Arts Trust to unearth hidden artistic talents
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Monday August 11, 2025 12:31
The project, which started last Saturday, is expected to continue every weekend for a year. According to Children’s Arts Trust director Edward Moroka, the event aims to give children a space to showcase their hidden talents and nurture them. He added that the arrangement is meant to expose kids with difficulty in academics to creative arts, to be able to develop their talents and excel. He said the Arts Education for Development program will be running for the entire period/year. He also said parents are expected to pay P200 per month.
“The activities include theatre, poetry, public speaking, kids talk show, music- piano, marimba, drums, and music. We will also produce productions for them to showcase to a live audience every three months. We will also offer them international exposure in festivals around the world. The program begins from three and above. Our event aims to prepare them to do better when growing up, as there is a saying, ‘Lore le ojwa le sale metsi’, as they learn fast,” he said. Furthermore, Moroka called on parents to allow their children to be part of Arts Education for Development, saying it would allow them to build their confidence in class or anywhere they present. He noted that looking for a job nowadays is a challenge; therefore, some kids or artists are employing themselves through their talents. He gave an example of the neighboring countries, saying their artists are doing well, adding that one child won lucrative prizes worth R500 000 that changed his family’s life forever.
The child, called Junior Arch, who is now a teen DJ and making a living while studying and also helping his parents financially. “There are not many challenges; kids like to experiment with anything that comes along. The only challenges we are facing are that the Centre is only in Gaborone because of a lack of resources. If things go well, we will open other centres in other parts of the country to give a platform to other children. Our goal is to make them better creative artists and to beef up the growing industry with trained young artists, and make money part-time or full-time,” he said. Moreover, he said the Arts Education for Development is a theatre therapy program that consists of creative genres such as music, contemporary and traditional dance, theatre, film, modeling, fine art, and poetry, offered to youth for six months. He stated that the pilot project aimed to equip, train, and empower the youth, so that they could learn creative skills and make a living through their nurtured talents, and also increase in number of youths with artistic competencies.
Moreover, Moroka said, the main inspiration of the project was the falling rates of the Botswana Examination Council junior certificate results, from 2022 to 2024, showing that a large number of students were not doing well in their academics. Hence, they see the need for arts education for young people. “Another astonishing matter to do this project is the unemployment and poverty rates. During the six-month training, we will make a short film and a stage production to show the results of the training, and we will invite the dignitaries and the public to appreciate the performances,” he concluded.