Yaya Sarria is a professional dancer from Chad. He is the promoter of Souar Souar festival which takes place annually in N’Djamena. He talks to us in this interview about this event which is in its 7th edition. Let’s Read!
What can one understand by Souar souar and why did you create this festival ?
300 kilometers from N’Djamena, the Chadian capital, there is a community called « Cabalaye ». Souar souar is a dialect of this community which means: « Come, come and dance together! » The festival has already had six editions. We are in the preparations for the 7th, which is scheduled from 6th to 11th December 2018. In initiating this event, our objective was to promote the arts and cultures of the African continent in all their dimensions. But on top of that, we want to go through culture to invest in the social, through training that we offer to youth. The Souar Souar festival, initially, consisted solely of dance. Over the years, we have added several other disciplines including music, photography …
Tell us about the scenes of the 7th edition …
We are on the ground in the preparations. It must be said that we started working recently with prostitutes and street children. It has been three years since we have committed ourselves to this new challenge. We go to those children who,by luck of chance, find themselves in these situations. We give them a second chance by initiating vocational training for them to ensure their reintegration into the society. We have already registered 36 girls and young people to whom we could show the danger that surrounds them when they are street children or prostitutes. We are looking for partners to have hardware to install them.
I tell you this to let you know that the 7th will be the installation of these young people that we were able to get off the street. From the event point of view, we are fighting to give a superb festival to our guests and to the Chadian people.
Interview conducted by ESCKIL AGBO