Education
Source: The Namibian
A group of young Namibian arts educators and practitioners recently initiated and launched a new arts education for development organisation called ChiNamibia.
This initiative was inspired by Chipawo Zimbabwe which is a part of the acclaimed international body Chipawo World.
Chipawo is a trust that has been working with children and young people using the arts for social development for over 20 years.
As a result, Chipawo has facilitated the establishment and development of a number of sister organisations in neighbouring countries such as Botswana, South Africa and Zambia. The Namibian initiative was recently launched and officially welcomed into the Chipawo family.
This group of young innovators is made up of a group of current and graduate students from the College of the Arts department of African Performing Arts.
ChiNamibia will be managed and administered by a committee made up of these young arts educators chaired by the organisation's founder Kapenangutjiua Vetira.
Some of ChiNamibia's principal objectives are to ensure and promote knowledge of the cultural diversity of Namibia, give a platform to children to voice their opinions through the means of arts and cultural education; and provide initiatives, bring change through the arts, media, and other child and youth friendly methodologies.
In essence, ChiNamibia aims to provide initiative to inform behaviour and mindset change on issues such as health (HIV-Aids), democracy, gender, abuse, rape, teenage pregnancies, climate change, sports, arts and as well as children rights.
The organisation has already started practicing its agenda by establishing groups and collaborating with existing groups in Katutura, where arts workshops are being conducted.
Apart from the few youth arts-based organisations such as Ombetja Yehinga and the National Arts Extension Programme, ChiNamibia will be the first of its kind that takes on such a broad mission that looks into both the development of skills and education of a broad range of social problems.
Anyone interested in getting involved in the work of ChiNamibia can contact the Chairperson on 081 3005673 or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..