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Takudzwa Chihambakwe
“The main purpose is to empower girls through performing and media arts, and also carry out activities related to them in their day to day lives as they grow up also. The group is made up of members from our various centres; namely Harare, Norton, Domboshava and Bindura. They meet every Saturday. This play was written last year when the children went to Botswana for a festival. I made them write it because the children know what they face and can easily interpret it than having to impose roles for them.”
ABUSE, rejection, discrimination, rape. These are among a host of issues that continuously affect girls in Zimbabwe.
When will this stop? When will they be treated as equals to their male counterparts?
These are some of the questions addressed by Chipawo’s all-female group Girl Power when it staged its play “Who is a Child?” at Harare’s Theatre in The Park on a cool Saturday afternoon on June 25.
This is a very emotionally charged theatrical performance. It is easy to watch this play and think that the actresses are the actual victims. Talk about brilliant acting!
Complemented by melodious singing and energetic dances, the play has an exuberance that keeps the audience engaged in anticipation of what the next scene brings.
Directed by Chipo Basopo and written by Chipawo, the play gives a clear understanding of how cruel and negligent societies are in forcing children into marriage, excluding them from school, sexual abuse and other forms of abuse that girls face daily.
“Girl Power was established in 2003 under the programme of Chipawo arts education for development and employment,” says play director and Chipawo manager Chipo Basopo.
“The main purpose is to empower girls through performing and media arts, and also carry out activities related to them in their day to day lives as they grow up also.”
She adds: “The group is made up of members from our various centres; namely Harare, Norton, Domboshava and Bindura. They meet every Saturday . . . This play was written last year when the children went to Botswana for a festival. I made them write it because the children know what they face and can easily interpret it than having to impose roles for them.
“So they did research on what is happening around them. Each one had to write a story and in the process we shared our stories and by putting them together we came up with the play.”
Basopo also speaks about what is cooking.
“We have begun preparations for the Big Christmas Festival Camp in December with other sister organisations from Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Swaziland. We also have an ongoing financial literacy project that started last year which seeks to empower the children on how to handle wealth and make them understand how money works at a tender age.”
Online Reporter