The Hub, which opened in August 2015, promotes social and economic justice, democracy, and good governance in Lesotho by empowering young Basotho to become skilled, inspired, motivated, and socially conscious.
The Hub is Lesotho’s only initiative of its kind, providing affordable access to computers, the internet, a library, and digital media training in Morija.
It is a subsidiary of the Morija Museum and Archives. The Hub’s primary audience is young people aged 10 to 35, and it is open five days a week.
According to The Hub’s coordinator, Meri Hyöky, said The Hub’s various activities aim to encourage its members to become active.well-informed, skilled, and outspoken citizens.
The inspiration behind the hub’s work, according to Hyöky, is to provide a resource space and affordable internet access to its members.
“The Hub seeks to tackle several of the problems facing modern-day Lesotho, namely: poverty, high unemployment rates, and limited access to technology, the internet, and resources for creativity and learning. Many of these challenges are linked to bad governance, social injustices, and democratic challenges,” Hyöky explained.
The Morija community can use information and communications technology for research and artistic expression thanks to the Hub. It is a place where young people can get training and practice using digital media equipment to create visual art.
“Using digital art as a catalyst for social justice: encouraging young members of The Hub to create outspoken projects such as creative writing, filmmaking, music, photography, animation, and community events that fuse art and activism is a way of encouraging them to become outspoken, active, informed, and creative citizens who can speak truth to power, challenge social injustices, and, in the long run, work towards a country that values good governance and democratic ideas.”
The Hub not only trains young people to be technologically savvy; their work with young people also aims to reduce the prevalence of gender-based violence through life skills and mental health programming, which teaches participants about the definitions of abuse and where to seek help if they are being abused.
The Hub’s programming, according to Hyöky, emphasizes gender equality, mutual respect and caring, and healthy coping mechanisms as ways to reduce the incidence of gender-based violence in future generations, and it is led by women, including members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Hub, as a donor-run project, relies heavily on grants for institutional costs, which Hyöky describes as a challenge and a threat to the project’s long-term viability.
The Hub not only trains young people to be technologically savvy; their work with young people also aims to reduce the prevalence of gender-based violence through life skills and mental health programming, which teaches participants about the definitions of abuse and where to seek help if they are being abused.
The Hub’s programming, according to Hyöky, emphasizes gender equality, mutual respect and caring, and healthy coping mechanisms as ways to reduce the incidence of gender-based violence in future generations, and it is led by women, including members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Hub, as a donor-run project, relies heavily on grants for institutional costs, which Hyöky describes as a challenge and a threat to the project’s long-term viability.
Hyöky said the hub seeks to increase civic participation through the arts through artivism—the digital arts as agents of change—in a context of endemic corruption, low youth civic participation, and gender-based violence.
“The Hub works to equip youth with skills that will allow them to participate in digital art campaigns to effect change in their community, discover their political voice, and initiate conversations about local issues.”
She said The Hub’s production house, made up of in-house and outsourced talent, is expanding.
“The emergence of a production house is due to workshops on photography, filmmaking, and animation that have been funded by OSISA, DWA, and the European Union since 2017,” Hyöky explained.
Among its many accomplishments, The Hub has received awards at the Lesotho Film Festival for OSISA-funded artivism content, including the the 2019 Jury Prize: ‘Lesotho’ is a music video in which Rex Jiffy, Vertic Zee, Black Dash, the Women of the Well, Meloh, and Sadon express their feelings about the country’s current political and socioeconomic situation. This music video is the result of workshops funded by OSISA.
“Digital media is shaping and will continue to shape Africa’s future. The Hub’s innovative combination of activism, visual art, and digital media is also noteworthy. The impact of such a project will be far-reaching because it pushes the boundaries of creativity “Hyöky stated.
She stated that the recent relocation to a larger building in Morija, 1km from the previous location, has provided enormous relief to staff and participants. The expansion also allowed the old building to be converted into Morija’s only lending library.
“Future goals for The Hub include increasing income generation to reduce reliance on donors for sustainability, as well as the construction of a purpose-built building that includes ample indoor space for learning, workshops, access to computers and a library, staff offices, a digital art production studio, a digital art editing studio, screen printing and sewing facilities, storage, and more,” said Hyöky.
She stated that The Hub is grateful for the opportunity to work with OSISA from 2016 to 202, as they received not only programming but also institutional support from OSISA since 2016, allowing The Hub to establish a reputation as a successful and dependable educational project and content creator in the region.
“Working with OSISA also taught The Hub the value of open lines of communication through which we grantees can receive advice.” “The Hub’s work with OSISA during the COVID-19 pandemic taught us many lessons, including the importance of being able to think on your feet in order to adapt to new situations and challenges,” said Hyöky.
