Last month John Martin was asked to come to Sri Lanka by the British Council. He ran a series of workshops which was aimed at training people to give drama workshops to people in areas affected by the tsunami. One of our teachers Angela Carr went on the course and as a result she is now taking teams of British Council volunteers to do drama workshops in places where they are really needed. Read her report on the training she was given.
Here is a report describing what our staff have been doing.
Where do we do it?
A dusty spot in the shade of a huge Bo tree is where it all happens in the refugee camp at Kotelawelapura. Part of a run-down school has been closed off to house 90 of the families who lost their houses on the beach at Dehiwela. We are allowed to use the main school ground for our activities.
This is now the third Sunday we have been there – though the rain was so bad last Sunday that we had to leave early. We are beginning to build relationships with the children and there is now great excitement when our van pulls in. About 50 children (between 2 and 16), plus a few mothers take part. The parents are very keen for us to continue visiting and always ask us to come back, one parent commenting: 'These children need to laugh.'
What do we do?
After a couple of games we divide into two main activity groups – those who want to draw, colour, cut and paste, and those who want to dance and play. Angela, who was trained by John Martin recently in drama therapy, leads the sessions and the children are irresistibly drawn to her. We couldn’t manage without Imran and Indra and Amina and the others who come, they translate for us and help to keep a vague sense of order.
Why do we do it?
Most of the drama work is aimed at encouraging the children to play in a non competitive and creative way, as John Martin said, 'If you play 'Simon says' with 20 children, you end up with one winner and 19 losers'. The games are designed to build trust and develop confidence while allowing people to share ideas and express themselves freely. The workshops are drama orientated but there is not always a performance in the traditional sense.
The children are also encouraged to paint and draw. We hope to keep visiting this same camp for the next few weeks so that there is some continuity in order to build on what has been achieved each week.
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