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Dancing for peace and tolerance

Driving energy behind the Ombetja Yehinga organisation(OYO), Philippe Talavera (left) with FNB’s Ingrid Goeieman and Karolina Katumbo.

Dance, as an expression of emotion, makes the world a better place, and for this reason, a local bank has decided to support the work of the Ombetja Yehinga organisation, better known as OYO.
This week First National Bank of Namibia announced it will support Ombetja Yehinga with N$125,000 from the FNB Foundation to enable the dancing group to continue its great work of creating social awareness through arts and especially dancing.
Ingrid Goeieman, Manager Sponsorships and Donations at FNB Namibia said “one of the focus areas of the FNB Foundation includes arts and culture and if this is complemented by skills development and the upliftment of the community, it makes the world a better place for many people.

OYO was created in 2001 as a project of the Kunene regional council and registered as an NGO in 2003. OYO’s mission is to create social awareness among young people. One of the objectives is to also promote the arts in Namibia.”
Philippe Talavera of OYO said the organization is a Namibian Trust that creates projects to develop young people.” We use the arts because we believe it makes a difference in the lives of people. The arts don’t appeal to your intellect, it appeals to your heart, to your feelings. If you can feel something, then you are more likely to change,” he said.
Talavera continued “our dance troupe is unique in many ways. We try and spot talent in various youth groups we work with. Only one of our dancers is actually coming from Windhoek. The others are all coming from the various regions and groups we work with such as in Rehoboth, Keetmanshop, Uis, Grootfontein, Zambezi, Lüderitz and Tsumeb.
We spot young talented people who do not have the possibility to train formally, and invite them to attend workshops in Windhoek. Part of our commitment therefore is to go to youth groups and work with them, train them and spot new talents. Once trained, the young beneficiaries can either return to their communities, and train other young people, or stay with the dance troupe, and start their career.
This requires funding. We feel very honoured this year to once again receive a donation from the FNB Foundation to organize workshops with four youth groups in various parts of the country, and then invite talented young people to Windhoek for intense rehearsals. We know many young people will benefit from this exercise.”

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