Wrapping up self-expression
THE programme – which has legs in Cape Town, Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal – teaches children self-expression through art.
The organisation said: “We began in Cape Town during the World Cup in 2010 with a handful of students in the townships of Hangberg and Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay. Just five years later, we have gone across borders and are working in 11 communities in South Africa, Northern Uganda and the South Bronx in New York.”
In Cape Town, they also work in the township of Masiphumelele.
“Through partnerships with the Amy Biehl Foundation and Afrika Tikkun, we expanded to Mfuleni and Nyanga. In a partnership with Mellon Educate we are now working in Blue Downs and plan to enter several additional schools in the Western Cape in the near future.”
Their Centre of Arts and Innovation and arts education programmes in Johannesburg, they said, played a big part in the movement to transform the inner city with their Maboneng Precinct and Tomorrow Trust partners.
In KZN, because of some of the highest rates of HIV/Aids in the world, they worked with orphans in the Rorke’s Drift community.
“We continue to expand with our partner the David Rattray Foundation and have recently partnered with Keep A Child Alive in Wentworth managed by Zoe Life.”
Q&A with Sandy Tabatznik, co-founder and creative director at Lalela
When did the programme begin?
Andrea Kerzner established the organisation in 2010 to reach the “whole” child, mental and physical. Lalela is Zulu for “to listen”. By listening to children through artwork and music, we learn about their challenges and dreams and can provide creative solutions to help them reach their true potential.
Tell me more about the thinking behind starting the project.
Lalela provides educational arts to at-risk youth to spark creative thinking and waken the entrepreneurial spirit.
Through Lalela’s arts curriculum and critical messaging component, we ignite imagination and teach children how to map and manifest their dreams and goals.
Our role is to help blaze the trail in whole brain thinking with a proven path to innovation and new job creation.
Our programmes create permanent change with positive outlooks, community role models and the mind-set for our students to design a more certain future for themselves and their communities.
Children affected by extreme poverty suffer emotional, psychological, and spiritual challenges. Without support, they find themselves in a cycle of poverty.
How many children are involved in the project?
Lalela serves over 3 500 children every day after school, in the hours when children are most vulnerable to abuse of every kind.
We start early (age 6) in developing the art of imagination and we continue through Grade 12 to connect the arts to everything important in a child’s life, from core academics to critical life skills.
What are some of the themes that come through in the designs?
They are printed on a super soft modal-cashmere or cotton-silk blend. The artwork is created by the Lalela learners on themes based on original art by the students.
Why were scarves chosen as the medium for the designs?
We wanted one product that would showcase the art and bring funds to our programmes – 100% of the profits go back to the Lalela programmes.
I was a fashion designer, so it was only natural we did something related to fashion. We came up with the scarf idea so you have a choice of either framing them as gorgeous pieces of artwork or of course wearing them.
Each scarf tells a story and by wearing the scarves, one becomes part of the story woven into them.
Besides the funds, they obviously bring awareness to our programmes.
It’s also so meaningful for the Lalela learners to know that their artwork is worn all over the world.
Each swing tag tells the story of the student whose artwork we used and their dreams for their futures, so everything always relates back to the programmes and work that we do.
Tell us more about the causes the sales of the scarves support?
All profits go back to making Lalela sustainable. This includes the programmes we run every day after school, holiday programmes, a female empowerment programme, a leadership programme, and a music programme.
The scarves can be bought online at http://www. philosophyonline.co.za/ and through other retailers.