This year’s edition of the fashion week in Mozambique was marked by a parade of boys, adolescents and young people who live on the streets of Maputo. This is a solidarity initiative that brings together various institutions and seeks to give visibility to the so-called “invisible” and integrate them into society.
The 2022 edition of Mozambique Fashion Week made history. 16 teenagers and young people who live on the streets of Maputo walked the catwalk, became models and the spotlight made visible those who, every day, are practically invisible before the eyes of society.
Ruy Santos is responsible for the Kaya Project, a space of economic and social inclusion, which decided to undress prejudices and dress in style and glamour the young people and adolescents who hours before roamed the streets of the city in search of means of survival. “Today here we have 16 beneficiaries of Kaya who will parade and show this collection. They are the invisible, those people who are ignored in our society and that we are here to give an opportunity for them to be seen and to believe that they can also be part of it, they are part of society and that from now on they can dream with the transformation of their lives”, said Ruy Santos quoted by RFI.
This initiative, says Ruy Santos, intends to plant dreams to one day harvest totally transformed lives. “This is just a starting point, but afterwards people will have rights, they will have the opportunity to have professional training, they will have professional training in cutting and sewing, in information technologies, hairdressing, barbering, beautician, manicure and pedicure and other partnerships that we will establish”, he says.
“The idea for this collection was born from this context of social inclusion, inspired by these people, who society, we, label and forget and who are given no other option than that of daily survival.” This excerpt from the text “the Invisible” by Soraia Abdula portrays the harsh reality of the daily lives of those who try to survive the economic and social exclusion, physical and psychological abuse and being treated like no one else. Now, Soraia Abdula helps to find antonyms and turn them into someone.
