Today I worked with some of the kids at the MAD about Art project. This is an afterschool club aimed at helping children aged 10 and over to talk through any issues or problems they may have through art, music and drama. When they first enrol in the project at the age of 10 all the kids are asked to write a ‘Hero book’. In the Hero book the kids write stories and draw pictures about their lives – it’s a private record where they can record their most secret thoughts and feelings. They record things like who is their hero and why, what is their ‘monster’, what is their ‘shining moment’, who’s in their family and what they like and dislike about their community. Once it’s finished the kids can choose whether they want to lock the book away so that no one else can read their story or whether they are happy for the books to be displayed for others to see. The facilitators can then help the kids to work though their issues and intervene with further help if necessary.
One of the facilitators at MAD about Art told me a very sad story about one of the girls who attended the group. This girl, (I don’t know her name but let’s call her Ella), was raped by her father whilst her mother was at the hospital giving birth to her sister. Ella told her mother, but her mother didn’t believe her, so Ella ran away from home. She wrote down her story in her Hero book at MAD about Art and one of the facilitators was able to intervene. The facilitator spoke to Ella’s mother and it turns out that her mother was afraid to allow Ella to speak about the abuse at home because her husband was abusing the whole family. By making Ella stay away from home she was actually trying to protect her. Ella’s mother was afraid to go to the police but with the help of one of the MAD about Art facilitators, she was able to report her husband to child welfare services. When they tried to speak to him, he ran away and hasn’t come back so Ella is now back at home with her mother and living happily.
I’ve been told that this sort of story is not uncommon in the townships…
It sounds like an effective program. What will you be doing? Is the club in the township? I hope the MAD/Edge of Africa people look after you to ensure the stories don't effect you too badly. Big hug from me!
ReplyDeleteI'll be helping out in one of the discussion groups I think. And I get a one to one with an Edge project coordinator at the end of the week so I'll be well looked after! Big hugs back!
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