ETCO THEATRE
Actors carry feelings the way porters carry water — carefully, in public, where strangers can choose to look away or learn. Theatre is education dressed as entertainment.
We want to nurture young talent in theatre arts and film, not as a luxury for Nairobi’s uptown stages, but as a craft rooted in Kibera’s stories.
Our survey still echoes: roughly 98% of formal performance spaces sit in the capital’s polished halls and universities — rarely in informal settlements. Talent is everywhere; access is not.
We began with street theatre — short plays on corners, crowds gathering like firelight. Interest swelled. Now we hire rehearsal space when we can, and dream of our own hall: a room with proper lights, safe wiring, seats for grandparents, storage for costumes that smell of sweat and hope.
Between scenes, actors become neighbours again — selling mandazi, fixing a shoe, arguing about football scores. That split identity is not failure; it is honesty. A stage gives the argument a script.
Film and theatre training is also technical: microphones that do not squeal, lights that flatter faces instead of bleaching them, cameras that do not eat memory cards mid-take. We learn in borrowed rooms because the alternative is silence.
The stage we are building
A permanent theatre would not only inspire; it could pay artists, train technicians, host film nights for teenagers who need more than a phone screen. If you work in lighting, sound, or set design, we welcome your eye. If you can fund rent for a season, we will put tickets within reach of neighbours.
If you have ever stood in a polished auditorium in Nairobi and wondered where the settlement stories went — they are here, rehearsing on borrowed time. Help us build the room they deserve.
World Menstrual Hygiene Day Celebration
In celebration of Menstrual Hygiene Day, ETCO, in partnership with Rotary Club of Nairobi Connect and with support from the Safaricom Foundation, today donated 900 sanitary towels to girls at Joash Olum Primary School. This initiative was aimed at supporting the girl child by promoting menstrual dignity, boosting confidence, and helping keep girls in school so they can stay focused on their education and future careers.
Kikuyu Rotary Club Team site visit - partnership
It was a pleasure hosting the Nairobi Rotary Club Connect’s Yumbya Nyamai, who also represented Ecologists Without Borders (EcoWB), alongside the Kikuyu Rotary Club Presidents—past, current, and incoming—George Ngotho, Patrick, and Marion respectively. We truly appreciated your visit to the site and your interest in the upcoming waste management project.
Efforts: Inputs - Waste Management Project Strategy
Soon, just very soon. It will all make sense. Efforts, sleepless nights.... Stress, strategies, failures and minor successes... One day, I'll look back and say, Yes, I created a *System* Generation System... Me and the people I serve will be grateful... I'll be happy to have served my purpose in this world. 😊😊