By Tselane Moiloa
BLOEMFONTEIN – Escalating deviant behaviour among teenagers and the debilitating consequences have prompted a group of youths in Heidadal Township to seek ways of keeping themselves busy.
Drug abuse, teenage pregnancies, a high dropout rate in schools and an increase in HIV infections are some reasons which motivated the youths to form an Arts consortium in the hope of sidestepping these pitfalls.
“Heidedal Live – Arts Consortium is all about grooming young people to become active and compliant citizens which in the end will bring about a sense of belonging to achieve certain goals within the community,” media officer Siobhan Canavan said.
The group has something for anyone with any interest in performing arts, ranging from singing, dancing to poetry and stand-up comedy.
These talents were put on show recently when Heidedal Live was launched in conjunction with the youth desk of the local Community Police Forum on Saturday, 28 July 2012 at the Norman Doubell Hall in Heidedal.
“The whole aim of this project is to create and establish an environment in which people from within the community can come together with their different skills and talents to bring about change. Some of the reasons why young people go astray include lack of activities within the community, lack of life-skills training and also the platform which local artist do not receive in order to showcase their talents,”Canavan added.
Following the successful launch, the group is now working hard to ensure they make a mark on the Bloemfontein arts and entertainment scene, with other events planned for the future. In honour of Women’s Month, they will host the Diva Fashion Show later this month which will give upcoming female designers and aspiring models a stage to showcase their talents.
“[T]hrough arts and gigs we want to reach out to the youth and show that there are other ways of doing things…other ways of living your life to your full potential and that is through your God-given skills and talents,” media officer and singer in the group Cleevus Francis said.