12 year-old Sehadi carves acting career
Many know her as a talkative little girl on Belinda BW’s Setswana comic clips on Facebook. Refilwe Rafifing also known as Sehadi is one talkative girl who always meddles in grown ups issues. She harasses Belinda, who is the main character in the play.
The 12-year-old hails from Sedudu ward in Moshupa. She is a Standard Six pupil at Kgabosetso Primary School in Moshupa. In an interview with Arts & Culture, she said her acting career was influenced by her passion for acting and love for her rich Setswana language and culture.
“Working with Belinda BW helped me a lot. I learnt a lot about life including speaking rich Setswana language. This teaches me to be responsible at a young age. Partaking in this play helped me a lot.
I learnt different Setswana idioms and proverbs. I am also doing pretty well in Setswana subjects. I am also passing my Setswana compositions,” he said.
She added that she was getting positive feedback and recognition from her teachers and peers who encourage
her to keep up with the good work adding that the play did not in anyway interfere with her studies as she has a schedule that she follows. The timetable allows her to go for video shooting and studying.
Rafifing also said being a celebrity did not make her lose herself. She added that she would never allow that to interfere with her studies. Furthermore, Rafifing explained that she aspires to be a human rights activist more especially for women and children. She added that she also dreams of being a Speaker of the National Assembly of Botswana.
This big dreamer further stated that she intends to grow and become a renowned actress in the world. She said she would seek greener pastures abroad where she could get a chance to appear in the big screens.
Rafifing also pointed out that her family was very supportive of her acting career.
She said other young people out there who aspire to partake in creative arts must turn their dreams into reality. However, she said while they fight towards fulfilling their dreams, people must not ignore their studies but rather study harder to pave a better future for themselves.
“Ba ithute le go betla isago ka nako. Ntsanyana ya maitaa sebatana e bonelwa mabotobotong. Phojwe o ithuta motlhala wa diphala di santse dile dinemeru. They have to pave their future from tender age. Moreover, I urge the business community and individuals to support local talent. We have a lot of talent but we need financial support to keep producing more beautiful talent,” Rafifing ended.