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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| February 27, 2005 |
The Treasures of Kenya – Peter Orwa Awour |
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| Peter Orwa Awour (photo by Todd Frank) |
Peter Orwa Awour was born in a small Western Kenyan village on the shores of Lake Victoria. Naturally, while growing up he formed a deep love for the nature, wildlife, and culture of his country. After working as a prison officer and boxing for the Kenyan Prison team, Mr. Orwa joined the Trans African Cultural Group in order to share the riches of Kenya with the world. He made his first trip to Japan on a cultural exchange and his life was changed forever. |
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| Peter Band member Eric Mwangi Wakanyi (photo by Todd Frank) |
He immediately felt a connection with the culture and music of Japan, and began to learn more, including the language, which he now speaks fluently. During his five year stay in Japan in the late 1970s, he reached the rank of first middleweight contender under the Japan Boxing Commission, made numerous television appearances, and even recorded a hit television theme song. He returned to Kenya in 1980 and founded his first tour company, catering to Japanese tourists to Kenya.
Today, Mr. Orwa runs Conqueror Tours, a highly successful tour company specializing in Kenyan safaris and cultural tours. Serving customers in Japan, Florida, and London, Mr. Orwa seeks to share the riches of Kenya with as many people as possible. Unlike many companies that offer safaris, Conqueror Tours places special emphasis on introducing visitors to Kenyan culture and heritage, as well as its world-famous wildlife. In order to achieve this objective, he formed Peter Band, a group of young Kenyan musicians and dancers. These young men and women provide Conqueror’s customers with cultural experiences found nowhere else. |
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| Peter Band member Gordon Ochieng Abich |
Mr. Orwa and three members of Peter Band joined Peace Boat’s 48th voyage in order to introduce the culture, language, and wildlife of Kenya before stopping in Mombasa. The four men provided highly-popular workshops on African drumming and dance, as well as Swahili classes, cultural workshops, and lectures on wildlife and conservation. This was Mr. Orwa’s seventh time to join a Peace Boat voyage and he, as well as the members of Peter Band, was able to make close and personal connections with Peace Boat participants, helping them to grow closer to the culture of Kenya. For the majority of participants onboard the voyage, the call to Mombasa was their first visit to the African continent. Many did not know what to expect; however Peter Band’s activities onboard helped them to realize the vast array of things Africa has to offer. |
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| Peter Band member George Owuor Nina (photo by Todd Frank) |
When asked what message he would like to give the world about his country, there was no hesitation in Mr. Orwa’s response. “I would really like people to visit the deep part of Kenya – Western Kenya. It’s not completely developed yet for tourists, but I want people to visit. I would like the whole world to see Africa and enjoy its hospitality. Africa is not dead, like you may think from seeing the news or media. You can really experience things there that you can’t anywhere else. It is good to look back and see where we came from.”
Ikeda Tatsunori, a 19 year old Peace Boat participant, was particularly impressed with Peter Band’s work. “Peter really made me more interested in Kenya,” he explained. “I didn’t know anything about Kenya in Japan. He gave me an opportunity to know more about its history, as well as its present situation. It’s important for Japanese to know about Kenya, because African countries aren’t very close to Japan and Japanese people don’t really try to learn more about them. They know about more about the United States and European countries, but not much about Africa. We should know more about African countries because they have a lot of problems that we can do something about. Through Peter Band and my experiences in Kenya, I was really able to think about these things.”
Links
Conqueror Tours — http://www.conqueror.co.ky |
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