21 Sep 2017

Among the many powerful tools on earth that brings people together regardless of culture and race is music. It does not matter the kind or style of music played as long as people listening relate with it.

In every culture there is always traditional music which signifies and sets apart the kind of people who lives in that region and the same goes to Botswana where traditional choirs especially mmino wa dikhwaere continues to blossom.

In the small village of Tsetseng in the Kweneng District, the youth have formed a traditional choir whose focus is to bring the youth together and make a living while at the same time creating business opportunities for them to beat unemployment.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA, the vice chairperson of the choir, Tshiamo Stofel said the choir started way back as a choral choir, but it just died away as time went on. 

However, they managed to revive it after the introduction of the Presidential competitions.

She said they decided to now focus on traditional music dikhwaere of which many youth felt comfortable singing and are able to compete with.

Stofel said the choir is made up of 35 young people and they started participating in the competitions in 2009.

She further said they have been honoured to have one of the members who is also the chairperson of the choir, Malaki Maphale being able to compose songs for them.

She explained that after the theme has been given, he is the one who composes the songs and they enter the competition with heads high, adding that they have been doing well so far even though as they progress to the regional and national competitions things get tougher.

But, Stofel said they have been doing well at ward and constituency level where they managed to get position one in many instances, but their performance have since improved at regional level to position five.

She stated that their desire is to see the choir grow and become big so that they can even be hired for bigger events so that they can make more money for themselves. 

“We have realised that things are tough and employment opportunities have narrowed over the years, hence the need for us to think outside the box and find ways of survival,” she said.

Stofel said like any other youth group, they are always challenges that come with working with others, hence the need to find common ground of understanding.

She said the choir could become more beneficial if they focus on what they want to achieve than fight over what they have.

She added that already the choir has cracks after some members borrowed money for which they do not want to return despite the agreement that was made.

Stofel said this was risky for the choir, as other members might feel used and refuse to continue participating in future events.

Nevertheless, she said many have shown loyalty to the choir, urging them not to lose hope, but focus on what will build them going forward.

The vice chairperson said they are not only focused on competitions, but also on different events where they can make money which include weddings and other social gatherings where they can raise funds for the choir.

Stofel stated that they are happy for the support they get from their parents and community at large and that is why they are planning to register the choir so that it has a constitution.

She said they are also anticipating on opening a pre-school as a way of growth and making money. 

She also encouraged the youth to utilise government programmes and also participate in the Presidential competitions. ENDS