Intwasa drama contest focuses on abuse

Standard People
BY KHULANI NKABINDE Twelve finalists will battle it out in the Intwasa Arts Festival run Plan High Schools Drama Competition finals to be held in Bulawayo next month.

The competition is a collaborative initiative between the festival and Plan International Zimbabwe and will be held at the Bulawayo Theatre.

Intwasa Festival director, Raisedon Baya said the competition would be held under the theme: Because I am a Girl. The preliminary rounds of the competition attracted over 30 schools from Kwekwe, Esigodini, Bulawayo and Tsholotsho districts.

“The competition presents an opportunity for participating children and young people to conceptualise ideas, develop scripts and choreography on child abuse,” he said.

The theme is derived from Plan International’s global advocacy theme which seeks to lobby for the expansion of space for the girl child to participate and be heard in issues that affect all children.

Tsungai Mahumucha, Plan programme unit manager said the theme would highlight the challenges experienced by girls and boys.

“We believe this competition will allow children to express themselves and highlight the various forms of abuse that their peers and themselves are subjected to in various ways. It is a way of opening space for children to speak for themselves.

“The participating schools will also focus on other sub-themes that are related to issues affecting children, such as birth registration. The other sub-theme is on bullying, sexual abuse and corporal punishment within schools, in line with government’s call for the creation of child friendly schools which is complemented by Plan’s “Learn Without Fear” campaign,” he said.

Some of the schools that have progressed to the finals are Loreto High School based in Kwekwe, Bubude High School from Tsholotsho, as well as Mpopoma, Msiteli, Nketa, Sizane, Sobukhazi, Emakhandeni, Founders, Gifford Boys , Eveline Girls and Townsend Girls High Schools, that are all in Bulawayo.

Intwasa Arts Festival is an international gathering of artists. This year the week-long event runs under the theme Art Without Boundaries.