HOPEtober visits Durban and brings a renewed sense of hope for KZN
Seeing the smiles on people's faces enjoying music and dance is truly uplifting...
As a nation, we thrive on music, performance, and feeling the rhythm and beat of our artists and entertainers. And we have to admit, dance is part of our DNA as South Africans, no matter which race, culture or background you come from, we all connect with dance and music.
So when we heard that the HOPEtober project will be making its way past Durban, of course it created excitement.
"The HOPEtober campaign is a drive to take hope through the joy of song to healthcare workers at Durban hospitals to uplift them, show appreciation and extend the message of hope to patients, staff and visitors," IOL reports.
The HOPEtober project took charge of the Durban rickshaw bus and transformed it into a stage for local talent in the shape of Vicky Sampson, Craig Urbani, Mortimer Williams, Leah, and Ramelo.
They played a half an hour set, filled with dance and music as a way of bringing a renewed sense of hope to the patients, visitors, and healthcare workers at Mediclinic Victoria in Tongaat, King Edward Hospital in Congella, Kingsway Netcare Hospital in Amanzimtoti, Umhlanga Netcare Hospital in Umhlanga, and Alberlito Netcare in Ballito.
"Speaking on how the project came about, co-producer of the project Matthew Counihan said that it was born out of fellow co-producer Debra De Souza’s dreams to get the arts industry working again in conjunction with the COVID-19 protocols," News24 reports.
It was always our intention to make HOPEtober a national event, one that would become synonymous in the lives of all South Africans. As such, we needed to expand our reach and get our message out to a broader audience. Durban was a natural addition as one of our major cities, but also because they have the infrastructure to support the initiative’s needs…namely a double-decker bus. This is crucial as this is our ‘stage'.
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WATCH their performance for the expresso show (courtesy of YouTube):
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When asked about what they were trying to achieve with the HOPEtober project, Counihan's words were both inspirational and heartwarming. Most especially because we sometimes get so sucked into the pandemic that we forget about what it means to bring and spread light.
The reality is that without hope, what is there? For many of our artists, they have been living from hand to mouth and accepting the generosity of family and friends for too long. Performance may be their living but it is also a part of their unique need to give what has been gifted to them…their ability to sing and impart joy to those who hear them. Performing is their oxygen. An opportunity to collaborate and hop on board fuels their ‘hope-tanks’.
Image Courtesy of Facebook