Newsletter June 2010
Moshi, tuesday 29 June 2010
After two weeks of training, last week fifty young persons from Arusha and Moshi performed their second show. Among them thirthy youngsters from Mkombozi, centre for streetchildren, ten youngster who still live on the streets, and ten girls living close to Mkombozi.
On the photo displayed above you can see a so-called mindmap with expression from some of the participating young people. At the exhibition the mindmaps are shown, accompanied by a photo from the youngster responsible for the statement.
The following question is central to the project: To which dangers are the streetchildren exposed?
The answers of the young people, translated from Swahili (starting in the upper left corner, clockwise):
- Smoking marijuana
- Unprotected sex
- Drug use
- Too early marriage
- Being isolated by the community
- Lack of parental care
- You can be isolated from your environment
- Children can be beaten by the policy without any reason
- Being raped
- Being beaten by the police
- Being abused
- Being raped
- Lack of places to sleep
- Boys are raped
- This is it!
The story outline of the show is made by the participating young peopleHet verhaal van de voorstelling is door de jongeren gemaakt. The title of the play is 'Amka': stand up and make something of your life It is about the life and survival of streetchildren, their place in society, the place they would want in this society, and how you can reach this by developing your talents. The place of the show was a square in the poor neighbourhood of Arusha. Many children who are not able to live at home, are living here on the streets.
Image from the show: two boys fighting
DDuring the show, around 1500 spectators were present. People ranging from 0 to 80 years, among them friends of the children that live on the streets in this area of Arusha. The show went fine, and the audience was very involved. The opening night in Moshi the day before, went a little less well, mostly because of sound failure en because of the nervousness of the youngsters. Fortunately everything went well the night after.
After each show, many young people, boys from Mkombozi and from the audience, showed their talents within their fields of expertise, such as dance, rap, acrobatics and comedy. Very nice indeed, and sometimes so good and comical that the entire audience burst out laughing.
During these performances co-workers from Mkombozi ask the spectators their opinion about the initiative, and which information they retrieve from the show. The results are processed in the report of the project.
The tour
Tomorrow fifty young people and the Cre8 team are going on tour. Shows in Dar es Salaam and bagamoyo on the Tanzanian Youth Exchange Forum & Festival 2010. Afterwards twelve selected youngsters go to Kenya to perform in Nakuru, Kisumu and in Nairobi on the Kids Safari festival. At the festivals, the Ministers of Youth will be present. This is important as they can be of influence to improve the situation and possibilities from children and younsters living on the street. More good news came from the mayor of Moshi. He asked to perform for his personnel.
More information
To closely follow the developments in Tanzania and during the tour, it is worthwhile to visit the blog of Ben, en to follow Cre8 on Facebook. Experience the project with us!