Ubuntu Performance Camp is an idea created by Lee Mokobe, it was sparked from Mokobe’s work with teens in shelters, foster homes, group homes and those generally homeless.

Teens involved in the group will be taught poetry and leadership skills every Tuesday and Thursday at the Achieving Independence Center in Philadelphia, PA. Ubuntu Performance Camp is geared towards the teens who excel in performance art. It is an attempt to prepare and teach them the necessary skills they may need to enter art and liberal colleges as dancers, actors and poets.

The camp will be taught by established poets, dancers and actors in Philadelphia and across America. It will run for two weeks before the summer sets in. At the end of the summer, the poets will have composed an anthology of their writing from their poetry workshops. The actors and dancers will have a showcase that will be available to the public. Together they will all create and star in their own show about their struggles and aspirations.

All proceedings will go towards a small scholarship fund for the best dedicated student among all the teens. Mokobe wants to inspire the seemingly forgotten homeless youth that they can express themselves and dream beyond their circumstances and that with hard work comes great results. It’s to give them a strong foundation that will propel them towards a brighter future.

The name “Ubuntu” is a South African term loosely translated means compassion towards humanity or “I am who I am because of who we are.” The group is working in partnership with the Philly Youth Poetry Movement.

Another AWESOME idea funded by Awesome Without Borders.