The town of Barrydale hosted the highly successful Africa Festival this month at the Karoo Art Hotel to celebrate the continent and its indigenous people while raising
funds for local initiatives.
The festival, in partnership with local NGO Net Vir Pret, had a good attendance to
the talks on sustainability, plastic usage, biodiversity and composting. Speakers
Danielle Diliberto, Hayley McLennan, Charl Pienaar and Johan van Niekerk
delivered these messages to the Barrydale community free of charge as their way of
paying it forward.
As of 11 September, over 300 trees were planted in the “Adopt a Tree” programme,
where local community members take responsibility for a fruit tree.
Artists Chris Roland, Terry de Vries, Merinda Hill, Nur Felix, Genevieve Berry,
Mawonga, Roma, the Clive Maarsch Band and Ananda Fuchs gave their time and
hearts to this project, connecting with locals and Net Vir Pret leaders, making their
time in Barrydale fruitful and rewarding.
Many of the performers had never visited Barrydale before and said they were keen to visit again.
The Rieldancers of Net Vir Pret, the Net Vir Pret children’s choir and Barrydale High
dancers – who had worked for a week with choreographer Ananda Fuchs –
performed with unbelievable energy and joy.
Warren Thuenis, owner of Mr Barber in Cape Town setup shop at the Net Vir Pret
aftercare centre and offered free haircuts for the senior male citizens of Smitsville
and also delivered a talk to the youth of Barrydale who were interested in becoming
barbers.
Net Vir Pret, founded by Peter Takelo in 2006, works with communities in the
Barrydale/Overberg area to uplift children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
They create a safe space for children to play, create, learn and achieve their dreams. They teach the Khoisan Riel dance to community youth, who will showcase their talent at the event.
Bikers with a Purpose, an initiative by the International Association for Human
Values, has raised funds for children in these communities to enable learners to
attend school – providing books and over 200 pairs of shoes.
In collaboration with Ladles of Love, they have distributed over 1,000 tons of food to Barrydale’s youth and elderly.
As of 11 September, over 300 trees were planted in the “Adopt a Tree” programme,
where local community members take responsibility for a fruit tree.
These trees have been donated by bikers from the Bikers with a Purpose initiative and shall be monitored by the team.
