Download PDFBuilding the capacity of skilled workers to challenge social issues, was the heart of the skills workshop’s segment. The Winter School highlighted skills as the force of reimagining the future. Participants chose from five different workshops namely; poetry, photography, gardening, creative arts and theatre.
These workshops were aimed at transferring theoretical skills to practical skills to achieve desired organisational goals. Contrary to popular belief the poetry workshop highlighted the importance of understanding your audience’s experiences, it highlighted expression through the use of tone, imagery, space, body and voice to document life experiences. Belita Andre, the facilitator of this workshop emphasised that being a Poet doesn’t only mean seeking publication but imparting knowledge to a reader.
The Theatre workshop emphasised confidence as a skill to execute this craft. Theatre aims to educate and document historical moments by replaying or depicting those moments more understandably. They cited teamwork, research and confidence as a skill needed in this sector.
The photography workshop was rather a reflection session, looking at the impact and influence images and videos play in keeping movements alive. Images have a way of preserving history and influencing the future. Throughout the Winter school lack of land was highlighted as one of the causes of struggles for the working class. For the first time participants were taught about the importance of farming in small spaces. This innovative way of farming breaks the boundaries of traditional farming. The most important factor is, that it celebrates self-empowerment.
All these workshops interlink, they teach methods and skills of survival at work and home. The art creative workshop was also not an exception; it teaches creativity that eradicates gender roles. Men and women learnt survival skills as working-class people. It teaches coordination and resourcefulness through creativity. It was clear that this was a well-received segment at the 23rd Winter school as all skills learnt through these workshops are needed for survival and in organisations.
This article was submitted as part of the Imbila Yesu publication produced daily for the duration of the Winter School in 2022 (17-22 July 2022). It appeared in Edition No. 1, released on 22 July 2022.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the author and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
