Hoza brings energetic education through arts message to GREC

Craig Bakay | Jun 14, 2017

“Hoza” is an African word that can mean stop, start or change, Kevin Fell told the audience at GREC last week.

“Our mission is to help put a stop to negative thinking and behaviours and facilitate change that is needed to start living in a more socially just world,” he said.

To do that, Fell and Derek Thorne brought an energetic message told through drums and stories, with plenty of audience interaction and participation.

In particular, they tell they story of Nelson Mandela, who was sent to jail in South Africa for defending opponents and victims of Apartheid, only to re-emerge as a leader of those victims and eventually become president of the country.

They illustrated their point with several audience participation exercises designed to help students think differently about themselves and the world around them. (The ‘arrest’ of teacher Wade Leonard was a highlight for many in the audience.)

“We give them (students) a template to think differently about themselves,” Fell said. “We do that through the leadership of Nelson Mandela and it also gives them permission to think differently about themselves, permission to not put themselves down.”

Fell, who is originally from South Africa, has degrees in both performance and education. He believes strongly in the power of education through the arts.

Thorne is a well-established Canadian drummer originally from Trinidad.

“We’re performers who teach,” Fell said. “We teach through the arts

“And we also give schools a chance to come together as a community.”

One way they did that was to organize a drum lesson on the djembe, an east African drum known for its distinctive sound, with groups of students followed by a round for the teachers.