Chidi Afulezi -
Kabatila Kavat, 25 years old, is a creative/art director based in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. He runs two creative agencies called Fashionpicha and Curve Art Africa.Mathare is a collection of slums across 18 villages just 8km North of Kenya's capital city Nairobi. The area hosts approximately 500,000 people. It is the home of football teams Mathare United and Real Mathare of the MYSA.The platform helps them commercialize their talent to earn a living. The platform also accommodates photographers from the slums and from other parts of the country to showcase their work.“Two years ago, I officially started curveartafrica.com so that I could offer these solutions to people and organisations. So far, we have done a lot of work. For example, we were given a photography gig during the first African games for the deaf”.Last year the COVID-19 pandemic hit Kenya. As the government moved to contain the spread of the virus, public gatherings and events were banned. This was a big blow to many youths who depended on Curveart Africa to earn a living.“It is tough. We are now working from home unlike in the past when we could have physical meetings with the models. Now we are using emails, phone calls and virtual meetings to manage the models and discuss any upcoming gigs that would require their physical presence.”When Kabatila receives requests for models to grace an event, he reaches out to the youths signed up on Curveart Africa for the gigs. This way he is empowering the youths to earn a living and support themselves and families.“The economy is slowly opening up and occasionally we get few opportunities to model and some local events. I take time to remind them of the COVID-19 safety measures such as wearing masks, washing hands and maintaining social distance.”