‘I was born a dancer’

They say dancing is the hidden language of the soul, and 12 year old Ira could not agree more. She loved dancing ever-since she was little.

“I love dancing and I think will dance for the rest of my life,” she said with a shy smile.
She further said her mother once told her that when she was a baby, the only thing that will make her sleep was the sound of music.

Her mother Monica Lopez says Ira is a introvert and a very caring person.

“She is a child any parent will be proud of. She is so mature and loving,” she said.

Ira’s favourite dancer is Laurieann Gibson where she gets some of her dancing moves from.
Although she has been dancing professionally for six months now she says she puts everything in her dancing.

“Dancers are different breeds; a dancer must harness strength, conviction, freedom and structure to give life to the dance. And when I dance I am free,” said Ira, a clear testimony that this 12 year-old knows what she wants.

As young as she is, she feels strongly about children’s rights;“I think as children we need to be taken more seriously, and not underestimated. Sometimes when teachers and parents don’t listen to us, we as children feel misunderstood,” she said.

She says she is lucky she gets along with her parents and teachers, but knows of some of her peers that do not, instead urging parents and teachers to listen to the children.

“Even if they think we are young we also know what we want,” she added.

She also urges the children and Namibian leaders to take part in extra activities like dancing, reading and others.

African Child day will this year be celebrated in spectacular fashion. Hundreds of school children carrying beautifully manicured posters and signs in their nicely polished (mandatory) school uniforms will march towards the stadium in the centre of town.

This year’s theme is “The rights of children with disabilities: the duty to protect, respect, promote and fulfill”.