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. In our last report, we were glad to mention that the beginning of 2022 looked better. Sadly, the following months have been difficult again.

 Namibia, like many other countries in the world, suffered from the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Prices of petrol and food kept increasing almost on a monthly basis. The cost of a liter of petrol basically doubled between May 2021 and May 2022. This affected our budgets. In order to manage activities that suddenly became much more costly, we had to become very creative.

 We successfully completed the first phase of our project ‘Gentlemen and Supergirls’ funded by the Embassy of Finland, and we are happy to report that phase II of the project will start in September. We have worked with youth groups in Karasburg, Noordoewer and Koes thanks to our project ‘Growing strong in the ||Kharas region’ and will still manage a one-week workshop in Keetmanshoop in October. And our project ‘Break the cycle’ funded by the FNB Foundation and working with unemployed out-of-school San people is going well. Six of the young people involved have even committed to go back to school.

 Our biggest achievement in the last six month has probably been our photo project ‘the caring Namibian man’. We had a similar project in 2005-2007 and felt it was time to look at it again. We worked with teenagers in the Omusati and Ohangwena region (as part of the ‘Gentlemen and Supergirls’ project) and encouraged them to take positive images of male role models in their communities. The result is a collection of beautiful images of men caring for children, for the elderly, for their homes and communities. We use the photos in schools to discuss with boys in particular on issues around masculinity and gender roles. Thanks to UNFPA and the embassy of Japan we could print a beautiful catalogue with the photos. The exhibition will next be presented in the Kunene and Omaheke regions.

 As part of the ‘gentlemen and supergirls’ project we also created two poems looking at pressure put on boys and girls when growing up. We asked actors, singers and media personalities to say the poems and it resulted in two short films ‘be a lady’ and ‘be a man’. They are attracting quite a lot of attention, having been selected in festivals in South Africa, Zambia and Nigeria already.

Despite all those achievements, we still find it difficult to make month end meets. We have a very limited cashflow. We are trying to generate more income: for instance, we auctioned some of the photos and we organized two public performances with the OYO dance troupe. But we still find it difficult to generate substantial income. Paying salaries and rent remains every month a difficult exercise – even more difficult with the constant increase in prices.

There will be on 29 November a Giving Tuesday Campaign when donations will be topped by the GlobalGiving platform partners. We therefore count on you to spread the word and help us raise much needed funding for OYO. We know how difficult the last two years have been for you all – so your generosity and support are not going unnoticed. THANK YOU.

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.

Links:

• OYO official website
• OYO facebook