Youngsters ready to dazzle

PERFORMERS from the Zip Zap Circus School, aged 8 to 19, will put on a dazzling free show on World Aids Day, December 1, in Khayelitsha.

The show will feature performances on trampolines, trapeze, juggling, comedy and acrobatics.

The school has partnered with Medécins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) and the Treatment Action Campaign to host the event at the Oliver Tambo Hall in Khayelitsha.

Zip Zap is a non-profit organisation that provides free training to children from all backgrounds. Here they learn lessons in determination, hard work and about the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Zip Zap co-founder and director Laurence Esteve said: “There is something incredible about watching self-confidence blossom in a child who has learnt a new and impressive skill. The World Aids Day concert is a celebration of this fresh talent and a very proud moment for the children who are the stars of the day instead of victims of the virus.”

Zip Zap Circus has run an event on World Aids Day in Khayelitsha for 12 years and a crowd of 3 000 people is expected.

Esteve said using circus skills, Zip Zap’s goal was to ensure children and youngsters undergoing ARV treatment were mentally, physically and emotionally healthy and have hope for the future.

The event has become a yearly rally of hope and celebration among the residents of Khayelitsha.

She said the performance was of utmost importance for the children participating in the project, as it allows them to showcase their new skills to their friends and family and, most important, it raises awareness of the syndrome by proving the children could lead a healthy life while on ARVs.

“The whole process helps the children to gain self-esteem and a sense of achievement.”

Youngsters participating in the show, are from various Zip Zap training programmes including the intermediate, Simunye, a Dare to Dream training programmes.

Children from the organisation’s Ibongholwethu programme, set up for youngsters living with HIV, will also participate and a march will take place from Nolungile clinic to the hall.

thembeka.dlamuka@inl.co.za

Zip Zap Circus School performers put on a show to mark World Aids Day.