imbokodo | KwaZulu-Natal | 2012
PARTNERS
AFRISUN KWAZULU-NATAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TRUST – Their primary vision is in skills development and employment creation projects in Social Health and Welfare, Arts and Culture, Education, Sports and Animal Welfare. They wish to be a Trust that supports sustainable projects in the East Rand, intended to address the socio-economic needs of disadvantaged communities through partnerships
ABOUT
Clowns Without Borders South Africa has been working in the Waterloo and Verulam communities since 2008, providing support to vulnerable children and training artists from KwaMashu and Inanda areas who are now facilitators and artists working with local children. Just like CWBSA, the Ethekwini Municipality sees the need to act here supporting the high number of vulnerable children who are victims of sexual abuse, violence, and HIV in the Verulam area.
Sponsorship from the AFRISUN KWAZULU-NATAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TRUST has enabled Clowns Without Borders to organise Phase One of the Imbokodo Project (“Imbokodo” comes from the isiZulu saying “Wathint’abafazi wathint’ imbokodo – You strike a woman, you strike a rock”) the aim of which is to reawaken a spirit of creativity, laughter, and joy in the lives of affected children through performances and fun afterschool activities.
FEEDBACK FROM BENEFICIARIES & PARTNER
The Imbokodo Project received overwhelmingly positive feedback from beneficiaries, principals, and community partners.
Students: Feedback from the students in the audience included many statements such as: “I think that the show was hilarious. It taught me a lot. I laughed very much. It is so wonderful to be funny” and “It was so fun! When are you coming back? We want you to come again!”
Teachers: This was a sentiment found also in the teachers’ and principals’ comments: “The show was excellent. Very funny and very enjoyable. We hope that you will come back again and again”. But also “It was great for our learners to get to see something different. These kids come from underprivileged backgrounds, so they never get to see things like this. They were so attentive, you could tell that they were really enjoying it, and hopefully they picked up some of the good morals and behaviours that you were demonstrating”.
Ethekwini Health Officials: “Not only was the performance excellent & enjoyed by all but it also helped the children concentrate on the useful health information carried across.”