By Matṧeliso Phulane
Talent Rebrand Academy Lesotho (TRAL) will host the second edition of the Lesotho Gospel Talent Hunt in August, in alignment with its mission to encourage and create a platform for the youth and children to showcase their talents.
TRAL, which was founded 2021 but fully became fully operational in 2022, aims to reach out to vulnerable children and youth by empowering them to discover their hidden talents.
The academy is an arm of Christian Youth Club Foundation. It was founded on the principles of faith and excellence. It is committed to providing a nurturing environment where young people can explore their passions, develop their talents, and grow into confident, compassionate leaders.
Christian Youth Club Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2020 with the aim combatting crime, violence, misconduct and suicide among youth and children through strategic empowerment activities.
The academy, among others, offers musical training, vocal coaching, and guitar lessons, piano on instruments.
In an interview with theReporter recently, the director of Lesotho Gospel Talent Hunt, Richard Nkemka, said this is the second time they are hosting this kind of event after the inaugural one in 2021 when the academy started.
He said in July there will be the first and second auditions which will be followed by the grand finale in August.
The competition is set to have a category for children aged 5-14 who will perform in activities such as singing and dancing.
There is also a youth category for those aged between 15 and 30 who will also be singing and dancing.
The winner will walk away with M5000 cash. Other exciting prizes include: school bags, stationery and mobile devices.
“We believe that every young person is uniquely gifted and has the potential to make a positive impact in the world. Through our programmes and activities, we aim to empower them to discover their purpose, unlock their potential, and pursue their dreams with passion and integrity.
“When the initiative started, we reached out to youths from eight districts, who all came to Maseru for auditions and finals. It was massive because so many young people were impacted even in their communities. Most of them today found their careers through that initiative.
“We do this so that their talents are recognised and get busy and find opportunities in the long run. We do not just want get people off the streets doing nothing, but we also want to empower them,” Nkemka noted.
Because of their foundation they want everything to be centered around the Christian community, so during the competition participants can sing any beat as long as it is gospel.
Nkemka added that they want this to be a platform of exposure because they have trained the children from scratch and now they are able to do a lot of things. So, this is also the platform to showcase what they have built themselves up with.
Apart from that, they are going to become a motivation to those who have not done anything with their talents.
“This is also an opportunity to reach out to other people who are not part of our school. Hopefully, they will be inspired and want to join as well. The other reason is to encourage talent, invest in the musical industry with the little we can offer through such platforms, and recognise these talents.
“We have come to realise that generally people do not really value or know what talent is, so we want to really educate the public, sensitise them to understand the importance of identifying, nurturing and showcasing a child’s talent, regardless of what it is.
“We know that they go to school, but there are so many of them who do not really have so much potential when it comes to education. It’s like they are being sidelined while they have various strengths and abilities. So, we just have to identify their strengths without forcing them. This is called social inclusion, we want to have everybody included,” he explained.
Registration for both categories is M100 per person, M350 for a group of five and M500 for group of 10. Registration ends on June 15.
For more details people can contact + 266 57850728
