Club uses arts to empower children
Golden Youth offers dance, poetry and theatre
The Golden Youth Club in Winterveldt, north of Pretoria, is using the performing arts to teach children about various issues, including the Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to bring peace and prosperity to all people by 2030.
Founder Nomatlou Mahlangu explains that the club focuses on issues that affect learners in their daily lives.
“We reflect on them and turn thoughts into an artistic performance whether it’ sa song, dance or a play. Our aim is to convey that, regardless of where you come from, there is one language we can all understand,” said Mahlangu.
“For us to understand who we are and where we are going, we need to first understand our history. As African people, our education is presented through the arts, hence our club even teaches the Sustainable Development Goals through the performing arts.”
In another education drive, the club took learners on a 10forming day tour of Tshwane to teach them about climate change.
“During the tour, we visited seven regions to emphasise the message of keeping our environment toxin free,” she said.
With a vision of making pereducation. arts more accessible to audiences in SA and across the world, Mahlangu said the club offers a variety of programmes including dance, music, poetry, theatre, visual arts, fashion design and peer It partners with organisations in Germany, Ukraine, Malawi, Brazil, Uganda, Egypt, Israel and Tunisia, and has travelled to some of these countries to learn and engage with their citizens on social issues.
Mahlangu said the arts has an important role to play in changing society and encourages parents and communities to expose children to the arts from a young age.
Her interest in young people was inspired by the African phrase ligotshwa lisemanzi, which, roughly translated, means it’s easier to train a child than an older person.
“We must encourage our children to utilise their talents, as they can be successful when they do so,” Mahlangu says.
“In arts, difference is celebrated. We need to showcase what is ours, so others can learn from us.”
For more information, visit www.goldenyouthclub.org.
This article first appeared in GCIS’s Vuk’uzenzele