Speaking
The Spirit of the Village
Joy | Wisdom | Belonging
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Don York Photography
www.donyork.com
Jacky Yenga is passionate about speaking to groups of people who are inspired and committed to living in a world that is socially responsible, genuinely connected and caring to one another.
She paints a vivid and realistic picture of a world where life is filled with joy, movement, rhythm, nourishing connections, a real sense of belonging and more solidarity, in the image of a traditional African village. The process and feeling of living such a way of life is what she calls The Spirit of the Village.
Her presentations are always engaging and highly involved, and she leaves audiences feeling incredibly excited, deeply engaged and wanting more after experiencing a level of connection that only she can deliver the way she does. It’s the “Jacky Yenga Effect”.
Read HERE to find out how attending one of Jacky’s presentations about the Spirit of the Village inspired writer Jill Dahl to take a “simple yet really hard challenge” and write an article about it in VancityBuzz in March 2015.
Who are her presentations for?
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EVENTS & CONFERENCES (women only or general public)
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CORPORATE AND SMALL BUSINESSES
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COMMUNITY GROUPS AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
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GOVERNMENT BODIES
If you want to bring people together and get them to truly connect to one another as a team, a family or a community, then Jacky Yenga is your answer.
Duration of the presentation: 45 min to 90 min
Format of the presentation: May include live African drumming
Living Compassion feeds, educates, and provides medical care for a thousand children in a slum in Zambia. Each fall, the Living Compassion community gathers from all over the world to celebrate our accomplishments and commitments. Most years, Jacky leads us in song and dance, explaining the meaning of each as we follow along. She shows us how to drop our western inhibitions and express the joy of the moment. Jacky clearly understands people and cultures, and her gift for expressing their essence both entertains and inspires. The warmth and compassion that she radiates brings us together, dancing and singing with abandon in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge! Her exuberance–and patience, as we try to keep up!–enriches our celebrations beyond measure.
Cheri Huber, Palo Alto, Ca
Zen Master, Living Compassion
www.livingcompassion.org
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What is her core message?
The message is about friendship, fulfillment, human connections and belonging. It is about breaking the cycle of isolation and emotional challenges that too many people experience, and inspiring a more caring way of relating to one another and treating each other, from a place of presence, authenticity and greater commitment in our relationships.
The goal of the presentation
The goal is to experience joy and togetherness and understand why the Spirit of the Village is good for everybody: individuals, families communities, governments and businesses.
Jacky leaves people feeling included, more connected, sharing a common sense of belonging and a renewed and inspired belief in our shared humanity, that leads them to commit to living a more “Spirit of the Village daily reality”, coming from a “WE” perspective rather than just “I” as a way of life (and not just one day per year…).
About Jacky A. Yenga
Jacky Yenga is a magnetic, dynamic, exciting and inspiring presenter. She captivates audiences with her reverence for life and her fierce and infectious passion for joy and for more human connections in the world.
Since arriving in Vancouver BC in 2000, she has been inspiring audiences with stories of life in a traditional African village, with its greater sense of inclusion that leads people to be more involved in each other’s well-being and more supportive of one another as a way of life, regardless of their economic circumstances. She draws from her own experience as a child when growing up in Cameroon, her country of origin, to show us what is possible when we opt for more togetherness.
In addition to speaking, Jacky is also a world class performer, having toured in Europe, Canada and the US with leading recording African artists.
Jacky’s unique gift is to effortlessly touch people in their soul and inspire them to choose joy and embrace a more socially committed experience of life to make the world a more conscious, inclusive and compassionate place for all.
As co-facilitator (together with placemaking guru Mark Lakeman) of a workshop that I helped organize, Jacky’s energy, style, stories and wisdom made for an extremely rich and memorable experience. I will never forget her stories about the arbre à palabres, or Conversation Tree, that serves as an essential place of human connection in most West African villages. Jacky’s stories and songs hearken not only to a faraway land, but to the ancestral memories of Westerners as well, causing us to wonder: “Where, then, is our arbre à palabres?”
Jordan Bober, Vancouver BC
Co-Organizer, “City Commons Placemaking Course”
www.citycommonsvancouver.ca
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