Donations help dancer dream big
GIFTED 13-year-old ballet dancer Faakhir Bestman’s dream is finally becoming a reality with help from his community and donations from social media enthusiasts.
Faakhir, from Hanover Park, is set to leave for the National School of Arts (NSA) in Johannesburg on Monday. He was awarded a scholarship by The Christopher Kindo Dance Scholarship, a project of the Applauz Arts Initiative, to attend the school.
“All of the things we needed for his trip and stay were provided within a few hours after I made a final plea on Facebook on Sunday night,” said Applauz Arts Initiative creative director Natalia da Rocha.
“I connected with Janine Roode Becker, who managed to get Faakhir his school uniform and much more within three hours. Janine brought Alison Samodien from Think Yellow on board and she helped out where she could.”
Samodien said she had posted about Faakhir on social media, which resulted in people from all over Cape Town coming together to raise R1 600 to purchase whatever he still needed.
Da Rocha said Faakhir had got assistance from people as far as Johannesburg, including the NSA governing body chairperson, Brenda Sakellarides.
Hanover Park Youth Committee Forum secretary and local entrepreneur Dominic Schouw, 35, said he was very proud of Faakhir and what he had managed to accomplish so far.