The RHAC Arts 4 Education made a massive comeback as they showcased young talent at Rhoo Hlatshwayo Arts Centre on May 3, 2022.
The event aimed to reintroduce the organisation since it has been quiet for some time due to the lack of funds.
RHAC Arts 4 Education Project in partnership with the National Arts Council is a project that uses multidisciplinary arts to promote the educational development of school learners by bringing awareness to prevalent youth issues including bullying, peer pressure, stress, depression, and home pressure.
The project advocates for the tremendous effect theatre, spoken word, music and dance have on children’s cognitive and effective development; and encourages integrating arts into the school curriculum as an educational reform strategy toward improved student performance.“This project acts as a healing process as we tackle social issues that affect the youth mostly and because the cast felt strong about them. We have seen bullying escalating,” said Mduduzi Mdlalose, Executive Director of the organisation.
The main event of the project is the development of multi-faceted production that will tour township schools located in the East corridor of Ekurhuleni.
The organisation initiates developmental programmes in the community. It is particularly passionate about empowering youth and reducing unemployment.“I came into this organisation and developed new projects for the organisation. RHAC is the first being funded by National Arts Council,” said Angelinah Kemane, project manager.
She further said, the journey has been challenging because the initial project had a very steep budget because of the costs they anticipated incurring so, they had to adjust a lot of things to fit within the R150 000 that was awarded by NAC.“The group is amazing, we work well together and they have individually grown in their craft. That has been rewarding to see because not only is the project for children but it was also to employ and empower out-of-school youth who are artists,”
“Art is a vehicle through which many solutions are reached. Currently, schools face many issues regarding dealing with these social issues that then affect academic performance. We cannot rely on schools alone to shape our children. So as a fundamental stakeholder in the community, we decided on using art”.The event aimed at wishing the project well as it goes to different schools and also letting the community experience the production first. They wanted to show the work that the organisation is busy with.
The project at its core advocates for increased academic performance. Increased academic performance can only be stimulated in children who can balance their environments, predominantly home and school. That is why it was important for them to feature a lot of prominent social issues such as bullying, alcoholism, and teenage pregnancy. Performing for the first time in a large crowd, Thato Thusi, who played the character of Patrick, a boy who impregnated her girlfriend leading her to do an illegal abortion.
“It is a very sensitive topic. It is an extreme situation that is most likely faced by the youth. With this play, we were trying to teach the audience to open up to their girl children and be there for them. We can’t run away from these things, it is our reality,” said Thusi.
By Simphiwe Nkosi
