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Why a United Nations discussion of South Africa’s gender inequality problem will be led by a Hong Kong teenager
Ballerina Erita Chen performed for the Denis Goldberg Foundation in South Africa, then was stuck there for six months because of a coronavirus lockdown
While working with a charity feeding poor families she became aware of gender-based violence in townships. That led her to propose a UN discussion on the issue
Erita Lee Acham Chen at Hong Kong International School in Tai Tam, Hong Kong. While performing in South Africa last year, the ballerina became aware of the country’s many gender-based issues and decided to do something about it. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Later this week a 16-year-old Hong Kong student will co-host an online discussion as part of the annual United Nations meeting on the status of women. The topic is gender inequality in post-apartheid South Africa – not something one would assume a Hong Kong teenager from a privileged background is likely to be familiar with.
But, as Erita Lee Acham Chen explains, dance, the coronavirus pandemic, and serendipity put her in touch with charities in South Africa that are empowering disadvantaged communities, and she is doing what she can to help their endeavours.
Chen, a ballerina who studies at Hong Kong International School (HKIS), has grown up in an artistic family in Hong Kong. Her mother is pianist Lee Chui-Inn, who founded the Musicus Festival with her brother, the cellist Trey Lee Chui-yee.
In 2019, Chen went to New York for the American Ballet Theatre’s summer course and someone told her about the Denis Goldberg Foundation in Cape Town. The foundation was established by the social activist and veteran anti-apartheid campaigner after which it is named, and it provides dance, music and art education to young people in impoverished townships in South Africa.
“I found it fascinating how, after fighting for the end to apartheid, Denis Goldberg was continuing to work for racial harmony and advocating for arts education, which he thought was a way for children to be empowered, and for all races and classes to come together,” she recalls.
Denis Goldberg, a South African former anti-apartheid activist, with Chen in 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Erita Chen
She became involved in fundraising for the Denis Goldberg Foundation, and was invited to dance the following year at the inaugural concert for its flagship project, the Denis Goldberg House of Hope. She also interviewed Goldberg over Zoom for a school essay, and found him an inspiring figure.
“He told me that you should live your life in the service of others, and I’ve since tried to live with that philosophy,” she recalls. In early February 2020 Chen, then aged 15, flew to Cape Town with her mother and uncle to begin rehearsals. It was her first trip to Africa, and she was happy to meet Goldberg, who died at the age of 87 just two months later.
After I got there I had four days working non-stop with [South African choreographer] Jessica Nupen and two dancers from a local company, Jazzart.
“ The performance went really well,” she said. “What they thought was pretty cool was that in the Denis Goldberg Foundation event I also performed a traditional Chinese dance piece inspired by Dream of the Red Chamber.”
She was enjoying Cape Town so much that she and her mother extended their stay by a few weeks and her father and brother flew over to join them. Then, two days before the family was due to fly back, all South Africa’s ports and airports were closed down because of Covid-19.
Chen ended up staying in South Africa for six months, and the focus of her life shifted. In addition to the Denis Goldberg House of Hope, she also became familiar with the work of the Amoyo Performing Arts Foundation, an NGO working with disadvantaged children and also involved in the concert.
Goldberg established the Denis Goldberg Foundation in Cape Town to provide dance, music and art education to young people in impoverished townships. Photo: Getty Images
“During the Denis Goldberg concert, Amoyo’s dancers were also performing and they showed off their ‘gumboots’ dance and other traditional African styles of dance, which was very interesting to see because I’ve never really been exposed to this before. It’s very different from traditional Chinese dance, which is lots of head movements and rather gentle, while African dance is much more upbeat and they’re really conscious of the tempo,” she recalled.
During her time there, she helped organise an online fundraising performance for Amoyo, with the funds raised going towards Covid-19 relief for their students in the townships. After lockdown restrictions eased, she also helped to give out food and cellular data cards to families in need.
“It was really eye-opening. The place we lived was pretty close to a township, and there’s this kind of jarring juxtaposition. I was able to see how the Covid-19 restrictions had affected them, which was much more serious than how I was impacted,” she says.
In the short term, I want to continue with fundraising opportunities. I know I want to keep on working with NGOs in South Africa, and I want to go to college, but I also want to pursue danceErita Lee Acham Chen
Chen also became aware that South Africa has a serious problem with gender-based violence – one exacerbated by women and young girls being forced to stay at home during lockdown. That disturbing fact gave her the idea of organising a parallel event for the 65th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65), a virtual forum promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Chen approached the Amoyo Foundation, which agreed to sponsor a 90-minute online discussion entitled “Post-apartheid Gender Inequality: Tackling it through Arts Education”, which begins at 8pm Hong Kong time on Friday, March 26, the final day of the forum, which has been running since March 15.
The discussion is open for public registration . Representatives and students of Amoyo, Jazzart, and urban art NGO Baz-Art will participate in two panel discussions, one of which will be chaired by Chen. She will also introduce the session.
Chen will co-host and chair a United Nations online discussion on important gender issues in South Africa. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Chen finally flew back to Hong Kong in August 2020, and has returned to her old life in a way, going to school at HKIS and taking part in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Gifted Dancer Programme. But she is eager to return to South Africa.
“In the short term, I want to continue with fundraising opportunities. I know I want to keep on working with NGOs in South Africa, and I want to go to college, but I also want to pursue dance,” she says. “It’s a very interesting time we’re living in, and I’ve certainly had a very different experience.” |
