A chat with Joshua Sofola |15 November 2017

‘Always believe in and be yourself’

Who is Joshua?

Joshua Sofola, stage name Josh Wilds, is a 17-year-old student at the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals), the local President of World Merit, a SYAH member and the leader in the Youth Action Movement.

Joshua is the middle child in a household of three siblings with an older brother and a younger sister.

“I was raised on the island of Praslin and I moved to Mahé around the age of four. I currently reside in the district of Beau Vallon”.

Interest and hobbies

“I am widely interested in the literary arts which include reading and creative writing. My hobby also includes the performing arts and the art of videography,” says Joshua.    

“For me art is a talent, art is a skill, art is a feeling and art is a passion,” adds Joshua smiling.

To increase his confidence, Joshua created an alter persona known as Josh Wilds.  “Josh Wilds is a persona that I created to increase my confidence and my ability to stand in front of a crowd and do anything really,” he explains.

“I am not a confident person, I can’t remember being confident, I’ve always been self-aware about everything. The Josh Wilds persona is one that gives me the confidence to actually do something when I walk on a stage,” he says.

Despite being only 17 years of age, he has also written numerous plays and poems to raise awareness about several issues that are currently affecting the country. Some of the plays were performed in national events including the Youth Ocean Champion Award Ceremony held in July.

“I love writing. I’m studying English language at school and I use most of my spare time to write my novel,” he exclaims. ” I intend to encourage the use of the literary art. Some of my other schoolmates and I recently launched a book club at our school (Sals),” says a happy Joshua.

“We also intend on expanding to a national level at the earliest,” he reveals. 

 Apart from practicing different forms of art as a hobby, Joshua also uses art to raise awareness on important issues that are currently not on the forefront of people’s focus.   

“I am set to release a few skit videos on the importance of mangroves and other habitats that are not given much attention. This also ties to my science fair projects that my team and I have put together about the importance of unnoticed ecosystems such as coral reefs and sea grass,” Joshua continues. 

Apart from the performing arts and writing Joshua also loves baking.

“Baking is like the world - add a few ingredients and something wonderful is created, [likewise when] you add a few brilliant minds [together], solutions are created…” he says.  

“I have too much passion …; I find myself loving everything that life has to offer,” says Joshua thoughtfully. 

When asked to give his opinion about whether art is properly valued in Seychelles Joshua argues that here in Seychelles it is mostly music and visual arts that are given priority. On this note he suggests that other forms of art should be properly valued as well. 

Any piece of original poem that you want to share?

I am a cube
I am a cube in my personality
I am a cube when it comes to diversity
And I am a cube when it comes to versatility

Why am I not a square?
Why am I not a 2 dimensional shape?
Why do I feel scared?
Because this world doesn’t appreciate cube
You’re either a square or a triangle
But I want to change that angle

We’ve all chased something
Something specific
That little taste of happiness
For some of us it may be a square happiness
But I want to  be a cube happiness

Yes I was given a name
But doesn’t mean I can’t be more than the name
Yes I was put in the intellectual path
Doesn’t mean I don’t want the road to change
The life of a cube is one of multiple corners and multiple sides

Why limit myself?
Why limit myself to just being a square?
There is more to me than the boy
There is more to me than the little black boy
There is more to me than the Creole speaking boy
There is more to me than the little Creole speaking boy that reads
And there is more to me than the 2 dimension we are trapped in

I am a cube
See me in all perspective
See me with more than one side
Listen to me from every corner
Because there’s more to me than just one thing.

I am a cube
I am cube because I want to be recognised in more than one way
I am a cube because I feel trapped in only one squared image

We’re all cubes
We all have more than one side

I am a cube
You’re a cube

And I want you to remember that.

By Joshua Sofola

Joshua as an Eco-Warrior

Apart from being a lover of the arts, Joshua is also fond of nature.

“I’ve educated the youth about the importance of the environment. I was part of the Academy by the Sea programme which is where it all began,” explains Joshua.  Due to his active participation as an Eco-Warrior Joshua was selected to visit the Aldabra Atoll in 2016.

“I love the pristine beauty and the history of the place and also the feeling of isolation and distance away from all the main islands,” he says with a smile.

When asked about whether he thinks that more Seychellois should have the chance to visit Aldabra the 17-year-old said: “Individuals who are setting an example and taking an active stance towards conservation should get the chance to go to Aldabra”.

Youth Action Movement (Yam)

Joshua became a member of Yam after working on a HIV/Aids production of the no budget ‘Positively Hurting’ movie. A movie that aims to raise awareness on issues relating to HIV and Aids.   

“We worked on the 25-minute project with a group of enthusiastic and dynamic youth who poured all their enthusiasm in the project, although we didn’t have a budget,” he says. 

The movie ‘Positively Hurting’ will be turning into a series set to be released on December 1, 2017. The series will have a total of 10 episodes based on sexual health education and raising awareness about such taboo issues from teen pregnancy, rape and HIV virus.

How important are your friends and families?

For Joshua, his friends and families are very important and are a great source of support. “My friends and family are the foundation of critic, I share the pieces of art which I am not too sure about with them,  especially my mother who  finds a way to listen and  to contribute in pushing me to my full potential,” he says happily. 

“My grandmother is the one that got me a guitar together with my parents to pursue my love for music…it’s a great encouragement for me to pursue the love that I have for music,” he says.

Joshua’s friends provide a source of support as well. “They always have an opinion about the different ideas that I come up with and they will always find a way to either push or constructively criticize,” says Joshua.  

Thus he believes that his friends inspire him to become a better artist and a better person.

“In a way you could say that my friends are my motivators,” says Joshua.

What do you want to do as your future career?

 “I’m not really sure what I want to do, however I do love the idea of being a chef, preferably a pastry chef,” he says.  “I would also love to work in international relations, to create connections between people and places and also help with the issues that the world is facing,” he shares.

Any words for the youth of today?

Joshua’s advice for young people includes a reminder for them to always believe in themselves.

“Believe in yourself and be you, believe you can do it, stand up and do it.  If you avoid blaming the world around you, this will get you a long way” he advises.  Assigning blame is just a nasty game that everyone is good at, but waking up and actually deciding that you want to be selfless in finding your way in the world is the best thing you can do,” he concludes.  

Compiled by S. M. Barbé