Educate 20000 Namibian teenagers on HIV using Arts

As you know, the Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO) is a Namibian NGO that uses Arts to create social awareness. After a difficult period, June to August, we had a bit of a breather from September to December. We had a fourth COVID19 wave in December, but it was not as dramatic as the previous one.  

During that period of great need, we received many donations – some of which were very generous. Most donations were anonymous, so we couldn’t send you a thank you letter. But we hope you are getting our report and would like you to know that your donation did make a huge difference. The donations we got between June and December 2021 meant the difference between moving on and closing down. We truly appreciate and value your support.

During the last term of 2021, thanks to UNAIDS, we had an exciting project with deaf young people. There has been little material developed with and for the deaf community around COVID19 and HIV. Yet what better medium than dance to try and create those material. Four young deaf people worked with the OYO dance troupe to create short educational clips. We had to learn how to communicate and work together. It was a fabulous experience. We learnt some sign language, and the language became the basis for the dance. We loved every minute of this project.

We also could finally welcome a dancer from France, Krees, in November. We had planned this workshop for over a year – so what a relief to finally have it. And we could have our first public performance at the FNCC on 10 November 2021. This was our first public event since March 2020! We had such an exciting response from the public. It remotivated us all.

From January 2022, we will do a lot of work around Gender-Based Violence, especially in the Omusati and Ohangwena regions thanks to the Embassy of Finland. We will also continue our work in the ||Kharas region thanks to our trusted partner Stichting Horizon. We are also trying to resume our work in correctional facilities – so fingers crossed we can go back to work with inmates. In November, we created a new piece ‘Alive?’ looking at drug abuse – a growing concern in Namibia. We will try and address this issue in schools with young people.

We are hopeful 2022 will be a little easier than 2021. We really want to go back to schools and correctional facilities and make a difference. We of course still need you and look forward to your support. In particular, we hope you’ll keep an eye for the GlobalGiving littlexlittle campaign in April, when your donations up to US$ 50 will be matched by 50%.

We can’t repeat enough how thankful we are to everybody who helped us in 2021 – either through donations or by sharing our call for donation and promoting our organization. We know how difficult the last two years have been for you all – so your generosity is not going unnoticed. THANK YOU and from the bottom of our hearts we wish you all a fantastic 2022.

Our link is still: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/using-arts-educate-4000-namibian-teenagers-on-hiv

If you have any friends who may be able to support us please do share the link. We greatly appreciate all the support we can get, no matter how big or small.