A MEMBER of an award-winning theatre company has arrived home safely following a trip of a lifetime to Africa as part of a project with young people who have learning disabilities.

Twenty-three-year-old Victoria Walters, who has Down’s Syndrome herself, was given the opportunity to visit Lesotho with the Hijinx Theatre Company to work with the communities of young people both with and without learning disabilities.

Victoria said: “I was very proud and honoured to be part of the trip and the team and work with Amy and Jon from Hijinx Theatre - and it was inspiring. I loved everything apart from the travelling, but would like to go back in the future.”

Victoria added: “It taught me how differently disabilities are treated in another country - but how inspiring the children are there - they were always smiling and positive and just want to feel part of everything. I also loved working with the students from Machabeng International College and Kate, the PHD student who was assigned to the group.

“They are really lovely people - it made me think about how we are treated at home and how we can all learn from the children of the orphanage who want only to be loved, to learn and have an opportunity which they all deserve. We should try and help them more. They are beautiful people.”

Award-winning theatre company, Hijinx, took a group of learning disabled actors and staff to tour the landlocked country of Lesotho, with a performance project called Able to Act.

Four professional actors with Down’s Syndrome from Hijinx’s performance training Academies in Wales undertook the trip - Justin Melluish, Gareth Clark, Laura Tilley and Victoria.

They partnered with four local drama students from the Machabeng International College to create a totally new piece of theatre, which was initially developed in the Hijinx Academies across Wales.

Through the Able to Act project, Hijinx has been able to actively show communities in Lesotho its four actors with Down’s Syndrome working alongside local theatre students to create a piece of creative physical theatre, adding to the creative culture of the community and highlighting how they can improve their inclusive practices.

Performances were held across five locations throughout Lesotho, including the Mamohato Children’s Centre run by Sentebale - set up by Prince Seeiso and Prince Harry. Here the production was performed for staff from their disability department and the rest of the organisation who were undergoing disability awareness focus training.

With total audiences of over 2,000 people, ranging from church congregations and school children to the Senior Citizens Association of Lesotho, the impact the Hijinx Able to Act project had is not to be underestimated. Not simply through the performances, but also the drama workshops with learning disabled children at the orphanage, the four learning disabled actors building relationships with the local actors and also regularly going to the local shopping centre and cafes, visibly showing the local community people with learning disabilities doing everyday tasks.

The Able to Act project was made possible through funding from Welsh Government’s Wales for Africa programme through Hub Cymru Africa, the British Council, and in association with Machabeng International College and Dolen Cymru.