A group of Vision AfriKa’s Grade 10 learners have hosted a community event on human rights in order to get the key message across that ‘The Power is in Your Hands’. The awareness-raising afternoon, which took place at the end of November in the Ikhaya Trust Centre in Kayamandi, was a follow-up to one put on earlier that month by a team of Grade 11 students on the subject of HIV/AIDS.
The learners felt that the two events were linked in that the HIV/AIDS issue is all too often ignored by members of the local community. But such behaviour violates the human rights of others, not least their freedom of speech.
Another key message that the students were keen to get across was that individuals had the right to be recognised as people, no matter who they were or what they looked like.
They likewise had the right to study and the right to say ‘no’, points that were encapsulated in a drama performed by all 24 of the Grade 10 learners themselves.
Other themes, including the idea that with rights, come responsibilities, were explored in songs, poetry and dance. The point was that, it is up to each individual to affect change if they are unhappy with any given personal, community or political issue. This message was, in turn, emphasised by a representative from the Independent Electoral Commission.
He gave a participatory presentation on how important it was for young people to register to vote in order to have a say in the political future of the country.
Some 110 young, local people turned up to the event and were provided with refreshments, which included muffins baked by the Grade 10 learners.
As a result of hosting the event, the students also learned a number of useful new life skills such as planning, organising, how to communicate effectively and take the initiative when necessary.
For more info about the Vision 10′s contact zukisa@visionafrika.com
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