“One School in Africa”
Dear Kanye:
Today you took on the Silicon Valley elite for not “lift[ing] a finger to help” you. Their problem, you said, is that they would “rather open up one school in Africa.”
I will help you.
You and I can help each other.
Here’s my offer: I will pay your way — 100% of it, soup-to-nuts— to join my family on a trip to Africa, to see one school in Africa. It’s a long way, but my 9-year-old is really funny — she’ll sit next to you. We will land in Nairobi, then take a matatu (a non-luxury van) down to the Maasai Mara — a 6-hour drive.
There, we will meet Jackson Naeku. Jackson is quite a guy — I consider him the “Larry Page of the Mara.” Jackson is a warrior — literally, a Maasai Warrior — and is in line to be a tribal chief. Badass.
In the meantime, he and his partners, Mr. T (we can’t pronounce his real name) and Keture, spend 100% of their time helping their people. They’ve built a medical clinic for 40,000 Maasai in the surrounding area — with wonderful doctors from Holland. We are working with them and the U.S. Kiwanis Club to add a water distribution system for their village and the clinic. And many other projects are planned. (See http://semadepmaracamp.com). Much of their nomadic lifestyle has been taken from them, but nobody can tell them where they can and can’t go.
Which gets us to the one school in Africa. Here it is, near the guys’ village. It ain’t much — it’s almost nothing — but it’s way more than they had before. In any event, the building is irrelevant — it’s the opportunity that matters. The kids love love love music — they’d really like it if you could do some songs when we visit.
But wait. There’s more. This is only one school in Africa. We are now planning another school in Africa with these same Maasai. It will be a premier college preparatory school for Maasai girls. Sounds ludicrous — an all-girls prep school in the world’s most paternalistic culture. But it’s going to happen, these girls are going to the Ivy League then leadership, and you should get on board now. If we do our jobs and find other people who want to support the Massai, there will be one more school in Africa (near Mt. Kilimanjaro). And another school in Africa and another school in Africa. In truth, there is no one school in Africa — we need thousands, and I wish we had the money.
Will this make you any money? Not a damn cent.
Then why do it? Experience and art. The centerpiece of any art is experience — pain, friends, heartbreak, love, beauty, nature, joy, sadness. You can get all of those in one day on the Mara. The people will be your best friends — real friends, not the Hollywood kind. Once they’re your friends, their conditions will break your heart. You’ll have the most complex of feelings — just the type you need for your poetry. And I sense from your writings that you are looking for something — this just may be it. Why not give it a try? You have nothing to lose since I’m paying 100% (though I hope we can book a few weeks in advance — I’m not made of money).
Kanye, help me help you help me. Give me one week and an open mind. You’ll get a free safari (lions, giraffes, leopards, hippos, rhinos, etc.) and just maybe it will change your life and your views on schools in Africa. Keep your heart to God, and keep your face to the rising sun.
Yours truly,
/s/John Dragseth
John Dragseth
P.S.: The “Meet Me at the Mara” offer is open to any of your famous/wealthy friends, and to the Silicon Valley digerati who are hassling you. They have to pay their way, but I will meet and give a tour to anyone who can help the Maasai in a real big way. They will meet real warriors (not the lame boardroom kind). You can find my contact information by Googling my name.
