Educate 20000 Namibian teenagers on HIV using Arts

As you know, the Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO) is a Namibian NGO that uses Arts to create social awareness.

The last three months have been busy at OYO, albeit winter is always a difficult period planning-wise. In May we have lots of public holidays in Namibia, and from mid-June to mid-July schools are closed, being on a winter break. As a result, it is more difficult during this time to have meaningful interventions in schools with learners/students.

We used mostly this time to focus on our ambitious project ‘looking through the lenses of street children’ funded by the German Embassy. We interviewed 17 children living in the streets, and 4 juveniles who have lived in the streets prior to being in conflict with the law. A talented writer then created a touching story, ‘Lukas’, about the life of a street child. We then did audition to select in schools, children to be actors for the movie. We worked with 13 talented children, age 9 to 17. The script had many short adult parts, and we were delighted all the actors we approached agreed to be part of the project.

The shooting took place from 29 June to 15 July. It was a particularly difficult project. Winter has been particularly cold, and the story follows the child in places where street children live – such as bridges and very basic structures with neither electricity nor water or toilets. In the midst of winter, during cold evenings, we could particularly feel the plight street kids – but also many families - go through. It was very humbling and helped us all realise the extent of the problem. There is so much to do. We are very conscious we cannot solve the housing issue, but we hope that once ready the film will help raise awareness about the need to have urgent interventions particularly to protect children.

On a lighter note, we also finalized the small project ‘Hear me’ with Deaf children in Windhoek funded by the Embassy of Bulgaria. We had dance workshops with 15 Deaf children, created a short comic book with them and launched it on 01 June. During the event, the trained Deaf children performed. To see the joy on the face of the children involved and their audience was heartwarming.

Finally, the dance troupe worked hard to prepare a performance that will be staged at the National Theatre of Namibia on 04 August 2023. It is a tribute to French singer Johnny Hallyday. It is not a traditional OYO’s work – it is not aiming at creating awareness. It is however part of our commitment to uplift the Arts in Namibia. Besides the dancers, it will involve 50 teenagers singing some of Johnny’s songs. A free matinee will be offered to schools in and around Windhoek, to encourage teenagers to appreciate performances – we need to develop audiences in Namibia, and this is a way to do it. A public performance is scheduled for the general public in the evening. We hope we will be able to sell enough tickets to support our fundraising efforts.

While project-wise we are moving forward, we still experience problems securing enough funding for salaries and overheads, and we are still facing a transport crisis as all our four cars are getting old and have driven each between 200,000 and 400,000km. We have approached various partners and foundations, but our cry for transport has so far not been heard. We therefore still count on you to spread the word and help us raise much needed funding for OYO. We know how difficult the last two years have been for you all – so your generosity and support are not going unnoticed. THANK YOU.

Our link is still: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/using-arts-educate-4000-namibian-teenagers-on-hiv

If you have any friends who may be able to support us, please do share the link. We greatly appreciate all the support we can get, no matter how big or small.

Links:

• OYO official website
• OYO facebook