UNHCR leads NAS to Sud Academy

Ger Duany kept his word! 
by Naima Thompson

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

by Amanda Milkeraitis

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.

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.

NAS Says Goodbye to Kilifi...for Now!

Did We Stimulate Minds This Week?

by Suzzanne Pautler

Necessary Arts has a protocol in place whereby we reflect upon our teaching practice at the end of each site visit to determine if we achieved that which we set out to accomplish?  You know how educators are. We always seem to be in the process of writing standards, benchmarks, and assessments to measure if learning has taken  place.  Although our workshops are informal, we still need to try to determine if we were able to "reach the unreachable".

Did we foster global citizenship?  The students were able to define several facets of global citizenship through performance.  Our conversations and activities, along with their understanding of community, peace, and responsibility, focused exclusively on their lives here in Kilifi. Understanding and valuing one's own community is essential to the development of global citizenship, a concept which will continue to be studied on subsequent visits.

Did we promote personal development through creativity and the theatre arts?  Every child had an opportunity to participate in each activity, whether through their use of language, expression or body movement.  

Much group work took place to encourage students who might be a bit shy or intimidated.  As well, there were several opportunities for individual students to shine by volunteering to act as a student leader for the activity.

Did we encourage successful communication in English as a way to develop literacy?  Student groups were asked to complete a written reflection at the end of each lesson.  Additionally, there were opportunities to do individual read alouds or group choral readings during each workshop.  We certainly encouraged communication in English, though the reality is that translation from Swahili to English was incorporated throughout the workshop to reiterate key ideas.

Did we "stimulate minds through artistic expression?"  Through a variety of warm-up activities requiring both physical and emotional expression, as well as a main activity like a dramatic improvisation requiring recall of detail from the script, students were definitely stimulated mentally, while responding artistically.

Even though the students are currently on holiday, they volunteered to attend the workshops and were quite focused and engaged while at Tulia.  More importantly, they returned each day, bringing along their friends and siblings. Our first workshop reached only 15 students, and our final workshop grew to 35 participants. Interestingly, the students here study each school lesson for 35 minutes at a time, while our workshops required attention and participation anywhere from 90-120 minutes.

Necessary Arts looks forward to continuing the workshop with these young learners. They are eager and motivated students who deserve challenging learning opportunities.  Until next time, Kilifi!

Do You Promise to Return?

by Suzzanne Pautler

To our surprise and delight, several younger siblings ranging from 5-8 years old joined us today for the third and final workshop in Kilifi.  As always, the girls wore skirts or dresses, and our youngest addition arrived in a long white satin skirt with a matching sequined top. We were off to a fancy start!  

Necessary Arts is not a donation machine, whereby we magically fill school libraries or fund scholarships.  Our goal is to volunteer our time and talent to achieve certain learning objectives.  However, we do typically travel with several small items on hand, ranging from Necessary Arts t-shirts to body lotions to candies, never knowing exactly what we might need or who we might meet during our journey.  One of our English teaching colleagues in Dubai donated two dozen soft cover books that her child had outgrown, and as a last minute addition, she added 3 small beach balls.  Her donations saved us today!  While the older students had stagecraft work to accomplish, the younger students had a great time playing charades, singing and dancing, and reading books.

In the early afternoon, a beautiful and colorful meal was served to each child as a gesture of goodwill. It included Kenyan pelau, cole slaw, bananas, and bright red hibiscus juice made from blossoms in the garden.  Thirty five participants were involved in today's workshop, ranging from ages 5-25. We hope that each and every one will return for future Necessary Arts visits.

After lunch the students played with the beach balls in the gardens, while looking longingly at the swimming pool.  Finally, a group of girls approached Teresa and I and asked if we would please, please, please go to the beach with them?  And doesn't a beach party sound like a perfect conclusion to 3 days of meaningful workshops?  Our group once again filled the entire road as we slowly walked toward the Indian Ocean.  Soon not one child was dry. Their smiles and shrieks never stopped.  And, of course, just as the beach balls were a huge hit in the garden, they were even more so in the ocean.  

In between riding the waves and playing in the sand, children approached us over and over again asking us if we will promise to return.  Of course!  While we are hoping the students will return, they're hoping Necessary Arts will return.  What a perfect situation.  These conversations have taken place at other schools and orphanages, too. Sometimes when students understand that we are coming back, they start to list all the items they would like us to bring them.  This is a struggle for us to process as we hope they actually want us to come back to further their learning and development. Only one girl whispered a personal request in my ear while we were standing at the beach. She really wants us to bring some skipping ropes, and I think those just might fit in the small item category.  Along with more beach balls, of course!

...And Scene!

Mission Accomplished

by Teresa Cantu

Today marked our final day in Kilifi, and I can honestly say I will be sad to leave this place.  The new friends we have made at Tulia Bofa have made our stay and workshop incredible experience, and the children have been wonderful to work with.  Today’s workshop was a mixture of emotions.  The workshop started on a high as Suzzi and I were once again greatly pleased to see many new faces.  It appeared that many younger siblings of previous attendees were in attendance today.  I am a sucker for toothy grins and dimpled cheeks, so I was enthused from the get go!

We immediately started our warm up games with energy as we used three blowup beach balls provided by a colleague back in Dubai.  All students stood in a circle and tossed the balls to other group members all while sharing something about themselves.  We began with names, and then moved on to favorite fruits, and animals we found most scary.  I am pleased to say I am not in fact the only person that has an aversion to millipedes! As a group, we then transitioned into the counting 1 to 10 and 10 to 1 game that we practiced on day 1. Suzzi and I quickly began to realize that there was still a great stretch in terms of language ability within the group.  However, this game still proved to elicit giggles from everyone involved.

The new warm-up game today involved dividing our large group into smaller groups of four.  Suzzi or I gave the name of an animal or object, and the groups were challenged to position all of their bodies to create this figure.  For example, we began with tree.  Each group of four used their bodies to create one tree together.  From tree we moved on to elephant, millipede, bicycle, and a few others.  This was a great opportunity for the students to think about their body movements, positioning, and to communicate as a team to work together on a common goal.  We upped the ante when the camera was brought out.  The groups seemed to feel re invigorated at the hope of having the group’s photo taken.

At this point the decision was made to divide the full group into 2 halves.  Suzzi worked with the students who learned the play, “The Fisherman, His Wife, and the Sea of Dreams” while I stayed with the new students.  Most of these new students were quite young and we played some of the warm ups that were used in Day 1 and 2.  We also had some time to discuss the words love, community, responsibility, and peace.  We concluded this session with the group teaching me some of their favorite songs and dances that they’ve learned in Kilifi.

As Suzzi and I combined forces, once more we immediately realized that the students from yesterday’s workshop still have some things to learn about performance.  It was a great challenge to have the students perform with proper volume and energy levels, but it was clear they understood the overall plot and theme of the story.  So, this leads us to the next question.  Have we accomplished our larger goals in Kilifi?

My answer is a resounding yes.  First of all, Necessary Arts came to Kilifi to make positive contacts and engage in an outreach experience.  Our numbers grew with each day, so it is clear that participants were talking to their friends and family and recruiting people to return.  We met not only children, but also adults in the community.  We have strong role models, contact information, and most importantly – enthusiasm from these adults.  They will be a huge asset in the future upon Necessary Arts return.  We also met the head teacher at the local Bofa Primary School, and this will allow us to reach an even greater audience of students and educators in the future when school is in session.

Secondly, every attendee became a performer in our Necessary Arts community.  The activities we selected gave students the opportunity to perform as much as he or she liked.  We saw leaders emerge and performers shine during skits.  We witnessed students playing together and depending on fellow classmates for help and support.  Students who might be shy in school or in the home had their fellow participants to act silly with and possibly open themselves up more than they might usually.  Additionally, we practiced our English literacy skills.  Each student engaged in reading activities, spoken word, and writing activities as a group.

Lastly, a large part of Necessary Arts is to discuss global ideas and experiences.  Being that this trip was based on making connections and outreach, I felt it important to make Bofa Village and Kilifi feel like the center of the world.  We spoke about this village and the experiences of this community.  I think this is the most important step when entering a new community, and especially one you want to work with in the future.  It is our job as teachers and volunteers to let the people know how we truly care about their world and experiences.  We listened to the stories of the children, adults, and teachers and we read the words related to their lives.  Further discussions can take place involving global contexts and learning in future visits.  Upon the closing of our final workshop Suzzi asked Answar, “So what do you think?  Do you think this type of work is good for this community?” and he responding passionately with an affirmative, “Oh yes most certainly.”

Answar is a man that wants more for his community, and he even has plans to start a free of charge computer class for Bofa residents.  He also gladly provided lunch after today’s session for 40 hungry faces just to assure that no one would go hungry for the day.  He is the perfect community role model and wore his gifted Necessary Arts t-shirt with pride all day long.  He was also quick to hold us accountable to our message for the sake of his community when he asked, “So, when will you return?”

The day concluded with the children asking Suzzi and I to join them at the beach for an afternoon swim.  Fully clothed they bounded into the crashing waves that brought the afternoon tide higher and higher.  Their laughter and smiles were once again infectious, and the same children that were so quiet and shy two hours previous became obsessed with being the models for the ever clicking camera.  We appeased their requests of, “Take my photo, take my photo!” The beauty of a digital camera is the instant gratification of seeing one’s photo, but it also means a photo can be easily erased.  As Suzzi and I snapped away we were fully aware that others would never witness most of these photos – much like the very experience we were a part of.

When it was time for the children to go home they quickly asked, “When will you come back, when will you return?” I do not want this trip to mimic that digital camera.  One visit can easily give instant gratification in knowing that we gave our students an enjoyable experience, but I do not want these children to become like the easily disposable photos.  Each one of them is important and their experiences are worth remembering and sharing.  This first trip was a great opportunity for outreach and I know Necessary Arts will do continued beneficial work with these students and community.  As we prepare to leave Kilifi in the morning we know we now have three new local leaders, contacts in a local school, more than enough students to fill a workshop, and the personal desire to return to continue what we’ve started.

A New member of the NA Team shares her Experience

Bofa Drama Workshop: Monday August 10, 2015 – Kilifi, Kenya

by Teresa Cantu

After a quick thirty-minute layover at my home in Dubai, I quickly squeezed my puzzled cat goodbye and joined my friend Suzzi as we darted off to the airport.  Two flights and fifteen hours later we found ourselves pulling into the incredible Tulia Bofa.  The longtime friends of Suzzi, Kerry and George, built the picturesque cottage.  The two smiling faces of Answar and Mirella, who gave us a tour of the premises, greeted us warmly.  They went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed to be comfortable, but the best part is that they were greeting us as friends and not as guests.

Pesky jet lag and a long day of travel meant that my bed became my new best friend around 9pm.  Having slept a solid seven hours I found myself ready to face my first full day in Kenya at 4am.  Perhaps there was an air of excitement and anticipation, but I found myself counting the hours until the sun would rise and I might feel it an appropriate time to start the day and further lesson plan with Suzzi.  Fast-forward to 10am and Answar, Kazungo, and the grounds crew transformed the front garden of Tulia Bofa into a proper tented classroom and performance space.  Children from neighboring villages begin to trickle in through the front gate and before we knew it we had seats full of students ranging in ages from 12 to 40 years old.

The idea behind Necessary Arts is to empower all participants as students and leaders.  As some members of the group appeared to be a bit shy, we began the day with warm up activities to get everyone up and moving.  The Wave activity had each participant using body movement to mimic the person standing to their left.  This game quickly elicited giggles from everyone and helped us move into our next game.  This time everyone was asked to cross an imaginary lake while acting out motions assigned to them by other group members.  The most boisterous activity came last as the task of counting up and down from 1 to 10 was set to a beat provided by clapping hands.  Who knew counting could be so fun? This activity focused not only on voice, but more importantly on the significance of eye contact as a means of communication and confidence.

Three leaders emerged as we transitioned into our next activity.  We asked all students to think about the word love and what it means.  All were asked to think about what it felt to love and be loved.  The acting began as each individual was then challenged to make a facial expression showing what love looked like.  Some students were more willing than others.  Mirella, a 22 year old young woman living in Mombasa, lit up inside and she visually expressed her emotion with a grand smile.  She became one of the leaders when the full class divided into three smaller groups. Each smaller group created a stationary tableau to show what love looked like. Ziwadi, a 19 year old Kilifian working on the grounds of Tulia Boha, and Furaha, a 25 year old who has traveled abroad as a soccer player and works in Kilifi as a girl’s soccer coach, emerged as leaders within the second group.  The third group, comprised of younger students, performed well as they began to communicate and trust each other through the sharing of ideas.

After each tableau, all of which involved the physical embracing of all participants, a new word was given to each group and the same instructions were given.  The first step was to understand the meaning and feeling of the word and then a tableau was created.  Mirella’s group received the word responsibility and their tableau looked like people picking crops from the earth.  This makes complete sense given the region of Kenya. Ziwadi and Furaha’s group received the word peace and once again their tableau displayed people holding hands and embracing one another.  The final group of youngsters received the word community and they too joined hands in solidarity as statues.  Students were next immediately challenged to display the opposite of their assigned word.  The responsibility group immediately stopped their imaginary work and began sitting down or looking like many other teenagers around the globe – completely mesmerized by a smartphone.  The peace group dropped hands with their neighbors and turned their backs on one another.  Finally, the community group, no longer arm in arm, walked away from one another.

The final performance task came when students created their own skits to show their understanding of each word.  After about 5 minutes of group discussion, Suzzi and I coaxed each group to their feet to encourage the acting portion of the performance to come alive.  As performances came together, we reminded each group about the importance of eye contact, stage presence and positioning, as well as volume and pace.  The focus of Responsibility performance was a doctor helping an injured girl and two of the actors emerged as true performers.  The Community performance was truly beautiful as it depicted people planting and harvesting guavas.  As there were only three guavas in the harvest, rather than only three people having a taste, the actors divided the three guavas so that every actor and member of the audience was able to have a piece. The choice, be it intentional or not, to have no spoken word was also powerful in communicating the overall message.  Finally, the Peace group portrayed two individuals, Furaha and a young boy, having an aggressive exchange.  The boy commented on Furaha’s clothing.  This was notable as she was the only female in the entire group to wear pants rather than a skirt.  He commented that, “Girls should not dress like this!” and she fired back threateningly.  It is evident that this is no doubt a situation that Furaha has experienced in real life.  In the scene, two other actors emerged convincing Furaha and the boy to make peace with one another.  The skit ended with each actor holding one another’s hands high in the air and chanting, “You are my brothers and sisters. We must live in harmony and peace!”  One cannot argue the importance of these words.

The English teacher in me could not help myself, and the activity ended with each group huddled around a piece of paper writing their final takeaway from the activity and their understanding how they see their word in Kilifi.  Suzzi and I were impressed at how serious and engaged each student was in sharing his or her opinion on the subject.  

The first day of our Bofa drama workshop ended with an activity where we acted as animals in one final round of silliness and laughter.  Students were invited to take candies from a bag provided by Suzzi before venturing home.  Although, many of the girls seemed a bit more excited to pluck the ripe guavas provided by the fragrant tree whose shade we had the privilege of utilizing all morning.

Day two begins tomorrow and we’ve encouraged today’s students to bring along friends, siblings, and family.  Tomorrow we will expose students to scripts and expand upon stage and performance instruction.  It should be an exciting day, and I look forward to seeing both returning and new faces.

Bofa Drama Workshop: Tuesday August 11, 2015 – Kilifi, Kenya

After a fantastic Day #1 my recharge for the soul came in the form of Wi-Fi (I hate to have to admit that) and a great night’s sleep.  The plan to utilize my jetlag to catch the morning’s sunrise on Kilifi Beach proved futile as I remained in bed until 7am.  I suppose today is the last day to use my jetlag as an excuse!  10am came quickly and Suzzi and I are proud to say that we doubled our attendance in just one day.  Today we had a student as young as 10 years and Answar joined us for opening activities once again.  

We learned while chatting yesterday that Answar is a trained teacher, and like so many others, he left the profession as low pay and the number of pupils began to rise.  He also spoke of his frustration with teacher solely teaching to the test, which leaves students at a disadvantage once they move on the higher levels of education.  Does this tale sound familiar?  I’m sure teachers around the world, and most certainly in my native United States, will relate to this frustration.  However, upon seeing Answar working with kids today it is clear to see that he really has something special.  He is a great contact and support to have within the communities of Kilifi and Bofa.

Today’s workshop began with a human knot activity.  We thought this would be a great way to get the participants working together, speaking, moving, and hopefully laughing with one another.  Most of you will probably be familiar with this game.  People work in small groups and grasp hands with the person standing across from them.  Once all hands are connected this leaves the arms looking like a tangled knot.  The challenge is to then delicately twist and turn, without releasing any hands, and untangle the knot.  We assured our students this task was in fact possible, but after several minutes, unsuccessful attempts, but thankfully no dislocated shoulders, we made each group smaller and gave a demonstration.  We found that all groups could find success if we made each group no larger than three. Perhaps they will try again in the future and have better luck.

We worked once more with The Wave game I mentioned in yesterday’s entry.  However, this time we added sound and rhythm to the mix.  We began with simple tapping, and then added clapping, jumping, and cheering.  The build up of energy was great, and this was greatly due to our increased numbers.  The energy was infectious.  We carried this energy into a game of storytelling in which each student is only allowed to give one word at time.  The story grows with each new word given by each new member of the group.  This game has mixed success and we were working with children of very varying levels of English, but the best part was still that the students supported one another and tried their best.  We ended with a fun round of charades in which participants acted out various actions, animals, and emotions.  We finally felt like an energized community.

Suzzi, Naima, and I selected a short play entitled, “The Fisherman, His Wife, and the Sea of Dreams” for today’s workshop.  There were six parts in total and we divided students into each group.  There were between 4 to 5 members per group.  Each group was given a highlighter and asked to highlight their character’s lines.  They then had some time to practice the lines before the choral read-aloud of the play.  We all agreed that this play was perfect as it was about a man who returns a fish to the sea upon catching her.  She tells the fisherman, called Fred, that she is in truth an enchanted princess!  Because of his kindness in not serving her as dinner for family and friends, he is granted wishes.  His wife wishes for a castle but remains displeased.  Fred returns to the fish and asks for a tasteful palace.  However his wife is still not pleased, and neither is a friend who is also displeased with the gifts she has also received.  Fred’s final wish is simply to ask that his friends and family are always happy.  He returns home and finds that his original shanty of a house is back, but the friends and family are all happy.  They will of course live happily ever after.  

We spoke with the students about happiness and how we can find happiness when we learn to appreciate all that we do have in life, rather than focusing on what we do not have.  The groups worked on a final task in which they created lists of things that make them happy in their own lives and community.  Suzzi and I were thrilled to see that all groups listed having a school to attend, a beach to play on, and family and friends to share time with.  There was no negativity around.  

As the workshop on day two concluded we asked if any students might be willing to escort us to one of the local schools.  We know the schools are on summer holiday but we thought we would try to make any point of contact we could for a future visit.  As we left for our journey we expected to be escorted by one or two students, but to our surprise the entire group joined us!  We walked the streets, a mixture of paved and dirt roads, and spoke about plants, animals, my white skin, and curly black hair.  Much of the talk amongst the kids was in their native Swahili.  I need to add that to the list of things to learn…

After about 40 minutes of walking we arrived at Bofa Primary School.  The school was created in 2010 with just two classrooms, but after several donations they have been able to build a total of seven classrooms, two offices, and 3 bathrooms.  We met the head of school, a man named Justus, and he gave us a tour.  He beamed with pride at the state of his school, but he was also very honest with the struggles. Each classroom, all of which are smaller than my own, hold at least 40 students.  There is also no electricity – which is making the planned computer lab a bit of a challenge.  However, he remains nothing but positive and we look forward to working at his school in the future.

During our walk home it became clear why this community is so incredible.  After today’s lesson the participants once again picked guavas from the neighboring tree.  Each student left the home with multiple guavas, and as we came across young children on our walk our students passed off their fruits to those they knew did not have any.  If you look at these kids you might think they are without and would therefore cling to what they do have, but we witnessed the opposite.  It brought back our words of study from yesterday’s lesson: Peace, Responsibility, Community, and Love.  Right then and there we witnessed it all.  They are a true community and share with one another at all times.  We hope that after we teach our students new skills, games, and activities they will make these same choices and chose to share their experiences with others.  This is after all what Necessary Arts is all about.

In Search of a School

Walking through the Community

by Suzzanne Pautler

After the students gathered their guavas, I asked if any of them were walking in the direction of the Bofa Primary School, and if so, would they walk with us to show us the way?  We suddenly found ourselves surrounded by 24 students who were happy to escort us down the red dirt trail. Along the way, our students did in fact share their guavas with other village children!

The primary school opened five years ago with just two classrooms. Today they have seven and a new building under construction.  The new building features a sign painted above one door showing where the computer lab will be.  Ironically, there is no power accessible to the school; however, the head teacher is optimistic that it will come one day, as will the computers.  

The building contractor arrived by vehicle which resulted in each child running to surround him.  His habit is to share mint candies with the students and this offered us an opportunity to go to the head teacher's office where we could exchange further information.  We were pleasantly surprised to see a stack of cardboard boxes in his office.  They were labelled "Tom's Shoes---Not For Resale", next to drawing of a foot for easy measuring. That which Tom's purports seems to be true!

After our visit to the school, the children walked us home along the shortcut, where true to their nature, they shared their mints with other children we met. Although the students do not have much, their hearts are golden!  We enjoyed walking with them past the bougainvillea, baobab trees, maize farms, and mango trees. These students are so deserving of the good education that will lead to their happiness. Necessary Arts is proud to play a small role in their educational development, and we look forward to future visits.

NAS Visits Bofa Community, Kilifi

A “Fruitful” Day Oneby Suzzanne Pautler

Two of the Necessary Arts volunteers flew from the USA to Dubai where they spent 36 hours unpacking, and then repacking, to prepare themselves to travel to Kenya.  One can imagine their levels of exhaustion, jet lag, and travel woes. Yet as they drove into the Tulia compound, they were surrounded by orange hues of the sunset, row after row of papaya trees bearing green fruit, sweet aromas of the flowering bushes, and soft water falling in the nearby pool.  Added to the mix was a charming caravan of Kenyan hosts who wished them "Karibu" over and over, while inviting them to partake in freshly made passion fruit juice, orange juice, guava juice, or the magical mixed fruit cocktail of hibiscus, guava and passionfruit.  "Tulia" is the Swahili word for relax and this is exactly how the two volunteers responded. 

Early the next morning, a canvas tent was erected in the yard, next to guava trees, cilantro bunches, hibiscus plants, and lemongrass.  A sickle was used to trim the grass, and patio chairs appeared. Necessary Arts is blessed to have the support of wonderful friends around the world, including the Fedhas, whose beautiful gardens quietly transformed into a stage for the local village children to share their voices and stories.

Slowly, the village children arrived to the gate and tentatively greeted every one. Murmurs of Swahili gently fluttered through the air as each student found a chair.  Our group of actors consisted of 15 individuals, ranging from the ages of 12-40. We decided to begin with some non-verbal warm-up activities.  I wish I could say they were a huge success.  We began with "the wave" where one person performs an action, which must then be repeated by each individual as the action makes its way around the circle.  Few understood that they had to wait for the person to their left to make the motion before they could.  We then introduced "the lake" where each person was required to cross the lake in the middle of our circle, while playing varying roles of fishermen, boats, frogs, and seagulls, for example.  Our group of actors began to loosen up a bit and seemed comfortable acting silly.  It was time to introduce language.  We played a seemingly simple game of chanting from #1-10.  When the rules changed to include counting from #10-1, many stumbled.  We laughed, clapped, and kept the rhythm the best we could.  Eventually, eye contact with one student was required to know who would count next. Inevitably, eye contact was made with at least six students each time, so we never really knew who was supposed to count next.

Cool breezes blew through the garden, and our tent provided shade from the intensity of the sunshine.  We were warm, but ready to move forward with the next set of activities.  An abstract word would be defined by each ensemble group through a dramatic performance.  Our three groups chose to explore the concepts of "peace, "responsibility, and "community". 

The final performance piece from the "community" group touched my heart.  Five children toiled in the soil.  They looked exhausted from the hard work and physical labor, but were rewarded when their fruit trees grew.  As they harvested the guavas, they started to sit down and eat them, but realized this was not right.  Instead they shared a piece of guava with each member of the audience, because this is what it means to be a community.  "A community works for something and then shares it with everyone in the large group."

We discussed how the ideas of "peace", "responsibility", and "community" were essential to create the environment we want to live in.  Our students made personal connections and were therefore able to define the words within the context of Kilifi. Our "responsibility" team reminded us that each person in Kilifi must play a role in making it a beautiful place to live.  The youth groups plant trees, clean compounds and visit the elderly to do just this.  Our "peace" team shared that it is important to interact together in the markets, and to share food with the poor people in the village so that everyone can live in peace.  Our "community" team suggested that volunteering to build school, hospitals, and roads is important, as is planting crops that can bear fruits to assist the people in the village.  Collectively, they confirmed that we are all brothers and sisters and must work together to live in peace and harmony. 

We concluded the workshop with a deep sense of gratitude toward the students for sharing with us, invited them to return tomorrow for the second workshop, and then said good-bye.  They responded by sitting down in the chairs again.  We were not sure if it was a cultural or linguistic mis-communication, and not knowing what to do, we simply joined them.  And after a few minutes, we realized that this was the perfect response.  Why not sit in the shade of a beautiful garden and relax for a minute?  Eventually the students walked over to the guava tree and helped themselves to the fruit.  Once their shirts and skirts could hold no more fruit, they slowly exited the compound in groups of two and three to walk home, ideally sharing their bountiful guavas with each member of the community.

Understanding the Value of a Good Education
by Suzzanne Pautler

At the conclusion of yesterday's workshop, we encouraged the 15 participants to return today along with their friends, brothers, and sisters.  This morning, 27 bright and smiling faces entered the gate for our second day of drama activities.  We decided to begin our day again with some non-verbal group activities.  Students were divided into groups to create "the human knot".  Not one group could untangle themselves, and therefore, they refused to believe it was possible.  Teresa and I created a human knot with one of the young girls to prove that it could be accomplished.  In response, each group copied us by breaking up into groups of three so that they too could achieve success.

All participants enjoyed "the wave" activity again today due to the physical rhythmic component, and they surprised us by following the order of movement perfectly!  We tried to create a "one word story" where each student in the circle could offer only one word at a time.  The groups were able to create sentences one word at a time, but their ideas never truly developed into a story.  Finally, after a quick game of "charades", we were ready to try working with a script.

"The Fisherman and his Sea of Dreams" requires only 6 characters. Therefore we had 4-5 students acting as each character.  The first task was to highlight their character's lines, and of course, using those bright markers was a treat!  Then each small group had to read aloud all of their highlighted lines.  The final challenge was to bring the small groups together to do a choral reading of the entire script.  It is obvious that this is a task familiar to their learning styles. 

The concluding message of the play is that the fisherman simply wanted everyone else to be happy.  To follow this topic, we asked each character group to write about what makes them happy.  Each group mentioned that "having a good education" makes them happy.  One student added that his "nearness to school" makes him happy, while another suggested that "being sponsored for education" would make anyone happy.  Another popular response included variations of the "whole village living in harmony", "living in peace in our country", and "to live happily with neighbors".  A few more that I like include "have a house", "have clothes", "play football", and "good work done by the people".  In my opinion, one of the most profound statements was that "I am happy because I get all the rights as a child".  As I read this list of things that make these Kenyan students happy, I wonder how the list would vary by country.  Would other students around the world have written a similar list?

Our workshop ended with further harvesting of guavas along with promises of returning again tomorrow for Day 3 of the drama workshop!

NAS Returns to Kenya with Teacher Volunteers

Over the past year and a half Necessary Arts School has gone to Kenya and built relationships with several youth groups using the dramatic arts as an empowering tool to teach the importance of global citizenship.

This month of August 2015, a very strong team of amazing teachers from Dubai American Academy, are volunteering their time and services to continue the school’s Reach the Unreachable project. This time around Ms. Suzanne Pautler standing in for Ms. Naima Thompson as the Program Director, welcomes Ms. Melinda Eversteyn, Amanda Milkeraitis and Ms. Teresa Cantu to the program as teaching volunteers. Ms Allyson Holder, the Trinidad and Tobago NAS representative joins the group on the final leg of workshops in Nairobi to tie up any administrative loose ends.

The program starts off in a small fishing village in Kilifi just outside Mombasa where selected members of the community will work together. Then the team move onto the Nairobi area working in Pipeline at an orphanage and at a center for street children in Dagaretti. They also visit a site for Sudanese refugee children in Kawagware. Finally they will visit the Nairobi neighboring county of Kajiado where they will work with rescued children from early childhood marriage and FGM.

As the program unfolds we will provide updated blogs depicting the outcome of the workshops. 

 

Amanda Milkeraitis: I am a Math teacher, with 21 years experience, currently teaching middle school Algebra. Also passionate about Performing, Creative and Language Arts "on the side". Looking forward to bringing whatever skills I can to the Necessary Arts program. "Pure Mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas". Albert Einstein.

Melinda Eversteyn: I am a very passionate art teacher that loves to unleash the creative abilities of young minds I works with. I am a patient and persistent educator who leads by example. Picasso once said that every child is an artist! And I believe that to be true. Inspiring young minds is the cheese in my vegemite sandwich!

Suzzanne Pautler: If each person capable of creating a little bit of positive change did so, imagine the impact we could make worldwide. Working with the children of Kenya through the Reach the Unreachable project with Necessary Arts  is my attempt to create a little bit of positive change.

Teresa Cantu: "I became interested in Necessary Arts because I know that learning takes many forms, and with access to education people feel empowered to become role models within their communities and gain the confidence to change the world." 
 

Allyson Holder: I believe that without humanitarian efforts from those of us blessed with talents to share, our world will continue on a downward spiral. It is always my pleasure to contribute whatever services I can to Necessary Arts as they strive to Reach the Unreachable through the arts.