The Seven Cs

By Patrice Trim

Challenges...

How are we going to fit all of the objectives of the course into the remaining sessions? We needed to help the kids write a script, learn lines and learn accompanying movement. If that wasn't challenging enough, we had to have them film and edit this to create a final product that could be shared in public forums. Oh, did I mention some kids from last week didn't come back and some new kids showed up? 

Changes...

Great minds create great things. Penny, JC and I met and discussed all of our options...Looked at the pros and cons...Shelved ideas and started again. We went through pans A to Z and found middle grounds that would work for and please all stakeholders. We took the best elements of all the plans and came up with a new one. We were ready to create a magazine with the kids. 

Collaboration...

I took the plan to the kids. They loved the idea. They were excited to get to work. I told them we'd be looking at the Rights of a Child. Reading and analyzing. There was some hesitation. I told them we'd go around the room and they would read the right and explanations aloud. I asked for volunteers. It was like pulling teeth. My nervousness stepped back in. Had I lost them? How would we go forward if they weren't on board? 

Cooperation...

It was shaky at first. The same kids had volunteered to read and help analyze articles of the declaration. What was happening? Should I re-evaluate the plan? But Penny wasn't there. I can't make a decision without consulting everyone. I looked at them. I was nervous. I sensed their nervousness. I started to panic and suddenly I was smiling. Smile turned into a laugh. I was a teacher for the last six years and here I was nervous in front of students. What was that? Laughter? 

Creation...

Yes it was laughter. They had relaxed cause I was now relaxed. Kids started calling out numbers they wanted to read. We were filling in spaces where some had jumped ahead and spots needed to be filled. We went through all thirty articles. I helped them with their pronunciation. They helped each other. They gave examples based on the analysis and discussion. They were excited. I was excited. It was going to be alright. 

Children...

Children are amazing creatures. They never cease to amaze me with their tenacity and drive. With my guidance they got into groups that had representatives of both genders. They were assigned different sections of the declaration and they worked together to decide who was going to learn and present which articles. We also finished most the biopoems that we started last week. The older kids helped the little ones write their ideas on paper. They are all excited to start learning them and even though there is some nervousness for next week when we start to practice presenting them, I think it's safe to say that the NA Reach the Unreachable  session in Maloney Gardens is the beginning of something magical! 

Continuation...

Stay tuned, it's only going to get bigger and better! 

Scared For No Reason

By Patrice  Trim

I've known the founders and teacher volunteers of Necessary Arts for years. I've admired their work and was always amazed at the amazing things they've taught and helped adults and children achieve. I would always joke and say: when I grow up I want to be like Naima or Penelope or Lydia. I never thought I'd actually have the opportunity to step into their shoes.

Naima asked me to teach a literacy class. I was nervous. I'm a teacher and interact with kids everyday but it felt I was being asked to step into some extra large shoes. What if I messed it up? What if the kids were bored and not engaged? What kid wants to do extra school work on a weekend? I was ready to quit before I even started.

Driving from Couva to Maloney I had butterflies in my stomach. I went over my lesson plan over and over on the hour drive. When I got to the community center I took a deep breath, jumped out the car and reminded myself that Naima wouldn't have asked me to do this class if she didn't think I was capable. I said to myself: "you've got this" and walked in.

Penelope was doing drama with the kids. They were so excited to do the exercises. My nervousness came flooding back. I'm almost sure a wave of nausea hit me. She introduced me to them. I guess it was too late to back out now. They were given a break and then it was my turn.

I stood in front of them for about ten seconds before I spoke. It felt like five minutes. I looked at their faces. They were filled with anticipation not dread. I started speaking and they were listening. Asking questions. Ready to learn and share. My nervousness disappeared instantly.

I shared with them my plan for the sessions. I told them about writing bio poems and discussing the rights of a child and making a list of their rights and responsibilities. They were ready to get to work.

We looked at the structure of a bio poem and I asked them questions about what is a noun or adjective. One little girl of about seven to eight max was so excited to share and give examples. I asked her name. She said: Lily and told me that her name was a proper noun. I high fived her. Another boy Isaiah said: a teacher that gives high fives, you're really cool!

Reach the Unreachable Maloney Day 1

I had won them over. I knew in that moment I had stepped into the shoes of some amazing women and I was making them proud. We spent the rest of the session brainstorming ideas and making notes to start writing the biopoems. After I dismissed the class I overheard a small group of kids saying they were actually looking forward to doing more work with me next week.

I'm looking forward to it too. Can't wait to see them grow as learners and express their ideas. This is going to be an awesome session with the kids from Maloney. I can't wait!

Reach the Unreachable in Maloney, Trinidad

by Naima Thompson

Our Reach the Unreachable literacy through drama program has made its way to Maloney, Trinidad. This project is dedicated to Marcia Henville who met with me a month before we lost her. We had hoped to bring such a program to Maloney and as it turns out, her soldiers are manifesting her dream.

Up to this point we have had workshops at the headquarters in POS and at the outreach sites in Kenya.

When Trinidadian television producer Jillian Wickham visited Dubai in January, we chatted extensively about Necessary Arts and bringing its outreach program home.  She shared with me that her company, Framesync, was commissioned by the Honorable Camille Robinson-Regis to conduct a video production boot camp for the children and youth of the Arouca/Maloney region. A synergy was now inevitable.

After a site visit and several planning meetings, we are pleased to say that all is in place to start the four week boot camp on March 18th.

We suggested the theme of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child to mirror the current Thompson Thespians program in Dubai. The NAS team would need an acting coach, a literacy coach and of course someone to handle the logistics and collaborative needs with Framsync.

Thanks to our teacher/volunteers, Penelope Spencer, Patrice Trim and Marianne Bishop, the collaboration is well on its way.

So the big question today is:

Can we collectively raise the social consciousness and literacy skills of the participants as we examine the content of the boot camp?  If so, how do we know that we achieved success?

Children Examine their Rights through performance

by Suzzanne Pautler

The culmination of the Cycle #1 Young Actors’ Workshop was dramatic and engaging as the thespians dominated the stage of the Courtyard Playhouse in Al Quoz.  They were in costumes and stage make-up, ready to engage the audience.  The lights went down, followed by an hour of monologues and short plays staged for the audience’s enjoyment.  In fact, the members of the audience were overwhelmed by the actors’ emotions, ranging from a humorous skit from Once Upon a Mattress to a tearjerking monologue from a teenage girl’s point of view.  

Basel Masks

The Cycle #2 Workshops began shortly thereafter.  The young actors meet twice a week in two different locations:  Al Barsha and the Green Community.  The group in Al Barsha is learning techniques for on screen production work, while the group in the Green Community is focusing on production work for the stage.  Both groups are exploring the theme of the UN’s Rights of the Child.

The on screen class works with a green screen, spotlights and a camera.  The work is directed, filmed, acted, researched, and scripted by the students. The students are creating advertisements and public service announcements. The group creating an ad for UNICEF shared facts and statistics, such as 50 million children around the world are at risk from conflict/crisis. They were reminded that they couldn’t just listen and remain frozen; they had to react to the facts.  The students had to come across as believable and authentic in their reactions, otherwise it would appear as if they didn’t really care about the global issue.  Using the stages of tension, students developed their responses through their verbal language and body language.

Another group is developing a public service announcement for the NGO Village Heart, focusing on its efforts to bring safe drinking water to the children of Tanzania. How does one best share information about this topic to an audience who has access to an abundance of safe drinking water?  How can one grab the audience’s attention on such a topic?  The group debated about the best approach.  They chose to focus more on facts and statistics, not on images of poor children from a developing nation.  The thespians felt this would keep the message positive and effective, rather than an often duplicated approach of appealing to the audience’s emotions through visual imagery.

In addition, our students also spend hours hour learning how to apply makeup for screen vs. stage performance.

Meanwhile the second community of thespians is trying various techniques for how they will spread the message of the Right of the Child through live performance.  They practiced body percussion techniques while interjecting lines from a poem about this theme.  Then they created a silent performance where they acted to the beat of a drum. The group acted as villagers suffering and falling ill due to the lack of clean drinking water and medication. An aide worker joined the scene to teach the villagers how to build a well.  This piece turned into a written script of the same story.  Another technique was using one’s body for dance and rhythm, stopping every few minutes for a short monologue featuring one of the Rights. The creativity and authenticity of this group’s work is inspiring.  

Child Rights Improv Activity

The culmination of the Cycle #2 Young Actor’s Workshop is sure to be equally dramatic and engaging.  Their work through the 12 week cycle will certainly expand their knowledge of the Rights of the Child as well as their overall development in theatrics.

Necessary Love and Happiness

By Suzzanne Pautler

Fiona Barron, dedicated to the ideals of optimism, positivity, and happiness, brought the Happiness Festival to Dubai this past weekend. She strives to create global change through happiness. The Happiness Festival highlights workshops in: yoga, calisthenics, expressive drawing, constructive communication, mindfulness and meditation, nutrition, calming strategies, growth mindset, positive parenting, work life balance, family bonding, and play therapy. We appreciate these topics and see their validity in transforming one's life towards authentic happiness. Necessary Arts (NA), who "seeks to stimulate minds through artistic expression," also supports the mission of the Happiness Festival

.

The NA team, along with one dozen students, arrived at the Polo and Equestrian Club bright and early on Friday, 17th  February.  NA flags designed by Melinda Eversteyn were assembled and hung, a tent was pitched over the electronics, NA t-shirts were worn, and water bottles and snacks were on hand.  We were ready to teach our dance routine of Black Eyed Peas original version of "Where is the Love?" to the patrons of the festival.

Unbeknownst to the other festival goers, towards the end of the festival, the NA participants were planning to perform a flash mob in the center of the practice field.  We were enjoying the green grass and the cool temperatures of a beautiful morning in Dubai, when rain sprinkles started to fall. It wasn't the end of the world. In fact it was quite refreshing. Then the dust kicked up. A sandstorm was beginning. Suddenly the sky was gray and the wind rushed across the field.  Trash cans went flying. Sand started to blur our vision. Not one student complained! They found their happiness and kept on singing, dancing, laughing and enjoying themselves.  The wind was so strong that the laptop used for playing the music was blown off the table. The camping chairs never stood on their legs longer than five seconds before they were blown over. Sand was in our hair, eyes, ears, and mouths. Yet we kept smiling.

At noon, we asked the students to vote if we should cancel or carry on.  The vote was set and we all agreed to stay until midday. It wasn't good for our bodies to be in such a harsh environment.  We decided to distribute NA flyers to the festival goers to share information about NA, and then perform the dance routine one last time. At the same time, Fiona announced that the festival would be rescheduled.  It made sense.  The NA dancers happily engaged a couple of young ones in the routine, celebrated our success, brought down our flags and headed out!

We look forward to continuing our “happiness” and coming back to the festival on March 10th!

Necessary Love and Happiness

Promises of Peace One Day

By Suzzanne Pautler

Talk of pelau, bananas, and tamarind juice must have been in the air because prior to our start time of 9:30, 45 participants were already seated and ready to begin the workshop.  In all, 85 participants, the youngest being just two years old, arrived for our final day together. The theme "Perceptions of Peace" was the focus of our four day program and on the final day it seemed fitting to have the older students reflect upon this ideal. Students were asked to write down specific actions they will undertake in order to ensure peace within their community. 

10 year old Mary promises to share what she has, like food, with others. 13 year old Erick will stop fights on the streets. 17 year old Amani promises to be honest. 11 year old Alice will love her friends. 14 year old Jackson will share story books. 13 year old Leah promises she and her friends will play together.  16 year old Emmanuel says we need to pray for all people who are in need in order to find peace in the community. 13 year old Zaiwadi suggests that we must love and be proud of our community. 9 year old Furaha wishes we could all dance together. 13 year old Johnson says that peace will come anytime we do good things for our friends. 11 year old Katana thinks we should all sing together to make peace. 11 year old Baraka will visit the sick. 11 year old Amina suggests that peace will come if we eat together.  This was also believed by 13 year old Sophia who said she will invite others to share a meal. 11 year old Neema will make peace by helping an old man. 10 year old Emma says that she will live without fighting because she loves peace. 16 year old Kadzo will bring peace to the community by working together with others. 16 year old Nuru thinks everyone must participate in games and team building activities because they enhance interaction with others which brings peace. 14 year old Sauda believes we must ensure that people participate in all community activities. 11 year old Joyce promises to forgive others. 14 year old Mariana will visit the church to find peace. 12 year old Maureen believes peace will come if we cook together. 10 year old Jamal promises if we dance, play, and chat together, then we will have peace. 11 year old Heri will love his friends and love his parents to make peace.

These are a few examples of the perceptions of peace from the perspective of the youth from the Kenyan coast.  Are these perceptions unique to this area?  Or are these common perceptions that we will hear from youth around the world as we approach the UN's Peace One Day date of September 21st

http://www.peaceoneday.org/

One Love

By Jeff Quinto

In this vlog Jeff tells us about the highlight of his day 3. Click the link for more.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzdcHW0zLLEUek1ncDF2LXk1RTQ