Our talent show was Saturday, April 20th, and I
can happily say it was on a whole very successful. I’m so proud of each and
every child that did a performance, even if they weren’t apart of our Africa
Acts Out after school program. There is so much hidden talent within the
community of Nyanga. Our talent show was held at a local community center in Nyanga,
which meant just about everyone who lived near by knew about it. As a result of
this, throughout the day, more and more people wanted to showcase their talents
on stage. Our vision in the beginning was to have the children we had been working
with, show off what they’d been learning and anything extra they wanted to
present. However, after a while, the community overtook our stage, and we almost
lost control of the show.
From the looks of things after a while, the performers that
kept on coming in, looked as if they weren’t willing to leave anytime soon. I
think I can speak for all my partners when I say that we were all feeling very
frustrated and confused with the situation… especially when all the
performances were being done in Xhosa. At this time, I was trying to juggle the
food management in the back, and getting the show to end on a good note. A
couple people from Africa Unite came out and donated over a hundred hotdogs and
buns for the kids. So after ending the show, we had to distribute the food to
the children that came out for the show, and any others that were in the audience.
We had buckets filled with fruit, chicken wings, and cake all donated from
Woolworths thanks to Vara. She really did an amazing job on getting food for
after the show. While helping in the back, I was speaking to someone from the
community about my frustration about how the show was going, and I will never
forget how she replied to me. She said “my dear, welcome to township life.”
Then I realized that although our talent show was basically taken over, the
people on stage were just excited to have an opportunity like this to showcase
their talents. This chance doesn’t come by very often. Then I felt slightly
guilty for my impatience. I made assumptions that they could simply have
another talent show. After her saying this to me, I took a step back and
actually watched. Although some performances were more graphic than others,
they all had a message and a story to be told. In the end that was the part I
loved the most.
After the end of the show, I realized how much I appreciated
the people I was working with—my co-educators:
 |
| Teki |
- Teki: she has such a calm aura that her kids definitely worked off of.
- Lindsay: I know in the beginning she was having a very difficult time with the language barrier between her and her kids. I loved watching her break through that through singing. She taught the kids a beautiful song, which brought me to tears as they sang it in English and Xhosa.
- Vara: I thank her so much for doing majority of the behind the scenes work. If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have had food for the children. Her persistence is admirable.
- Jerard: he is so amazing with the kids. Although creative writing didn’t work out as planned, I could tell he enjoyed himself with theatre and improv. No matter how much he tries to pretend he’s not a kid’s person, I know he loves them all.
- Larissa: such a graceful young lady, even when she’s not doing ballet. I love how she comes alive around children.
- Brianna: her spirit is remarkable; she glows whenever she’s performing. She is such an amazing person, and I know the kids could see that. I’m glad she found her love for music once again.
- Avery: I have no doubt that one day she shall be a world leader. The passion she pours into her work is so inspiring. It’s clear that she has grown so much and it’s clear that she will only progress up.
I enjoyed so much working with everyone on this project. I
loved coming together at the end our days to showcase what ever we had done
that day. I know that because of us, the children we worked with are smiling a
little brighter. Nyanga will forever be in our hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment