Project India February 2012

by admin on Feb.16, 2012
under Announcements, Asia, India

The intention of this project is to work in areas within India that are crisis zones among populations of children that have been marginalized by society and living in extreme poverty. We currently have invitations from three organizations, including: MOBILE CRECHES, SALAAM BAALAK TRUST, and THE TEHELKA FOUNDATION.
In addition to working in Delhi, we will be working in Jaupur and Tilonia, in Rajasthan. Here we will perform and provide workshops at the Barefoot College and Digantar, organizationsworking with rural children to sustainable solutions and education.
We will be working with children defined as juveniles living in observation houses and who are considered in conflict with the law. We will also be working with the Crèches and Daycare Centres where they care for children of itinerant workers at construction sites and in slums. Finally we will perform for several 24-hour shelters for homeless boys and girls.

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February 13-March 6, 2012

February 20, Tilonia @ Barefoot College

Today we drove to Barefoot College in the small town of Tilonia between Jaipur and Pushkar in Rajasthan. With a focus on empowering women this is an amazing experiential training school, completely off the grid, serving over 70 villages in Rajasthan and many more through India. Upon arrival, we were surprised when we were greeted by a large Indian puppet, horns and dancing. We immediately all jumped out of the car and joined the welcome celebration.

After the incredible welcome, we made introductions and then were led through the campus to put our luggage down in our rooms. After settling in, we gathered in one of the classrooms to meet some of the educators. Vasu, who has lived at Barefoot College for 30 years, explained the history and translated each person’s introduction. He also shared a bit about himself. Many of the educators were long time staff and members of the communities around the college. They ranged from puppeteers to solar energy experts. In the afternoon, Audrey and Hilary performed for a rambunctious crowd of about 200 outside at the theater space. Many of the girls, who typically are working for their families during the day, were given time off to come watch the show. The show was quite fun and different considering we no longer have Kalyan, Ashwath and Tapasya with us. Hilary had some fun and ended up joking with one of the men in the audience, who as a result became a part of the show and dubbed her husband! The show was filled with energy and noise, as it was the first show of the project that had a microphone!

After our show, we enjoyed a short puppet show by several of the men of the college who travel internationally with the traditional puppets.

After the show we were joined by several young volunteers from India and the UK who helped Audrey and Hilary give a workshop for about 20 children. Through several imagination activities, non-language specific games the group became quite quite comfortable with each other and ultimately ended up performing in twos for the rest of the group!

In the early evening we were taken on a tour of both the campuses of Barefoot College. We were amazed by all the activities, everything from solar energy to health to toy making. At the first campus we visited the puppeteers rehearsing, a doctor, a medical laboratory, the dentist office and a workshop where women make sanitary napkins. We also saw the circuit lab for solar energy. On the second campus, where the college was originally based just 10 minutes up the road, we were given a short explanation by a woman about the new solar ovens constructed in 2011. Then we visited the textiles space, where we saw everything from the spinning of the cotton, the weaving, to the block printing and sewing. Finally we visited a toy maker, whose work was creative and resourceful and both for fun and educational purposes.

In the evening, we traveled about 30 minutes along a bumpy dirt road to a the remote village of Chir. Here Audrey and Hilary performed for about 30 night school children, mostly girls and a few boys who came from their homes to watch the show. This show was unique in both the timing (at night) and the space, a long narrow room with children lining the circumference, so it was a show in the round, rather in the rectangle!

February 18, 2012
Gurgaon – just outside of Delhi

Gurgaon is truly the area of contradictions. As we drove down the main road, commercial development projects most still in the works, loomed over us. While in the US, construction sites, especially commercial construction sites, are seen as danger zones where hard hats and steel toed boots are a must, here they house temporary communities of the workers and their families. Here we began our partnership with Mobile Creches, an organization that provides day care centers to the children of these mobile and marginalized communities. In three days we visited six sites, each with their own host development project: automobile franchises, high-end high-rise apartments, a spa and a technology firm. It was hard to tell the difference between new construction and demolished buildings, only the billboard posted at the entrance with words “a better life awaits” and such gave away the future. After driving down sandy roads, we would arrive at site with one or many hollow high rise skeleton structures. Surrounding the buildings were makeshift one room homes, constructed out of scrap metal and tarps. At some of the sites up to 700 works live temporarily, some with their families, some miles away from home.

In three days we performed 6 shows at 6 different sites. Each site differed in the number of children and women, but all were equally baffling filled with contradictions and contrast just outside their walls.

At the first site, many of the children were quite young, some too young to sit through a performance so the space was divided into about four sections. 1. the children watching the show directly in front of the performers, 2. the very young babies and mothers eating lunch next to the makeshift stage, 3. the also quite young children, but some crawling freely around the bassinets – swaddles of cloth tied to table horses. 4. the crowd of men that came from the construction site to watch the performance. Oh, and there were maybe 10-15 men and women watching from various levels of the partially constructed high-rise behind the center. Part way through the performance, Tapasya brought out her violin, and instrument surely many if not most of these children had never seen before. As she began to play a child, just beginning to walk, stumbled across towards the “stage” crying looking for something, or needing someone. All of a sudden he noticed the violin and immediately was mesmerized by the new sound and sight! He stood there spellbound and Tapasya bent down on her knees to play a show just for him.

February 16, 2012

Delhi, India

Last night – magic happened! Audrey, Hilary, Tapasya and two more local clowns, Ashwath and Kalyan, came together and created a show! The opportunity for collaboration came about when Ashwath joined Moshe, CWB USA’s founder, at a workshop in Germany. Ashwath now has a theatre company, Theatre Garage, and Tapasya and Kalyan are core members. Over the weekend, Hilary and Audrey provided a workshop for several of the company members along with other artists, educators and professionals from around Delhi. In reality, it was not just last night that magic happened, but over the course of several weeks/months of communication, a weekend workshop and true interest and enthusiasm, these five artists came together to create an incredible show!

The first show, the final show with the Saalam Baalak Trust, was filled with squeals of laughter from teenage boys and their teachers at the DMRC center. Now a cast of five, the group performed on the wide open rooftop of the center, just above the dorm rooms. The show was high energy, combining Hindi and English, ranging from skilled magic to goofy skits involving bananas and autos.

After the show many of the boys came to show off their own skills, handstands, contortions and odd body tricks.

February 14, 2012

Delhi, India

Written by Dianna, project manager

After joining Hilary and Audrey here in Delhi, we started our first shows for the Saalam Baalak Trust (the SBT). The SBT is one of the larger organizations addressing the needs of street children in India. With over 15 shelter homes, contact points and mobile schools round Delhi, boys and girls of all ages who have run away from home and lived on the streets, are given shelter, food, care and education. Whenever possible, the SBT also works to reunite the children with their families over the course of their time with SBT.

On our first day of shows we visited two boys’ homes in the Paharaganj part of Delhi. After getting off the metro meeting Samsing, we wiggled our way through the narrow streets of this part of Old Delhi. Past every walk of life, markets, and down a tight alleyway, every moment watching out not to run into a motorcycle, bicycle or auto. When we arrived at the first home, the 30+ boys were lined up sitting crosslegged in 5 straight rows taking part in a lesson. Quickly the lesson ended and Audrey and Hilary rushed to put on their makeup! The space to perform was small, but intimate. First show: filled with laughter, smiles and eager boys wanting to join into an imaginary tug of war with the performers. Part way through the show a group of tourists walked in, filling the room well beyond capacity. At first, this was a bit confusing and frustrating, but then it was explained to us this was one of the “Street Walks” led by a boy who grew up with the SBT and now takes groups around Old Delhi to see life on the streets, sharing information and his personal story of his childhood.

This same boy led us to our second show, another boys’ home. At this shelter, the boys spoke more English and they have been with the SBT for longer. Many of them were curious about the ipod stereo we had for music, our names, ages and where we were from. Each were eager to play, be silly and have fun, no matter their ages. At the end of the show a swarm of the younger boys crowded around the door to the room where we were. Each boy took a turn to look through the crack by the doorknob to peek at us, funny, but strange, people!

Our second day, we were joined by Tapasya Dasgupta, a young clown from Kolkota who were introduced to by Ashwath Bhatt, a performer here in Delhi. Tapasya joined the show, playing the violin and becoming third of the cast of characters. With a team of three women, we traveled to two girls’ shelters. The first was far out almost at the end of one metro line and then another 25 minutes by rickshaw. We performed on the rooftop, among laundry drying over the rails, overlooking the quiet neighborhood. While Audrey and Hilary got ready, I went to the rooftop to greet the girls. For the first 10 seconds upon seeing us, they were timid and unsure and then in a matter of 5 more seconds, we were smothered with hugs, handholding and requests for photos. Each giirl wanted on a photo on their own, then with a friend or two and then with one of us.
Several of the older girls were in the corner, upset by something before we even arrived. Two of them sat, one with injured legs bound with old cloth, sat on the side of part of the “stage”. Once the show started they sat and watched quietly, almost a part of the show. I watched them carefully and slowly their heads lifted, and eventually I caught a glimmer of a smile. At the end, they waved me over, I asked them their names in Hindi and they asked me mine, we sat and smiled and laughed together. The clowns had completely shifted their moods.

February 9, 2012

Written by Audrey, CWB volunteer artist

Today was our first official working day for CWB. 1.30-1 boys 14 to 18 who were at the end of their time in the prison system. We worked with them in a detention center, where they live and were also on lockdown. They have been in the prison system for us to 7 years and were serving their last three months in this detention center then to be returned to their families. There they receive some vocational training, education, and basic life skills. Recently they have began a creative arts therapy curriculum and we were theater arts program.

Thoughout the workshop many staff members found their way into the workshop area and were watching the kids play when asked they also joined into the large group exercises. The boys were very friendly and smiley with us immediately and by mid-way through the workshop they felt like average teenage boys, ready to play, somewhat shy about being put on the spot, and the cusp of being men. The workshop consisted of theater games, improvisational clown exercises working towards empowerment, emotional release, and success and playfulness. A young Indian theater student , who is on scholarship to work with young prisoners, requested to be our apprentice with us for the week and helped translate throughout the day.

In the afternoon, the about 22 kids, They were very excited to meet us and even more open to play. Warmer closer to each other already and more free bodies, in front of each other. When we would explain an exercise they were quick to play and ready to jump up in front of each other.

At they end they took turns showing us all of their best dance moves!

We found the boys to be very responsive, eager to work in groups, and with a general playful spirits.

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Press: Daily Mail, Delhi India, February 28, 2012

Partner organizations:

MOBILE CRECHES, Daycare centres on construction sites for children and also work with children in eight slums in the city of New Delhi

SALAAM BAALAK TRUST, The trust consists of five 24-hour full care shelters for children, one being devoted to girls.THE TEHELKA FOUNDATION - Expressive Arts Therapy with Juveniles in Conflict with the Law

Participants: Audrey Crabtree (artist), Hilary Chaplain(artist), and Dianna Hahn (support)

We want to thank Operation Sock Monkey for their generous donation to this project and for supplying the Mobile Creches, one of our partners, with 30 sock monkey delegates! We know it sounds a bit crazy, but these little handmade monkeys are a great resource for working with children. The Mobile Creches plans for teachers at the centers to use the sock monkeys for story telling with children. Here is a great video about how Clowns Without Borders South Africa has used the monkeys with their projects.
Thank you Operation Sock Monkey!!!

SOCK MONKEYS IN USE!!!!