Ger Duany kept his word!
by Naima Thompson
I met Ger Duany, an actor and model, at a friend's apartment in Harlem last July. After learning about NAS and our outreach project "Reach the Unreachable", he promised to do what he can to bring NAS together with Sudanese refugee children in Kenya. Being a "Lost Boy" from Sudan and experiencing the status of refugee himself, Ger understands the power of humanitarian efforts as well as the usefulness of the arts in the quest for personal healing and development. One year later, now an ambassador for the UNHCR, Ger Duany holds true to his word. The Necessary Arts Outreach team is working with a dynamic group of refugee children from the Sud Academy. Many thanks to the Kenyan UNHCR team for making this partnership possible. Please view The Good Lie if you want to understand more about the lost boys (and girls) of Sudan.
Some of our team members who had the experience of working with the children express their thoughts in the narratives below.
Day One of my Necessary Arts Experience
by Amanda Milkeraitis by Naima Thompson
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| The Good Lie |
I met Ger Duany, an actor and model, at a friend's apartment in Harlem last July. After learning about NAS and our outreach project "Reach the Unreachable", he promised to do what he can to bring NAS together with Sudanese refugee children in Kenya. Being a "Lost Boy" from Sudan and experiencing the status of refugee himself, Ger understands the power of humanitarian efforts as well as the usefulness of the arts in the quest for personal healing and development. One year later, now an ambassador for the UNHCR, Ger Duany holds true to his word. The Necessary Arts Outreach team is working with a dynamic group of refugee children from the Sud Academy. Many thanks to the Kenyan UNHCR team for making this partnership possible. Please view The Good Lie if you want to understand more about the lost boys (and girls) of Sudan.Some of our team members who had the experience of working with the children express their thoughts in the narratives below.
Playing helps us grow Healthy and Strong
by Suzzanne Pautler
The words "human rights" intrigue me. I wonder if it is because I grew up in an environment where I took them for granted? Through my life experiences of living and traveling internationally, my appreciation for all that I have, including my human rights, has grown exponentially. Having witnessed the absence of human rights in countries around the world, I appreciate the many NGOs who are fighting to support those whose rights have been taken away or perhaps have never existed.
The Necessary Arts team began our morning at the offices of the UNHCR-Kenya, whose sidewalks were filled with Sudanese refugees who had slept in the queue overnight to seek help early this morning with employment or medical care. We were introduced to a variety of staff members who are working to secure everything from shelters to educational opportunities for those in need.
The current UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador for Sudan is Ger Duany. I know of Ger from his role in the film "The Good Lie", where he portrayed one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, based upon his personal experience. In his role as Goodwill Ambassador, Ger visited Sud Academy on his previous visit to Kenya and fell in love with the humble school. Naima met Ger in NYC where they discussed what a great match the objectives of Necessary Arts would be with the students of Sud Academy. The Principal, George, is a former Lost Boy of Sudan who was forced to become an adult at the age of 14 by taking care of all the younger children who were walking with him. I love that he is still working in this capacity today. The school educates 235 Sudanese refugees. The love and pride he shows towards his students is immeasurable.
As the Necessary Arts team moved through the theatre arts workshop, one group chose to analyze the word "rights". What does "rights" mean? How could the group members form an image with their bodies to demonstrate "rights"? What kind of story could they act out to tell the audience about "rights"? Rights are such a powerful concept. Would this group be able to work through the activities and do it justice?
By the end of the workshop, the group had identified six rights as being most important to their lives as young men:
- The right to an education
- The right to health care
- The right to security
- The right to move
- The right to play
- The right to a family
I do not know the background stories of each student to understand how they arrived to be educated at Sud Academy, though I am confident their journeys have been difficult. Despite the obstacles and challenges they have faced as young boys, I love the fact that the right to play appears on their list. "Playing helps us grow healthy and strong." Every child deserves the right to play no matter the conflict or strife he faces each day.
Although the students are on their school holiday right now, Necessary Arts truly appreciates the 23 students, ranging from ages 8-19, who had the interest and took the time to walk to school this morning to engage in our workshop. Additionally, 3 teachers and 5 UNHCR members joined us to better understand what Necessary Arts can offer these students. One representative shared that "she had never seen anything like this" and that she could not believe how quickly the students opened up and responded to us. Hopefully today was the first step towards a lasting friendship with Sud Academy, where I am confident Necessary Arts was able to "reach the unreachable".
Day One of my Necessary Arts Experience
My first day visit today with Necessary Arts was to the Sud Academy, and we were met by the staff and inquisitive students as we entered. The boys seemed tall and the girls were shy!
After some warm-up games filled with curious faces, much clapping and giggling we set the students tasks of working in groups to make various objects – and they seemed very proud of their abilities to make trees, bicycles and chairs. (All very eager to keep hold of their positions until their pictures had been taken).
In mixed groups then the students were assigned the task of improvising a skit based on a word – the words they chose were “peace”, “community”, “strength” and “rights”. With some encouragement the creative process got underway and the natural leaders came to the forefront. I was impressed by the ideas and collaboration that these students demonstrated for us. I think the performing for them, in front of their peers, was challenging for them, but they embraced it and made last minute adjustments to perfect their acts. This was great to see – they had a little pre-performance anxiety, which is quite apt for all actors!
However, the highlight of the day for me was the last activity of the day. We asked all groups to write down what their word meant to them. Most groups had one enthusiastic scribe and the thoughts and ideas were fast and flowing. I was absolutely flawed by not only their super English writing skills, but their very mature and insightful responses. “Maybe you can be physically strong, but be weak inside”, “if you are strong inside, no word would hurt you or make you disappointed”, “Right to play – helps us grow healthy and strong”, “Community is a group of people to share the mind or ideas together”.
From the beginning of our time with these young people, with shy smiles and quiet voices, it was so very impressive to see spokespersons then get up on the stage and deliver their group’s work with confidence, projection and clarity. The work of Necessary Arts seeks to give each participant the confidence to know that every voice is important. Knowing what some of these students have been through, these sorts of activities are just what they need to express some of their emotions they have locked inside. It was a pleasure to see leaders arise within this school community. A joy to watch, and a joy to be a part of! And they were all genuinely sorry to see us leave, which, of course added to the joy I felt about Day One for me – bring on the next few days Necessary Arts!
Student Leaders among the Refugees
by Melinda Everstyen
It was an honor and a pleasure to work with the students of the Sud Academy on my first day working with the Necessary Arts team in Nairobi. After the initial warm-up activities, the students grew in self-confidence and began to initiate ideas in creative and surprising ways. When each group collaboratively interpreted its selected word (strength, community, human rights and peace), all students brought in experiences from their own lives to prepare and perform short pieces of theatre that were both powerful and strong.
My greatest highlight was watching the older students act group leaders. However, they slowly stepped back and allowed the younger students to step in. It was great to see students from ages 8-18 working together. Today was a fabulous debut experience for both the school and myself. I hope to be able to volunteer with Necessary Arts in the future to continue to build this special relationship with the students and teachers of Sud Academy.
A Fulfilling and Rewarding Experience
by Teresa Cantu
Today was a day that I know I will remember for the rest of my life, and I was literally gushing all evening trying to process everything the Necessary Arts team had the pleasure to witness and experience. The day began with a visit to the United Nations Human Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This unit is also known as the United Nations Refugee Agency. As we pulled into the building the line of people in need of aid was already forming, and some people used the small dirt yard to sleep as they presumably had no where else to go. We met a man named Jackson Karugu who gave us a tour of the UNHCR building and introduced to Margaret Njayakio. After a brief meeting, and further introductions with members from the regional office, we ventured on to Kawangware.
SUD Academy’s principal George Deng and Deputy Principal Benjamin immediately greeted us at the painted metal gate. After the usual pleasantries the students of SUD Academy transformed what was moments before a simple, dusty yard into our classroom full of chairs and wooden desks. We began the workshop standing in a circle and playing the 1-10/10-1 counting game. Counting once again was a challenge for many students, but this of course was not the true point of the activity. The participants aged 5 years to 19 years, were already full of smiles and the energy was building. We moved into the Wave Game to keep this energy up and to get our bodies moving. Slowly but surely, the students caught on to the rules, but it did become clear that as expected we were working with varying levels of English. We finished our warm up with a game of group charades in which each group of 4 to 6 students had to form whatever object Suzzi, Melinda, or I called out. This finally enabled the students to communicate with each other, to work together, and to laugh.
We transitioned into what we are now calling the Red Card Activity. You can read more details about this activity from my first blog, but we once again chose the word love as our model. After having discussed what this word means, we asked the students to give a facial expression to depict love and to create a tableau. As we had a large group, we broke the larger group down into 4 smaller groups and each group received a new word. This time the words selected, but the students themselves, were peace, community, strength, and rights. The students spoke with one another before creating tableaus and skits, but ultimately the most powerful moment of the workshop came with the kids had a chance to write down their ideas.
It is amazing that we can ask for volunteers to lead, whether as speaker or scribe, and students immediately volunteer. They have an air of confidence to them in these activities, and I have to believe that this is largely due to the fact that they love being in school. They truly understand and appreciate the power of education, and the safety that comes with this special community at SUD Academy. Who knows what many of these students have witnessed or experienced, but in school they have a place to feel strong, secure, and loved. After more than 10 minutes of writing we decided to move on, but I do believe many students would have continued given the chance. We joined once more as a community and listened to the voices of each group leader share ideas.
SUD Academy’s principal George Deng and Deputy Principal Benjamin immediately greeted us at the painted metal gate. After the usual pleasantries the students of SUD Academy transformed what was moments before a simple, dusty yard into our classroom full of chairs and wooden desks. We began the workshop standing in a circle and playing the 1-10/10-1 counting game. Counting once again was a challenge for many students, but this of course was not the true point of the activity. The participants aged 5 years to 19 years, were already full of smiles and the energy was building. We moved into the Wave Game to keep this energy up and to get our bodies moving. Slowly but surely, the students caught on to the rules, but it did become clear that as expected we were working with varying levels of English. We finished our warm up with a game of group charades in which each group of 4 to 6 students had to form whatever object Suzzi, Melinda, or I called out. This finally enabled the students to communicate with each other, to work together, and to laugh.
We transitioned into what we are now calling the Red Card Activity. You can read more details about this activity from my first blog, but we once again chose the word love as our model. After having discussed what this word means, we asked the students to give a facial expression to depict love and to create a tableau. As we had a large group, we broke the larger group down into 4 smaller groups and each group received a new word. This time the words selected, but the students themselves, were peace, community, strength, and rights. The students spoke with one another before creating tableaus and skits, but ultimately the most powerful moment of the workshop came with the kids had a chance to write down their ideas.
It is amazing that we can ask for volunteers to lead, whether as speaker or scribe, and students immediately volunteer. They have an air of confidence to them in these activities, and I have to believe that this is largely due to the fact that they love being in school. They truly understand and appreciate the power of education, and the safety that comes with this special community at SUD Academy. Who knows what many of these students have witnessed or experienced, but in school they have a place to feel strong, secure, and loved. After more than 10 minutes of writing we decided to move on, but I do believe many students would have continued given the chance. We joined once more as a community and listened to the voices of each group leader share ideas.
As a teacher I have always enjoyed watching the audience. As each student shared ideas the audience was truly transfixed and focused on each word spoken. There was eye contact and nodding of the head. These students may look like children, but they are more than aware of the blessings they have in life. They focus on the positives, on their strengths, and they carry with them the desire to help their community. They are a true family that wants to look out for one another.
Today was a success on many levels. I felt incredibly fulfilled personally, but I was also pleased knowing the contacts made by Necessary Arts as a whole. When working with communities such as SUD Academy it becomes incredibly clear how beneficial this type of work is. The workshops are engaging, therapeutic, challenging, and fun! As one group pointed out – everyone should have the right to play. It can be challenging, more so for some, to navigate this life and everyone deserves a bit of fun.
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