Youth in the rural area of Mutale who have a passion for the arts and mostly music stand to benefit from the establishmant of the Fhatalushaka Arts and Development Project.

The project, which aims to unearth and develop artists in the rural areas, wants to create opportunities for artists in terms of perfomances and recording. More than 30 students, most still at school, are benefitting from the project. Nine of them received cerificates during an event at Thengwe High School last weekend. They have completed the first phase of the training.

As part of their training, they did music theory Level 1, SA history of music, music appreciation and music practicals in keyboards, bass guitar, band ensemble, music production, vocals, drums and guitar. During the ceremony, dubbed 2016 Youth in Music, the students performed some of their learning material for the guests, who included representatives from the municipality and local established musicians, including Mizo Phyll.

The project is sponsored by Peace Corp, a volunteer organization from America. The founder of the project, Mr Moses Nyatheli (40), an artist of note himself with two albums under his belt, said the project came as a result of the need to assist rural youths, who had to travel to Gauteng in the past to realise their dreams in the arts. He added that there was an abundance of talent locally and it must be nurtured, developed and given a platform to showcase their skills.

He added that the programme was designed to "build strong music fundamentals and teach the learners to play multiple genres of music and to turn them into real musicians." According to him, the project will continue, aiming to create a community of musicians.