Pupil wins Lions District peace poster contest
Noor Bray, from Micklefield School, won first prize in the Lions District peace poster competition.
Image: Fouzia van der Fort
A pupil from Rondebosch took top honours in the district level of the Lions International Peace Poster Contest.
Noor Bray, Grade 7 pupil at Micklefield Primary School in Rondebosch, won first place; Nishmita Govender, a Grade 6 pupil at Bloubergridge Primary School in Table View, won second place; and Imaan Bam, Grade 7 at Gordons Bay Primary School, won third place in the Lions District, including schools across the Western Cape and Namibia leg of the competition.
The annual contest, now in its 36th year, invites pupils to express their interpretation of the theme through art, while a written competition for the visually impaired allows essays of up to 500 words.
Lions clubs worldwide sponsor the contest, giving young people a platform to be recognised locally and internationally, with a grand prize of US$5,000.
Pictured from left, are judge Iziko Museums' chief education officer Rory Emmett, Lions District Peace / Essay Contest winner Noor Bray, from Micklefield School, competition coordinator Yolanda de Jager, district governor Bevil Lakay, and judge Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa's educator Kirsty-Rae Samson.
Image: Fouzia van der Fort
Noor’s winning artwork reflected this year’s theme, “Together as One”, featuring puzzle pieces and flags pieced together to "symbolise unity", as well as a figure helping a boy score a basketball, showing that everyone needs support to reach their goals.
Invited by the Groote Schuur Lions Club, Noor will now compete against winners from District E, including East London, Gqeberha, KwaZulu-Natal, and Johannesburg.
The winner of the final round will represent Lions South Africa at the international competition in Chicago next month.
Pictured at the back, from left, are Lions Zone chairman Malcalm Mc Callum, from De Grendel Lions Club, Terence Webb, Lions district chairman Jacques Mostert, all three from De Grendel Lions Club and Andrew McClaren, from Groote Schuur Lions Club. In front are Christiane Savoia, from Tokai Lions Club, Heather Lee, from Cape Town Lions Club, Lions district governor Bevil Lakay, from Mitchell’s Plain Lions Club, competition coordinator Yolanda de Jager, from De Grendel Lions Club.
Image: Fouzia van der Fort
On Saturday, Westlake Primary School pupil Chadly Du-Preez said that when he thought of the theme, puzzle pieces fitting together immediately came to mind, and doves as the symbol of peace. "A puzzle needs pieces that fit together to make one," he said.
District governor Bevil Lakay, from Mitchell's Plain Lions Club, said the competition celebrated something the world needed - peace - and which children understand clearly.
"Children show us through colour, line and imagination what peace means to them," he said.
Mr Lakay said that the contest gave youth a stage to share their vision of the year's theme and, in doing so, taught adults more about peace.
"Peace is not the absence of noise, it's the presence of connection. It is a daily choice to see one another, hear one another, and work with one another," he said.
Merit award recipients, pictured from left, are Michael Fuller, from Westlake Primary School, Xavier Abrahams, from Capricorn Primary School, Emmanuel Kaunda and Fortune Chakwan, both from Westlake Primary School.
Image: Fouzia van der Fort
Mr Lakay said that the young artists reminded him that peace is a verb.
"It is something we actively do. Art moves the heart and clears the eyes.
"These posters invite us to feel peace and to practice it. This is our job as lions to turn vision into action," he said.
Club presidents of international winners will be notified on or before this date.