Launch of The Seed Children

The launch of The Seed Children was everything I thought it would be. Unfortunately my camera went crazy and I have no pictures. There is a great article by Gasebalwe Seretse in this week's Mmegi Monitor with a picture of the author dressed as Mother Nature at the beginning of the performance. It starts out quite scary with a stern message to audience regarding our abuse of nature.

Bonty's books focus on different aspects of Botswana's natural and cultural heritage. This one is about children who defy the taboo of eating the seeds of wild fruits and become transformed into trees themselves.

Bonty uses very talented unemployed youth from her home Maun to put on the performance. The costumes, the music, the dances - they were all fantastic. She's made a DVD of the show. So please- anyone looking for a great Botswana-made performance for your next writers festival or book fair or even an environmental event (the book and performance have a strong environmental theme) contact Bonty at tharientsho@gmail.com. This year she had a choir in the show and the kids had shades of the stupendous Soweto Gospel Choir- and these are not trained singers. Amazing!!

The illustrations in the book were also top notch. I met the young illustrator, Debra Stein, an untrained artist, South African, also living in Maun (Does Bonty give back to her community or what?). The paintings are truly beautiful. Here is one of my favourites:

Wonderful stuff coming out of Botswana- heh????