A Poem About Access
by Sanelisiwe Dlamini
Is it simply a matter of human will
Or determination?
Should one simply wait for the scales to balance in their favour
Or strive to lay hold of what is missing?
Service, service; theory
Service, service; practice
Service means nothing without proper access
The chasm seems to widen
Between those who have
And those who have not
Like constantly trying to remember
What we frequently forgot
Stretching our social fabric beyond endurance
Resembling un-hemmed patches
On a boat set for sail
Direction is secondary
When there’s a need to mend
Do we still remember them?
Or do we choose not to see?
Can we access empathy?
Can we access compassion?
What is it that our hearts hold?
If anything at all
What is it that our hearts hold?
Fold those without access
Sanelisiwe Dlamini is a drama therapist in-training, as well as a poet, voiceover artist, drama tutor and actor. She has worked extensively with the youth across South Africa as a facilitator, presenter and actor. Her interests include working with urban youth and gaining the skills to create therapeutic interventions that are relatable to them. She is also a student representative on the SANATA Executive Committee.
Groundspring Playback Theatre Company
Groundspring Playback Theatre Company uses theatrical improvisation to instantly transform audience members’ real stories into theatre. Groundspring creates reflective spaces where audiences can access the stories within them. By deeply listening, honouring, and playing back these stories through metaphor and symbol, Groundspring allows the audience members to access their own stories in new ways.
Lefika La Phodiso
Community Art Counselling Training
A group image created on Zoom during Lefika La Phodiso’s community art counselling training. Participants each created an individual image and then, on an online whiteboard, negotiated positioning, resizing, orienting their images, and adding new marks using the online drawing tools – creating a group image. The training is online with weekly experiential group sessions where the participants get to create images and reflect on these and the process. The course consists of eight modules followed by 60 hours of group facilitation and supervision towards an HWSeta community art counselling accreditation. This training has also recently been accredited for 40 CPD points.
Morning Music Circle
by Christine Joubert-Watts
A clip taken from a morning music circle facilitated by Christine Joubert-Watts at the Ikhala Trust Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Conference in 2021. Each year the conference invites grantees of Ikhala Trust, that are mostly NGOs or informal organizations in rural Eastern Cape, to come together, meet each other, network, and obtain new skills for their organisations. Last year, the theme was ‘self-care’ and each morning and afternoon, participants were given an opportunity to form instant musical communities, connect with others and have a space to be creative. The clip shows an elderly woman leading the group with her dance, inspiring the group to move together and feel the rhythm within themselves. In this context, ABCD principles of inner strength, self-knowledge and belonging are manifested through the constant, grounding rhythm and the expressive movement of the body.
Christine Joubert-Watts is a registered Music Therapist and qualified Biokineticist. She works as a Music Therapist and Biokineticist in various settings. She loves building instant communities through music and movement; when people can connect on a more intimate level with each other, albeit diversity of culture, language, or ability.