Global Chains

By Naima Thompson

As I sit in my hotel room at Ali Bey Konagi Gaziantep, Turkey for the last day of a two week visit, I can't help but reflect on the journey of our outreach program Reach the Unreachable.

Three years ago I travelled to Kenya to start an outreach program for Necessary Arts. It was my first trip to Kenya, indeed my first trip to the "motherland" and I was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. I was traveling alone and without a clear cut plan ahead of me. The mantra that propelled me into this state of uncertainty was one that I always turn to when my gut pushes me to take a risk: leap and the net will appear. When Maggie from Maggie Holidays greeted me I immediately felt at ease.

Once we chatted in person she understood that I would not be one of her regular clients. There would be no need to book a safari or visit any museums or go to any other tourist attractions. Instead, she quickly learned that my only interest in Kenya was to reach vulnerable children who could benefit from the program I had to offer through drama and other artistic activities. She immediately made some phone calls and soon enough I was introduced to and immersed in five very different groups of children over the span of ten days, from Nairobi to Port Victoria. I rolled out a flexible enough drama program to meet the specific needs of each group. Toward the end of the trip, Maggie coined the phrase "Reach the Unreachable" which I happily agreed to call the outreach program and a synergy was born, resulting in continued visits over the next three years. This year Reach the Unreachable extended its outreach to Trinidad and Tobago and Uganda where local volunteers carried out the program for street kids and other vulnerable children and youth. Thank you to those teams for contributing to the change we wish to see in this world.

Today I say goodbye to Gaziantep. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with a team of volunteers who unselfishly gave of themselves to make a difference in the lives of over 75 Syrian refugee children, or more accurately defined as having the status of "temporary protection".

For those of you reading this post you probably followed us throughout our journey and have an idea of some of our experiences at the New World Academy. We led the children through programs in Drama, Art and English Literacy under the theme of Help a Friend.  Some of the activities included creating friendship bracelets and friendship trees; designing diamond poems comprising of newly learned english vocabulary and engaging in numerous theatre games including improvisations to demonstrate an understanding of humanity.

Yesterday, a research student from Yale University asked me how I choose the children we work with. The truth is, it is the universe which hears my plea to work with vulnerable children and sends its angels to make connections for the work to take place. In the case of Reach the Unreachable in Turkey, I must say thank you to Hala Trabolsi for introducing NAS to her Syrian comrade living in Turkey. It takes a global chain of like-minded links, with a common goal of working for humanity to make this world a better place. NAS is humbled to be a link in this armor.

To Bhuket Gurol who traveled from Istanbul, I say thank you for your tireless translations, relentless bargaining with locals for discounts and freebies, and brave heart for undertaking the role of "art teacher" when you are neither an artist nor a teacher. I trust that this journey inspires you to more artistic ventures. To Ozge Dinc, a special-needs art teacher from Istanbul who accepted the challenge to join us for one week, I say thank you for all the preparations you made with Buket to support our art program.  To Natasha Vrutska, a language learning specialist from Dubai who added Turkey to her list of travels for her summer vacation, I say thank you for your cool temperament among our team and fun filled learning strategies for the children. To Theresa Toerien, the admin director for the NAS Dubai branch, I say thank you for keeping track of all the on-site logistics as well as capturing the success of the program through your photographic eye. I also say thank you for your sensitivity and ability to sooth the emotional needs of some of the children during the more chaotic moments. Thank you to the local translators who showed up every day to help bridge the language gap between us and the children and staff. I also say thank you to those who contributed to the success of the program but could not make the trip: Melinda Eversteyn and Maria Martinez for your artistic ideas and supplies, Zak Matouche and Ruba Einein for translating our English documents to Arabic and Suzzanne Pautler for working with Natasha in preparing the language learning component.

For our final hours at the New World Academy we engaged in creativity, chaos and cake! We say thank you to the admin team of NWA for a great send off and wish you all the best in your continued efforts to shape the lives of and to bring stability to the children in your care. Keep well until we meet again.

Magic Art

By Buket Ozdel Gurol

In the first day of our second week, we started with the girls for art & craft. They came and sat wishfully. When we started to give the instructions for the friendship tree, they immediately began the activity. After they selected their hand which was drew and colored by them last week, they were choosing a place on this huge tree to stick their hand. You should once witness how they take it seriously.

And the boys followed them by a wild energy and participated the activity in a faster energy. At last when we started to get the 5 year old ones, we realized that the number of them highly increased. This made us understood that we should provide a place for newcomers who would make the activity from the scratch, and we were already ready for that due to our skills about flexibility improved day by day in the academy.

In the second day, when we announced the magical painting to the girls, they got excited. When we started the activity when they realized that they can not see what they’re drawing with the wax according to the “Help a Friend” theme, they were confused a bit. After they started painting with watercolor their faces started to change from confusion to clarity and curiosity. When they finish they were very much pleased with their work.

We selected the Scratching Paint Activity for the high energetic boys which can make them concentrate for longer time. When they started painting their paper with colorful pastels, they were quiet pleased. When the time passed and they were still on the same part of the activity, a few of their bodies started to show moodiness. However we kept them in the activity by the help of God :) and when the second step started to cover their paper with black, they tried complaining this time. As they saw our determination, they continued. Hopefully when they started scratch their dark painted paper, as they saw the outcome, they were more pleased. At the end of the day I could say that our strategy was right!

Stone Soup in Gaziantep

By Natasha Vrutska

After a long weekend of exploring Gaziantep's bazaars and coffee shops - the Mosaic Museum was definitely a highlight - it was good to return to New World Academy today for another day of drama, English, and art. I started my day with the girls and guided them through the activity of creating a representation of themselves in the shape of their hand in paper to be added to the tree of New World Academy's students. The girls got to decorate the paper cut-out of the palm of their hand in the colors of their choice, writing their name and adding a drawing or two of something that was meaningful to them and made them think of peace and friendship. loved seeing what they chose to draw as I walked around and watched flowers, butterflies, sea waves and sailboats spring up on paper. What stood out to me the most was how much each and every one of them wanted to show me what they drew as they kept calling me over at every step of the process and showing me their work. Where in my "normal" teaching life in Dubai I would have to prod and coax students to work and even more so to share their product, here the girls were just too eager for me to look and comment. A few asked me to write something on their drawing and delighted in having a teacher's contribution to their design. It reminded me of an activity last week when, after I showed them a recording I had made of one of them presenting their "I like" word map, suddenly all of them changed from smiling shyly to wanting to present and demanded to be filmed. It struck me how much they wanted attention, how desperately they wanted to be seen and known. These children yearn for connection. As they finished decorating and cutting out their paper hands, they trickled out to join the art team in the spacious common area to add their "leaves" to the quickly expanding "tree". I snuck out for a quick look and was not disappointed - the "tree" looked fantastic!

We kicked off the literacy hour with a game of tic-tac-toe. Flashcards of the vocabulary studied last week attached to the whiteboard in a grid and the class of girls divided into two teams, the girls quickly got the hang of the game and we enjoyed quite a few rounds as they fine-tuned their strategy and pronounced the words ever more confidently. Next, it was reading circle time. To continue with our theme of helping a friend and working together toward a common goal, we chose to read "Stone Soup". I was afraid the girls might find the story too simple or the language too difficult or the picture in the book too small to see from the back row. I needn't have worried. I was blown away by how quickly me opening a book in frond of them transformed a rowdy crowd into a rapt audience. With Aya helping me with translation after every page, we went through the story, girls craning their necks to see the illustrations better. I caught myself thinking that this was the quietest I had experienced this class since starting to work with them. It reminded me of the power of a good story that we sometimes overlook. Even not understanding half the words, the girls were clearly enjoying it. With Aya's help, we talked about how mutual help led to a nice supper of hot soup in the story, and the girls gave me some examples of the help they get from their friends and give in return. It was time to see how these activities would work with the boys.

If I had to choose one quality that has been paramount for us here at New World Academy, I would say, it is flexibility. We can count on a few surprises every day, and while they keep us on our toes and make things interesting, they also challenge us and test our adaptability. No group is the same two days in a row, with some kids missing and new additions joining in. As students transition from swimming to class to ballet to snack and to class again, we have had to adjust starting and finishing times, transitions between drama and literacy and to welcome new faces to activities in progress. This was definitely the theme of my class with the boys today, as I had a few new-comers, a few familiar faces arriving late, and Ruba, the school director, knocking on my door in the middle of class telling me the boys needed to take a ten-minute break to have a snack. We took it all in stride and managed to play tic-tac-toe, although not as smoothly as with the girls as the boys let their individual competitiveness get in the way of the teams' goals. Me opening a book and announcing story time had the same effect though, and I discovered that it was indeed possible to have these boys be quiet for ten minutes. The tranquility was short-lived as the day was winding down and everyone was tired, so the discussion did not elicit quite the same level of responses from the boys as it did from the girls. I am still hopeful for some insights from them as we move on to creating diamond poems on the same topics tomorrow.

As I reflect on the time I have had with the children of New World Academy and look forward to what we have planned for them for the remainder of our time here, I am happy with the progress they are making and excited to see what they create as their final product reflecting on who they are and how they can help each other as a community of students and friends.

Connections

By Buket Ozdel Gurol

Teachers have a huge impact upon their students. In fact, all of us impact those around us. When an individual connects with the space and the people around herself, a powerful connection can be made. While I watch Naima teach, I see her connection to her students. While I watch Natasha, I immediately see her dedication to the children. While I watch Theresa support her team members, I  appreciate her connection with us as she completes our team. I am proud to be a member of the Necessary Arts team to serve the children, and make connections.



When I started the arts and crafts lesson with the 5 year olds, they waited with curiosity. We started with a question and answer game, and they always responded with a big “yes”. One activity was to make a friendship bracelet which filled me with warmth and touched my heart. The children take their work seriously and come for support from the teachers to knot their bracelets when they finish. Many asked if they could make more than one. All the girls and boys were proud to wear their bracelets as they left the class.

Help a Friend - Uganda

By Teddy Nabagonzi

On the 1st of July I got to visit Muzaana Street Children and Sport Development Association in Kisenyi Mengo, Kampala, Uganda. With the theme “Help a Friend” I, with the help of Kasule Douglas introduced these children to new ways of empowering themselves through the dramatic arts.  It’s amazing how they were able to come up with skits depicting what friendship means to them. This is what Necessary Arts is all about: Stimulating Minds Through Artistic Expression.  I together with Ms Naima Thompson and the rest of the NAS Reach the Unreachable team look forward to coming back to Uganda for more outreach programmes. Check out our video clip on the link below for a small peek at what we did.

Help a Friend: Uganda

Language Barriers

By Naima Thompson

One of my biggest anxieties in preparing for this trip to Gaziantep was the language barrier. On my last visit Theresa and I stayed in a local hotel and struggled with communication since no one spoke English. We decided to check out an American hotel and soon realized no one spoke English there either and that google translate would become our closest ally. Although our day to day experiences were struggles concerning the Turkish language, I knew working with the children would be about Arabic, since they are, after all, from Syria. Whether Turkish or Arabic, we were going to face a language barrier either way..

Luckily for us, we had some volunteers who would translate Arabic/English for us. I must admit that even though we had the translators, the issues surrounding class management were beyond language barriers. I found myself standing in awe and in silence looking keenly at the behaviour of the children and couldn’t help but wonder if their back stories influenced their current aggression with each other. There could be some truth in that assumption but I also quickly confirmed that children operate based on the boundaries set for them. Once I set mine, they were able to follow through with the expectations. They do have back stories, like all of us, and are governed by their abilities to cope with their situations but, in the end, they all want guidance and boundaries and expectations set for them.

The children love when we arrive each day. Their cheers and excitement are the indicators of a happiness that we bring to their lives. The activities ranging from English Language to Drama and to Arts and Crafts stimulates their creativity and keeps them wanting more each day. The activity of the friendship bracelet really stands out as a tangible example of tapping into a consciousness of self-worth and value. The light in their eyes as the completed bracelet is fastened to their wrist is indescribable and immeasurable. No amount of language barriers could alter that priceless reaction. The process requires individual tenacity as well as support and help from a friend. I believe our theme rang through this week in many many ways and particularly in this friendship bracelet activity. And so the question after week one is: is the impact we are having on these children’s experience affected by the challenge of communication?

Our Hotel: Ali Bey Konagi

Our Taxi Driver

That question has a loaded answer which involves more than our team and the kids we are trying to help. So many entities within the Gaziantep community are part of this success story. We have received generous discounts and contributions from our hotel, restaurants, taxi drivers, art suppliers and even a local journalist. These offerings have motivated and fueled our energy everyday and the kindness is transferred effortlessly to our beneficiaries. We are truly a community of great people living the experience set out by Necessary Arts to “Help a Friend”. The desire we share to help those in need transcends any language barrier we might face.

Pastel colors from Umit Kaya

Imam Cagdas Restaurant

Help a Friend in Action

By Natasha Vrutska


After a hectic but exciting morning spent shopping for school supplies at the stationery store and at the Gaziantep answer to Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, we found ourselves back at the New World Academy, ready for Day 2. I walked into my classroom to find a bunch of girls seated at their desks, their arms folded, looking at me expectantly. A loud "Good morning!" resounded before I had a chance to say anything. "Good afternoon", I corrected, "Ready to study?" "Yes, we are!" You could have knocked me over with a feather. They were almost jumping out of their seats with excitement, and my heart leaped. I had another surprise coming though. One girl got out of her seat, ran up to me and handed me a cookie, "For you, teacher!" Do I  have to say, my heart just melted? This was going to be a good day.

We had made a decision to only offer English and drama to the older kids and to separate girls and boys. This meant that I was starting my first session with about ten lovely young ladies. We played a quick game to review the animal names, and they blew me away by how much they remembered and how actively they all engaged from the get-go. We then turned our attention to adjectives, specifically, describing people and our feelings, and soon the girls were laughing at illustrations of "hungry", "boring", and "angry". By now I knew they could handle more, so we had a larger set of flashcards and, after a short introductory activity, stepped up our game and switched to writing. The girls helped me spell the words out as I wrote them on the board. We handed a notebook and a pencil to each of them, and soon a game of Bingo was underway. Aya helped explain that they needed to choose five words to copy from the board and then check them off as I randomly read them aloud and wait to shout Bingo as soon as they had checked off all five. After a few rounds, I called on some of them to come up to the board and be the reader instead of me which they took on with great enthusiasm, refusing my help and stretching up on tiptoes to reach the words at the top of the board. The girls were having fun, and all I had to do was correct some pronunciation.

Something strange was happening though as Theresa, who came in to take some pictures, drew my attention to the fact that the girls were ripping pages out of their notebooks and starting fresh after each round. Try as we might, we couldn't make it clear to them that that was not necessary, and that the notebooks were theirs to keep. Even after they worked on a self word-map, putting their name in the middle of the page and surrounding it with adjectives that described them, they felt no sense of ownership of the notebooks and simply left them on the desks as they filed out of the room on theirway to drama with Naima. This made me sad.

The following hour with the boys ran to a similar plan and just as smoothly. They rolled in, clearly very high energy after the drama workshop, so I knew that they were not going to care for writing as much as girls as they could barely sit still. Instead, I split them up into two teams, calling on Said and Asaad, who quickly showed themselves more than capable as leaders and quite confident English speakers, to come to the front. The two boys, delighted, hammed it up miming the adjectives for their respective teams to guess the words. Aya was busy elsewhere, but never fear, as Said jumped in and explained the activity to the rest. His and Asaad's interpretations of "thirsty", "fun", and "happy" had us all in stitches. Said's team won, and, once the excitement died down, we still had time for a few rounds of Bingo.

As the kids moved on to work on their first art project of tracing their hand and decorating the drawing with pictures and and colors that represent them, I floated between the rooms, watching them and asking them why they chose a flower (because they like them) or a bee (because they are painted on the classroom walls). The day finished with some sweet presentations as the kids got up one by one to "present their hand". They spoke in Arabic; however, their growing confidence came through. Said spoke in English, of course. He hesitated at the end, not sure how to finish. I looked at him and flexed my arm. "And I am strong!", he proudly announced.

We debriefed today over a complimentary dinner at one of Gaziantep's best tourist restaurants, enjoying yummy Turkish food, graciously provided by the owners and arranged by the wonderful Buket. I am touched by how many people here readily go out of their way to help us, be it a journalist putting us in touch with a stationery store owner, the said owner giving us generous discounts and sending one of his sales assistants to help us carry our purchases all over the bazaar and back to the hotel, taxi drivers offering discounts on rides when they hear what we are here for, or restaurant owners offering to feed us.                                                            
A Community EffortIt really does feel like a community effort, and it is wonderful to feel so welcomed. On to Day 3!