A cycling theatre troupe has rolled into Powell River to spread its message of hope and action to local schools.
The Otesha Project, which means “reason to dream” in Swahili, is a youth-run charitable organization aiming to teach sustainability and raise awareness of consumer habits and how they impact everyone in the chain of production.
“These are young people that have found a spark, investigated and applied direct action for the betterment of all,” said Ryan Barfoot, chair of School District 47’s sustainable schools committee, who helped bring the troupe to Powell River for its second visit since 2013. “There are so many poor role models in popular media but the Otesha troupe demonstrates that caring is cool.”
One way Otesha hopes to change young minds is to teach awareness of where food comes from and how far it sometimes has to travel.
“It’s very easy to go to a grocery store, get a banana and pay pennies for it and not think about how far the banana has to travel, or the working conditions of the communities that were harvesting these bananas,” said Seba Gameda, a member of the troupe on her first visit to BC from Montreal.
The troupe is on a two-month, 1,500-kilometre West Coast Tour.
They arrived in Powell River Tuesday, May 26, and will stay until Sunday, May 31, leading workshops and theatre performances. They visited Brooks Secondary School on Tuesday, and will visit Westview Elementary School Wednesday, May 27, Kelly Creek Community and Edgehill Elementary schools Thursday, May 28, and inclusion Powell River Friday, May 29.
“People definitely respond to us differently when they see our bikes loaded with all our panniers, two trailers and pots and pans,” said Gameda. “You don’t have to be Lance Armstrong to do something you are passionate about…we are just six regular girls.”
