2007: TripL'EX
Cre8 East Africa's second project started in December 2007 in Yala, Kenya and in Poeldijk, the Netherlands. We have been working on theatre productions based on the theme: 'how do I shape my future?'
The group of young people in Yala started by exchanging ideas with a group of contemporaries in the Netherlands about the theatre piece they were working on. This resulted in a production performed in December for the community which made use of various art forms such as drama, dance, music, rap and visual art.
Background | The project | The results | Sponsor a child
The Okang' Machielo project in 2006 was a great success. In record tempo, Cre8 East Africa organised a cultural festival for nearly 200 children and youths in the fishing town of Dunga in the Nyanza province of West Kenya. After this success we were ready to take the next step.
Cre8 East Africa's second project is currently taking place in Yala (Kenya) and the Netherlands. The central theme is 'How do I shape my future?' This is how we have been working:
Under Cre8's supervision, a group of young people in Yala started to exchange ideas about making a theatre production with a group of contemporaries in the Netherlands. After that, professional Kenyan and Dutch (performing) artists/educators gave a series of workshops during a three week period for the group in Yala. A number of different artistic techniques were introduced to express the ideas and stories which arose during the workshops. These included drama, dance, music (rap) en visual art. The workshops culminated in December 2007 in a performance for the community.
At the same time, a parallel project started in Poeldijk with a group of young people there. This group began sharing ideas with their Kenyan counterparts so that elements of their production could be interwoven with the one in Kenya and vice versa. The aim of this exchange has been to bring young people into contact with peers in another culture so that they might see their own dreams and ideas about the future in a new light. For the Kenyan youths, working on an equal footing with young people in the Netherlands could be a useful, interesting and unique experience. The same is true for the group of Dutch youths and hopefully this may lead the way to future cultural exchanges. Working together and communicating over a large distance and in so doing, overcoming language, cultural and physical barriers, is what makes this project challenging.
Target group
The primary target group in Kenya is a group of 50 to 70 young people, boys and girls, ranging in age from 12 to 22 years old. The following groups of people in their community are indirectly involved:
- about 70 young people, men and women, unemployed and without income, living in a rural location
- their supervisors, other members of the community, and people from outside Yala
- peer groups all over Kenya (if the Yala group participates in the 'follow up' organised by Y-TAP).
The primary target group in the Netherlands is the group of young people in Poeldijk.
A secondary group includes the people near to them, Cre8 sympathizers and participants in the awareness-raising activities which Cre8 organises.
- about 25 young people/ students and the people near to them
- schoolmates
- Cre8 sympathisers and the people near them
- participants in our awareness-raising events
Goals
The short term goal of the project is to give young people the chance to voice their problems, dreams and opportunities in a play or musical performed first in their own community and later as part of a festival elsewhere.
The long tem goals:
- raising awareness in young people of their own situation and that of their peers
- offering young people (more) opportunities to express their thoughts on social and cultural issues and challenges
- bringing young people in contact with inspiring (performing) artists/educators from outside their community
- helping young people develop new skills in the performing arts
- helping young people to develop their collaborative skills
- giving young people a chance to continue with theatre or perhaps other art forms which inspire them and allow for self-expression and development
- helping young people to find their place in society and become active members of the community
- giving Kenyan young people the opportunity to share their ideas, opinions and thoughts with Dutch peers and vice versa. This broadens their horizons, helps them to put their own situation in perspective and can open the door for new possibilities and expectations
- continuing to supervise the youth group and offering them the opportunity to join a national youth theatre network and participating in a national festival in 2008 (together with Y-TAP)
The method
The initial step in the work process is to get to know the young people and to find out what they want and what they are capable of. After that, Cre8 gives them assignments or exercises that are geared towards:
- helping them think about who they are and what their ideas about their own futures are
- helping them think about the others so that they become aware of the similarities and differences, obscurities and questions
- working on material that can be used in the performance
Since September 2007, the groups in Yala and Poeldijk have been given one assignment a month to work on with their supervisor, with support from the Cre8 educational team. The results of these exercises are videotaped and sent to the other group.
In addition to working on these assignments, the Dutch group has also been given the task of setting up an awareness-raising campaign about the project and about the youth in Kenya.
Using the material that the young people have contributed and the discussions that we have had with them during the workshops, we have been developing theatre productions in both Yala and Poeldijk.
Documentary
Two young film makers have been engaged to make a documentary of the process and the performance in Yala. The film makers, Wouter Tjaden and Rick van der Burg, are both graduates of the Utrechtse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (The Utrecht School of Art) and have made an earlier film about making a theatre production for the national theatre competition in Mombasa.
It is now October and Cre8 has been to visit both groups to introduce the project and to explain the assignments. Soon there will be more information about the results and about the project in December.
Just as with our last project, we are now again looking for sponsors for the TripL'EX project. Despite the fact that our team is made up entirely of volunteers, we still have costs. We aim to raise € 7000 in private donations. That amounts to about € 50 per young person participating. That money provides a young person with the opportunity to spend three weeks taking part in a wide variety of theatre and arts workshops, and to take part in a theatre production. The entire process is also being made into a documentary.
With the collected money, Cre8 also provides young people in the Netherlands with information about development work and the part that they themselves can play in it.
For just € 50 you can sponsor a youth from Yala, enabling him or her to partake in this fantastic project. It is also possible to sponsor more than one person. All contributions (even those under € 50) are more than welcome!
You can make your contribution to the following bank account:
Rabobank 10 64 79 407, Cre8 East Africa (please include the words 'Sponsorgeld Yala').
For more information, you can get in touch with us via info@cre8eastafrica.org or by telephone +31 (0)20 - 6241760
Interesting links
MAX Broadcasting Company is also active in Yala. The following links show films about a housing project for the aged and the fundraising for the project.