Younger artists in the Eastern Cape are ready to receive the baton from older generations of the province’s creative minds.
This is what motivated Eastern Cape veteran actress Thoko Ntshinga to establish a youth skills centre in her home province — a well of artistic, educational and health skills for the youth — under the Thoko Ntshinga Foundation.
Her yearning to leave a strong legacy in the arts, and to empower the youth of the Eastern Cape, further inspired the actress to start a campaign against school dropouts to mark the widely commemorated Youth Day on June 16.
“At my age, I [realised] that younger people are aged to play my role, so what am I going to be doing?
“For three years, I have been travelling to Kirkwood to train young people in the arts and culture industry.
“Our family home has been given to the community so that the children can have a space to learn about arts and culture,” Ntshinga said.
She has now partnered with the Kirkwood community to create and run the centre from her family home.
Her family had decided to dedicate the home to the community as a skills centre, providing dance, drama, music and poetry lessons, and leadership workshops.
The centre, run by Loyiso Damoyi, also offers reading classes for the youth to attend after school.
“Young [people] are impregnating each other.
“They need to have something to do between the time they leave school and dinner time at home,” Ntshinga said.
Damoyi said the upcoming anti-dropout campaign was meant to encourage the youth of Kirkwood to stay in school and strive for success.
“Year in and year out, young people are reminded of the police brutality and violence that occurred in 1976 during the Soweto uprising.
“It is in such gatherings that we feel we miss the opportunity to teach.
“The Thoko Ntshinga Foundation is taking this opportunity to change the narrative by encouraging and motivating our young people to commit to staying in school and strive for success,” Damoyi said.
On June 16, the youth will meet at the Zinakile Mkhaba Community Hall where they will begin a walk to a school in the Enon/Bersheba area, symbolising Mandela’s long walk to freedom.
At their destination, they will be met by a group of local graduates wearing their graduation garments to motivate the youth.
After the walk, they will be invited to sign a commitment to endure and not quit school regardless of current and future challenges.
The signed paper will be enlarged, framed and exhibited in a visible spot in the community as a daily reminder of the commitment.
The day’s programme would include educational theatre productions, presentations and career exhibitions by various organisations, Damoyi said.
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