When he returned to Kenya in 2002 after finishing a radio and television arts degree course at a university in Toronto, Michael Kaloki, a Kenyan freelance journalist, was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life.
His parents were, however, on his case for taking long to make up his mind with his father complaining that Michael was spending a lot of time in the house.
Michael remembered some ethereal and majestic ice and snow carvings at the Quebec Winter Carnival during his time in Canada.
“This world-famous festival had even been dubbed the “Ice and Snow Carving Olympics.” The teams taking part in the event were from North America, Europe, and Asia,” he notes in an article that appeared in National Public Radio.
However, Michael realized that there were no carvers from Africa even though the continent is equally affected by climate change.
“I still remember a headline in one of Kenya’s daily newspapers from 2002: ‘Climate Change Threatens the Snow and Ice Caps of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya'” Kaloki says of the headline that inspired him to become a sculptor.
Furthermore, Kaloki’s interest in sculpting was enhanced by his discovery of the fact that Kenya’s name in Kamba is linked to snow and ice.
“I decided Africa should be represented at the Quebec Winter Carnival and that I would form an ice and snow carving team. I had never done any carving before, but I could always learn,” admitted Kaloki.
Kaloki teamed up with Peter Walala, a stone sculptor, and Winnie Omwakwe, the then Miss Earth Kenya to start learning how to sculpt ice.
The trio then applied for the 2003 Quebec Winter Carnival and were accepted to participate in the event.
The team was faced with other hurdles including getting flight tickets and visas which the Canadian government granted them.
“On that final day, it was announced that we had won a prize. “The Volunteers Award” went to Team Kenya!” writes the elated Kaloki.
Kaloki and Walala participated in a number of other international ice and snow carving events before Walala took a break.
However, Kaloki tried his luck for a bit longer with the goal of winning a major global event before taking a break which came in 2011 at the Helsinki Zoo International Ice Carving Festival.
Kaloki teamed up with Finnish sculptor Timo Koivisto for the Helsinki event and their team won first prize before Kaloki decided to take a break.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE