My voluntary overseas work is incredibly important to me . I have had the privilege of working on a number of different drama/theatre projects in Africa. Below are the two most recent ones. Occasionally red banana has a short break in order for me to be able to offer this work.
Where is Home? Clarens, Free StateSouth Africa.
This was a project with The Orphan Family. A play was written and performed by over 100 Orphans to raise awareness of the community’s responsibility to be a family.
The idea was born by Martie Du plessis who said
‘ I began to wonder whether simply feeding these children is enough. I thought that if we could increase their self esteem then maybe they would begin to believe in themselves and in turn become inspired and motivated to move forward in their lives’
The money raised from the performance is helping the older children who are leaving the shelter, acquire skills and training. In this way they were literally performing for their future.
Tanaka Harare, Zimbabwe
Tanaka, is a project run by The Oasis Trust and is a residential programme providing a home for street girls, aged between 13 and 21 years. The girls receive a one-year programme of support, counselling and reintegration into the school system.
I ran a series of workshops for the girls using drama to focus on their communication skills and how to deal with conflict.