WHO IS SENIKAMI?
SeniKami believes that art is a powerful, diverse and neutral medium to empower individuals and communities. This diversity is reflected in our name "SeniKami", which translates from the Malay language to "Our Art"
- art is for everyone and can be done by anyone.
SeniKami is a collaborative initiative between Aneez Yuliani, Jes Ebrahim and Khairul Hizam. As founders of SeniKami, art is an important part of life for us as individuals. The three founders of SeniKami make for
a diverse bunch - aside from social work with indigenous children since 2010, Aneez is currently a full time student of politics. Khairul is a full time art teacher running a social enterprise called 'Karya' which aims to provide art therapy and art classes
for children. Jes is a fulltime musician, spending his free time actively advocating environmental awareness.
Most issues faced by the children and communties we work with are created or exacerbated by a lack of education and awareness among urban society. Through SeniKami, we hope to harness the diversity of arts to foster better awareness
and empathy towards these issues which in turn will encourage a deeper sense of responsibility toward others of all walks of life and the world as a whole.
Furthermore, it is important to SeniKami that we nurture self expression, art appreciation, skill building and individual empowerment utilizing creative art mediums.
Please visit our venture page and view this
documentary to find out more about our vision for SeniKami!
SENIKAMI SHOWCASE
After seven months of monthly creative art workshops and activities with children from indigenous communities and shelter homes, the SeniKami Showcase in September marks a celebration of our students'
accomplishments and efforts.
This event will be an opportunity for the children to:
- Exhibit their work and skills gained through our creative art workshops;
- Reunite them with volunteers and performers that have directly or indirectly engaged with them through our activities. Local musicians and performance artists from past live events will be invited to perform, allowing the children
to meet them for the first time;
- Lead and participate in mini-workshops designed around their own ideas, culture and previous SeniKami workshops at creative art activity booths to be set up on the day;
- Present a performance utilizing the instruments and skills gained from our past workshops as well as their traditional indigenous music
RASAU VILLAGE INFRASTRUCTURE CAMPAIGN
Additionally, the SeniKami Showcase will be the launchpad of our infrastructure campaign to expand and improve the village community school in Rasau Village with the addition of a simple bathroom for the school's usage. We
identified an urgent need to expand the school which currently stands at only 10x30 feet, rendering it unfit to accommodate a high capacity of children and teachers.
The existing school is not wired with electricity or running water, as such children and teachers become quickly fatigued in the stifling and limited space. This issue was further highlighted to us by an indigenous community
teacher who pointed out the futility in having a community school that could not comfortably accomodate all the children of the village.
With the expansion of the school and an upgrade of its infrastructure, the children of Rasau Village will have access to a comfortable and inviting space for them to participate in pre-school classes, educational activities
and for future SeniKami workshops.
WHY SUPPORT SENIKAMI?
This campaign marks the first brushstroke toward a greater landscape for the children we work with. A successful campaign will help us sustain a permanent and continuous momentum for improving the children's lives and access to
education through crative arts.
Fostering a long term relationship as we have with the children we work with is crucial to allowing a long term effect in their individual growth. SeniKami believes that a short run of workshops over the span of a few months is
inadequate support for their community. This campaign will help us establish a stronger and more effective presence with their community and amongst other NGOs and nonprofits. This will help us to diversify and improve SeniKami workshops and activities down
the road.
More importantly, it is vital to us to celebrate the efforts of the children that have participated in our activities. By celebrating them, we hope a stronger sense of self worth and empowerment will follow.
IT TAKES VERY LITTLE GO A LONG WAY
It is surprising how relatively small sums can go a long way to creating better lives for children. By supporting our campaign, even the smallest donation of US$10 can contribute greatly to the purchasing of crucial items such
as month long supply of mosquito repellents for one indigenous household, or educational books for use during our activities or community classes.
