young people need nowadays,” Clark said, “just to see what they can bring to the table, not what everyone wants them to bring.”

Since starting the dance practices in 2020, Clark has broadened the scope of M.E.G.A. — the team has performed in the Annapolis Pride parade; seen the Orioles play in Baltimore; and last year, they helped stage a COVID-era production of “The Wiz.” It ran with the tagline, “From pandemic to promising.”

With Clark in the starring role as Dorothy, a young girl transported to the magical land of Oz, the story spoke to kids coming out of lockdown and re-entering the world. Through her journey along the yellow brick road, Clark wanted the young people around her to see that there are places beyond the immediate conflict and strife in their lives.

“I refuse to let them go,” Clark said. “I refuse to allow the world to take over them. I want them to see something greater than what they’re seeing right now.”

Now, with the quilt, Clark wants her M.E.G.A. kids to not only see further out in the world, but become a part of it as well.

The trade school where the quilt will be displayed is only one project under the Upendo banner. Since its launch in 2020, the foundation has provided a variety of educational and basic needs to Kenya’s at-risk youth. In addition to donated items, the nonprofit has converted a shipping container into a library and learning center, complete with a computer lab and office space, as well as a greenhouse to grow local crops.

Reithii immigrated to the United States in 2002 as a single parent with two children, and $100 in her suitcase. Fleeing tribal clashes that had uprooted her hometown and orphaned many of its youth, Reithii said she spent years trying to “find her purpose,” her way of helping the kids whose foundations were taken away from them.

Ron-Shaye Clark leads The MEGA dance team in the Bywater Mutual Homes neighborhood. (Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette)

She said the idea for Upendo, the Swahili word for “love,” came to her in a dream. After meeting Clark through her family in Delaware, Reithii said with joy that she feels like she has taken on more kids through M.E.G.A.

“She is so motivated,” Reithii said of Clark, likening their collaboration to relay runners passing a baton. “I’m learning from her and she’s learning from me. We’re bouncing back and forth.”

Through Upendo, Clark is planning to go to Kenya in October to teach her version of “The Wiz” and discuss leadership with some of the local women. She is currently fundraising for the trip and hopes to return with some of her older mentees.

Reithii said that as Upendo grows, she hopes to offer the kids an opportunity to go to Kenya themselves. In the meantime, however, she said a piece of Annapolis will give the children hope.

“Them seeing someone cares about them ... it gives them hope,” Reithii said.