Helping kids dance off the streets in Nigeria

DW (English)

Rising from a background of poverty, choreographer Seyi Oluyole is helping to keep young girls off the streets. Her organization Dream Catchers Academy provides them with free education, music, dance, and arts training.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 Dancing away from street life.

00:05 That is the dream of many homeless children in Lagos

00:09 because having to live on the streets

00:11 is very different from dancing in the streets.

00:14 - When I think of my past of how I was homeless,

00:17 how I cannot eat twice a day.

00:20 And once I just start dancing, it always makes me happy.

00:23 - It is estimated that there are over 100,000 children

00:29 living on the streets of Lagos alone,

00:31 with many more living in the streets.

00:33 That is children who beg and steal,

00:36 but have homes to return to each night.

00:38 - Homelessness in children in Lagos

00:39 can come out of so many factors.

00:42 And then there are also cases of children

00:44 who are experiencing abuse.

00:46 And then because of that,

00:47 they run away from guardians

00:50 that they were living with in Lagos.

00:51 Sometimes it's poverty, you know, it's constant inflation.

00:56 If family is okay living somewhere,

00:58 all of a sudden they can no longer pay their rent.

01:00 The child from that family also becomes homeless.

01:03 There's also the case of the breadwinner of the family dying.

01:06 Why are you, is it the camera?

01:09 You don't know this dance?

01:10 - She, Oluyole herself, grew up in poverty

01:13 and experienced abuse.

01:15 Today, the choreographer wants to provide the average girl

01:19 a chance of achieving their dream.

01:21 - Relax, relax.

01:22 My decision to break the cycle of poverty

01:25 has different periods.

01:27 The biggest inciting incident for me was when I was 12.

01:30 As at this time, my family was also homeless.

01:33 We had been homeless for about two years then.

01:36 And I just really wanted more for myself.

01:39 I wanted to start breaking the cycle of poverty

01:42 for myself first.

01:44 What prompted the idea of starting Dreamcatchers Academy

01:46 is from my passion.

01:47 I love the art, I love dancing.

01:50 Also, most importantly, one thing that is very important

01:52 when breaking the cycle of poverty is skills.

01:55 You know, it's very important for people as they grow children

01:58 to just have skills.

01:59 And so for me, that's basically what Dreamcatchers is about.

02:02 We do dancing, singing, crochet, visual arts,

02:05 just lots of skills for the kids.

02:07 - After completing her degree in English language

02:12 at the Covenant University

02:14 and a master's degree in human service

02:16 from Bellevue University in the United States,

02:19 Sheyi returned to Nigeria in 2014

02:22 and started hosting formal dance classes

02:24 with some 20 children,

02:26 attending the very first dance class.

02:28 - One of the biggest challenge would definitely be funding

02:33 as a non-profit and also the constant inflation in Nigeria.

02:37 Another thing is misconception.

02:41 - That's the thing of joy that makes me happy.

02:51 Anytime I think about my father's death,

02:55 if I dance, it makes me more excited and happy.

02:58 - Everything changed when Sheyi decided

03:02 to start making videos of the dancers.

03:05 That was in February, 2015.

03:07 - Yes, I started posting on Instagram in 2015

03:13 because I became aware of Instagram.

03:15 And then the plan then was that

03:17 dance to recent song of artists

03:19 and if they like your work,

03:20 we invite you to video shoot.

03:21 But fortunately for us at that period,

03:23 when we dance to DJ Spino's song,

03:25 the international audience loved it.

03:28 And then the video was just going around.

03:30 - But this is only how it started.

03:37 How it went along was not predictable at all

03:39 for Sheyi and her kids at the Dreamcatchers Academy.

03:42 - Okay, so now I'm coming back to know about Dreamcatchers

03:47 from the video that we posted in 2018

03:51 of the kids dancing to DJ Spino and Noel's song.

03:54 And that wasn't really what we were expecting.

03:56 It was a new song and the whole plan was that

03:58 DJ Spino would sit and maybe invite us for the video shoot.

04:01 Before we knew, Bella Nigel reposted it,

04:08 Rihanna reposted it, Naomi Campbell reposted it.

04:11 And Naomi Campbell was like, "We'll see you guys soon."

04:13 Apparently she had a trip in Nigeria

04:15 and then when she came to Nigeria,

04:16 she said she really wanted to see the kids.

04:18 And then she came to Ukuru,

04:20 she saw the kids and yeah, that was it.

04:23 - Seems that Sheyi's dream has come true.

04:26 But despite the success,

04:27 challenges remain for the Dreamcatcher and the children.

04:32 Obtaining financial support to house, feed,

04:35 and school the kids has been difficult.

04:38 - I just look at where I'm coming from.

04:41 In like Mary Mary's song, I've come too far to give up now.

04:43 So that's just the motivation.

04:47 Like I have done this for too many years

04:50 that it would just not make sense to give up.

04:55 - Facing that nearly half of all children

04:58 aged five to 14 years in Nigeria

05:00 are involved in child labor, according to UNICEF,

05:03 Sheyi requires the children attend school

05:06 before they can be in the dance troupe.

05:08 - In terms of ensuring that young people

05:11 are inspired by what I do,

05:13 one thing I always say to every young person

05:15 is trust the process.

05:16 Like it's not immediate.

05:17 And eventually you'll make it.

05:20 So I'll call you a kawali, you'll make it.

05:22 - Sheyi and her Dreamcatchers are living proof

05:25 that dance can be used to communicate,

05:27 to evoke emotions, and tell stories,

05:30 as well as change young people's lives.

05:32 - Through dance, number one,

05:33 is to create opportunities for them.

05:35 Because you know, for children that have been down through

05:37 the incoming from poverty too,

05:39 that you cannot become anything.

05:40 What dancing does is that it opens their perspective.

05:43 And most importantly, to use that as a way

05:46 for these children to change their lives

05:47 and the lives of their families.

05:49 (children singing)

05:52 (upbeat music)

05:55 (upbeat music)

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