The current crop of Grade Seven students, who were the pioneers of Stitches, recorded their first mbira album in 2010 – focussing on disability issues and children’s rights. The Arts Director at St Giles, Ticha Muzavazi said the move to form Stitches was arrived at after the realisation that children with disabilities were failing to exploit their talents as society tended to look down upon people with disabilities.
“We realised that there were a lot of talented children with disabilities in the community, but they were not being given the platform to show their talents because society thinks they are not able to do anything,” said Muzavazi.
“We do not want to confine the project to St Giles only. We want it to accommodate as many disabled children as possible. Given enough resources, we would want to create an arts centre, because when disabled people are able to show society that they are capable of doing something, we believe they will gain respect and recognition.”