Phone call to the world - ARROWSA Bechet

We are excited to be part of this project with South Roots International in the Western Cape!  The project was initiated and is led by Scottish Youth Theatre and includes Indra hubs from Palestine, India and England. It is funded by British Council.

For the launch all the hubs were asked to contribute an audio interpretation of a short script that highlights Mother Earth's poor health.  

One script from each hub is posted on google map on the Phone call to the world website.  ARROWSA Bechet youth made six different versions of the script that we would like to share with you.

Let's look after our Mother... Mother Earth. 

SCARECROWS IN SOLIDARITY

  

ARROWSA- INDRA SAUKINDIA 

Scarecrow project - Participatory research

The youth in the Scarecrow arts for change project did their own research once more, to find out what the highlights of the project were - what art forms were used in these highlights and what social change it inspired?  The majority of the youth identified the vibrant creative response of South Roots International and how they related the 'scarecrow' project to a need for solidarity against gender-based violence. Particularly the original song of Sue-Livia and Selby "I am here for you" was identified as an impactful creative response. The focus on identity and us needing to empathise and see ourselves in others was focused on in their 'scarecrow' creations. The song and creations are included in the video below created by South Roots International. The project is partially funded by National Arts Council.

 ARROWSA and SRI Phone call to the world project building on South to North Climate Change project

              

       Gracia Nicolls of South Roots International leads the propagation project.

ARROWSA and South Roots International continue on their drive to address our negative imprint on our environment. ARROWSA's school and community projects in collaboration with the Palmiet Nature Reserve and the Bergtheil Museum, Durban Local History Museums, have since before 2004 emphasised the education on the importance of our fauna and flaura. These programmes also reflect on how our present consumer plastic age has moved away from sustainable use of our fauna and flora as demonstrated by previous inhabitants of the Westville area. 

The 2020 National Arts Council funded South to North Climate Change project that included ARROWSA and South Roots International in South Africa and Rochdale Indra and Gorsehill Studios in the UK resulted in greater awareness, particularly of the South African youth, on the positive role that they could play in nurturing our mother earth.  That project has germinated into an invitation by Scottish Youth Theatre for all the partners plus other Indra hubs in Palestine and India to join in a British Council funded creative response to COP26 namely the Phone call to the world project. 

ARROWSA and South Roots International youth have already honed their energy into this project partially thanks to National Arts Council funding. ARROWSA recorded not one but a number of versions of the emergency call script that Scottish Youth Theatre provided for the launch of the project on Earth Day. The isiZulu version appears on the projects website WWW.PHONECALLTOTHEWORLD.ORG if you go to the pin at Durban. South Roots International's creative response to the emergency script is available at the pin in Cape Town. 

The ARROWSA Bechet and ARROWSA alumni who are with South Roots International met for a zoom meeting in the last week of April to catch up and start preparing the ground for the new chapter of their joint project that will make use of the arts for social change regarding the environment.

Mr Bheki Dlamini leads the ARROWSA Bechet group zoom catchup and looking forward with ARROWSA alumni now at South Roots International.

The ARROWSA Bechet alumni - now at South Roots International team are led by Noluthando Shandu in a zoom catchup and looking forward with ARROWSA Bechet.

As part of the project South Roots International team will be driving up the East Coast to Durban in the September/October holidays. During this trip they will visit communities and plant Portulacaria afra / Spekboom along the route. The South Roots team has already started propagating their spekboom for the trip. Also see www.arrowsa.org.za/projects/short-term  All very exciting!