After showcasing their poetic prowess, Walmer High School’s pupils walked away with the bragging rights in the Ihlumelo High School Poetry Competition at the weekend.
The annual competition saw dozens of Nelson Mandela Bay high school pupils gather at the Mendi Art Centre, where they expressed themselves through poetry, voicing their views on contemporary issues in their communities.
Event organiser and Vundu Poetry Club founder, Sakhumzi Sogcwe, said the competition, now in its seventh year, aimed to stimulate critical, cultural and artistic thinking, while providing a platform for youth to bring their concerns to the fore.
“We take between a month to two months to prepare the children for the competition,” Sogcwe said.
“Poetry is one of the crafts that we can be proud of as African people, because we had our own traditional poets as well.
“Poetry plays a vital role in keeping our languages alive, and when we keep our languages, we can also keep our traditions and cultures.
“That is one of the important roles that poetry plays, it helps people heal themselves through writing.”
Sogcwe said he received R125,000 in funding from Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Small Arts Grant to host the competition.
Pupils from Mfesane, Nkululeko, VM Kwinana, Phakamisa, EZ Kabane and Walmer high schools participated in the competition.
Five facilitators from the Vundu Poetry Club trained pupils from Grades 8 to 11 before the competition, with three selected from each school to take part.
Walmer High principal Lunga Dyani said the school was proud of its pupils’ achievements in the poetry competition.
“Our children love poetry, we are excited as a school, given that our children can go out to showcase their talents, their insights.
“They are good ambassadors promoting the name of the school in all spheres.
“Given that we are a township school with limited resources this demonstrates their willpower,,” Dyani said.
Mfesane Senior Secondary Xhosa teacher and author, Babalwa Nqoro, who started the school’s writing club, said this was the fourth year that the school had competed in the competition.
“I am glad our pupils got to see adults performing so that the youth could see there is a future in literature.
“Some pupils arrive in grade 8 without getting a proper foundation.
“The creative club also has a reading club. Teachers commended how pupils in the club confidently presented their oral presentations.
“This helps pupils to express themselves, reading with understanding,,” Nqoro said.
Sogcwe said the pupils were not given a topic to write on, but were encouraged to write poems about things that affected them personally, because “a problem shared is a problem halved”.
HeraldLIVE
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