In Loving Memory of Yasin 'Chicharito' Varvani (left)
                   

To some heroes are those who jump in to save a situation no one else would have dared tried. To others it is those who never seek to take credit for their actions. But to me a hero is someone who takes on a challenge they lack the skill and know how to execute but yet when tossed into the challenge work so hard they beat everyone else to it. Embracing ones environment and forging paths no one knew existed. Jumping halfway into a dream and turning it into a reality. The audacity of hope. Not all stars are in the sky, some are beneath the earth. For the most precious of things are hidden from the normal mans eye. 

2012 was the year the dream all began. Three African Students, in a lost city with a dream to rediscover and redefine a 'lost' continent. What can I say. It was a dream like every other. Sweet, beautiful and enticing till you wake up and realize “Oh Shoot! I still have to make it come true". At his point I know you are asking yourself “Is he trying blow his own trumpet?” or “Is this the part where he talks of the hustle of turning this dream to reality?”. Don’t bother, what is understood doesn’t need to be talked about.

After a series of tryouts with some successes and failures but most importantly an encyclopedia of lessons, we set the stage for something big. I mean very big. An African event bring together Africans from EuroAsia and showcasing our culture and Heritage to the world. I remember vividly after our meeting during which the idea was initiated, my friend Ulopa as we call him said “Dude! I didn’t know what successful people meant when they said your dreams aren’t big enough until they scared you. This dream scared me in my dream. I just hope we are able to put the work in and pull a this one off”. 

7th of March 2014 was meant to be the big day. In fact, it was the big day. The day Africa is thrust into the limelight by a kid who grew up in Lamu taking notes on the floor, another kid who grew up in the busy city of Nairobi looking forward to the “American Dream” but never got live it and another who was taught by the aforementioned that the “cool kids” are geeks and not the socialites. What a lesson to teach someone in their first years in uni right? Coupled with all the misfits who characterized our organization, Afrinitiative, we knew we needed another misfit if we had to pull this off. After all who said bringing 2000+ students, displacing 4+ ambassadors and several deans of universities and business guru's to listen to college students talk about Africa in a society where they were still astonished blacks existed, would be easy. 

Yasin (middle) Celebrating Victory in Uni Country World Cup with teammates
Then we came across him. A misfit in his thoughts and a genius in his actions. Although he was an extrovert, public speaking was something he had never done and he considered all those who did it as very courageous and talented. While there were many who could boast of having such skills, he had something a lot of them didn’t. He spoke our language, he embraced our thoughts, he dared to dream. In the words of another fallen hero “these are the crazy ones”. He was a misfit.

We asked him to be the event host. He laughed in a very sarcastic manner as he often did and said “You guys are crazy”. yes Indeed, we are thats why we need you the the boy from Lamo who sounded confident in his abilities. For the next couple of months, we worked day and night. As my job description was training the show host and co-host, I worked very closely with him. Anyone East African friends would know that Swahili is their 1st, 2nd and 3rd language. At times during rehearsals, he would say to me “I have better idea. Since this event is promoting Africa’s culture and Heritage, why don’t we just do this thing in Swahili”. We didn’t just work together, we became good friends.


Yasin mourning for the victims of the Garissa UniversityAttacks
Then the big day came. Hearts were racing, temperatures rising, nerves breaking. Silence was in the room but there was love and ambition in the air. What can I say, the event was a great success. After the show, the Zambian ambassador called him and the rest of us to the side and said “You make Africa Proud”. Hearing those words sent relaxing but yet perplexing chill down our spines. But to me what was even more amazing was  I was standing next to someone who took on a baton he didn’t have to and ran to the finish line. 


While we sat there reminiscing at the stunt we had just pulled off, he turned to me and said “Thanks for believing in me but most importantly making me believe in me”. Struck by words I never expected and in lost for words I simply said “No worries bro”. About a year later we lost him to cancer but not before he went on to inspire many other students. Africa and the world was within his reach. I never had the chance to say the right words to him. So just incase you are reading this too from Heaven YASIN VARVANI, its I who should be thanking you. Thank you for trusting in a shared vision. Not just from me, but from the Afrinitiative and the entire Africa. Thank you for proving that it doesn’t matter where we come from but as long as we walk together, the future is no longer a destination but the ground on which we stand. A beautiful soul gone too soon in the flesh but remain in our hearts forever. 






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