When we think of art, our minds automatically gravitate towards entertainment. Consider this for a moment: what if art could be used for more than just entertainment? What if it could be used for advocacy, particularly advocacy in education? What if this beautiful form of expression could take centre stage on some of the world’s most influential platforms?
Well, it is possible.
Consider the case of Johanne Mumpande, a Rural Youth Champion from the Binga District advocating for improved quality and accessibility in educational systems. Johanne recently had the honour of an invitation, alongside the CEO of Teach For Zimbabwe Doctor Miriam Siwela, to share his poem at the International Quality Education Conference hosted by the Tanzania Education Network/Mtandao wa Elimu Tanzania on behalf of The Kuyenda Collective. Operating in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, the Collective also engages in transnational advocacy across Sub-Saharan Africa and is made up of country partners, Policy Forum, CESC, Teach For Zimbabwe, FAWEM and PSAM.
Taking place from the 12th to the 14th of November 2024 at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Center in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, the conference’s theme was: ‘Fostering Resilient Education Systems For Sustainable Development in Africa’. Discussions and panels, some of which were moderated by Dr Siwela, delved into the need for educational systems to be strengthened amidst global challenges such as climate change, economic instability and social inequalities. One of the speakers, the Minister of Education of Tanzania, stressed the need for students to master vocational skills in order to produce competent citizens who are more than just theoretically equipped.
The event was sponsored by Education Out Loud, which is dedicated to highlighting the voices of rural youth, including the Kuyenda Collective’s Rural Youth Collectives (RYCs), which operates in national and transnational spaces. Johanne Mumpande truly represented the collective well as he recited his engaging poem ‘Climate Change: A Global Disaster’. His scintillating performance stressed the human race’s need for better conservation practices. This is especially true as developing nations, such as Zimbabwe, which contributed the least to the growing climate disaster, are usually the most affected. The effects of climate change are stealing food from the mouths of innocent people. Action is needed now.
As Kuyenda Collective, we stand proudly with RYCs such as Johanne, who have understood the assignment and have gone above and beyond to make their voices heard in panels where life-changing policies are established. We continue to urge more young people in rural communities to take up the cause of educational advocacy and make their voices heard.
Read Johanne’s poem below.
Climate change
The climate change changes the environment
The earth cries out in anguish deep,
As forests wither, oceans creep,
The ice that once did proudly stand,
Now melts away, a disappearing land.
We need to change the ways of living,
To change the climate change.
The winds they howl, the seas they rise,
The future fades, before our eyes,
The clock ticks on, the damage done,
The warning signs, we’ve just begun.
We need to change the ways of living,
To change the climate change.
The science clear, the need urgent too,
To act now, to see this journey through,
To reduce, to reuse, to recycle fast,
To save the planet, and make it last.
We need to change the ways of living,
To change the climate change.
The time for denial, it is past,
The time for action, it will forever last,
Let’s join hands, let’s make a change,
For a sustainable future, let’s rearrange.
We need to change the ways of living,
To change the climate change.