Basalya Bazoba
Over the past decade, the problem of child witches has exploded in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to recent reports, about 20,000 children live in the streets and 70% of these are there after they have been accused of sorcery by their families. As Congolese society has disintegrated under the pressure of poverty, HIV/AIDS and corruption, children are accused of witchcraft when families suffer misfortunes.
Basalya Bazoba uses hip hop to break through the social taboos that remain about the issue of child witches and start community dialogues on the streets. All 24 districts of Kinshasa are reached through outside performances which can be viewed by about 400 at each show. After each performance, a local NGO specialising on this issue will lead a discussion group and introduce some of the children accused of sorcery. These conversations aim to raise the consciousness within families and communities about the problems of accusing children of sorcery.
The project is a co-production of Theatre Embassy (Amsterdam) with partner organisation K-Mu Théâtre (Kinshasa), the Belgian-Congolese NGO Oser la Vie and Compagnie Dakar (Amsterdam)
