Me and my wild and wonderful parents
Dear friends and fellow Team Asmi fans,
Some people have been asking my mom… so what exactly is Danielle doing in Liberia? In the course of planning the trip, organizing, raising money, and holding down three other part-time jobs, I guess I haven’t exactly shared the play-by-play plan with her – or too many other people. But it has been in my head for years.
For six weeks in December 2010 and January 2011, Asmi’s co-founder Prentice Onayemi and I will be working in Liberia. I will be running the Drama component and work with our partner organization LYDIA to facilitate the creation of a play about the refugee experience while training LYDIA’s founders to run a regular acting program. The curriculum will be based on the theatre techniques of Augusto Boal, Viola Spolin, Daniel Sklar and Michael Rohd, as well as incorporate Playback Theater and the curricular model of Opening Act. Prentice, who has just been ALECC certified through the Literacy Assistance Center, will head the Literacy project and set up an adult literacy night school based on the methods of Paulo Freire in collaboration with University students in Monrovia. Once Asmi completes this first trip, we will be offering continued support to LYDIA, work with them to assess the success/failures of the program, and plan a follow-up trip in the future.
It’s a lot to do in 6-weeks. Am I scared? Of course! Will we be challenged? Hell yes. But if my parents are crazy enough to cycle 450 miles in 10 days, I should take comfort that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Over the past 5 years in New York, I’ve been working as a teaching artist with a non-profit called Opening Act that brings free after-school drama programs to public high schools without any. Opening Act empowers young people to create their own plays using their own voices. We teach basic acting improv skills and quickly jump into creating characters and developing story arcs in scenes. By the end of a semester – or just twelve 2-hour workshops – the teens perform a one-act created entirely by themselves in front of their community of family, friends, and teachers. I have seen this process transform some of the most “at-risk” students into confident, proud individuals, and I have seen these amazing benefits extend into the students’ communities and lives.
When I was working on a Liberian Refugee camp in Ghana in 2006, I noticed that people didn’t talk much about the past or the issues – such as HIV/AIDS and domestic abuse – that were in the community. Five years later, the same group that I worked with in Ghana has returned to Liberia, formed the NGO LYDIA, and has asked for help in creating an after-school drama program and an adult literacy night school. They now want to create a space for their community to share their stories and deal with the past. Asmi was created to make this possible.
Sharing one's story, or self-expression, is an important step for survivors of major trauma. However, it is not always safe or easy to just “do.” Through a drama program, survivors can deal with their emotions and memories in their own time, in a safe environment. Performing one’s story for the community can give individuals a sense of ownership over their pasts and confidence to approach the future. Similarly, many young adults who spent their formative years in refugee camps missed out on their basic education. Learning how to share one’s story in writing, and in the process learning how to read and write, empowers these young adults to believe in themselves and in the possibility of a successful future.
Asmi’s vision is to work with existing groups of refugees/survivors of crises who need teacher training for drama and literacy programs, but who lack the funds to pay for it or resources to develop it. We partner with these groups because while Asmi’s teachers have had access to the skills needed to create curriculum, we are outsiders in the communities. I don’t believe it is beneficial to go in to a community, run a workshop, and then leave. When dealing with trauma, healing takes time, trust, and continuity. However, I do see major benefits to working with motivated, exceptional individuals from refugee communities and collaborating to create a sustainable program for them to run themselves.
One more exciting thing that is happening this fall is that I have been accepted into the International Trauma Studies Program, run by Jack Sauls, PhD and teacher at Columbia University. Not only will I be connected with a community of professionals working in the field of Trauma and Relief, but I will also be learning skills that will directly apply to my work in Liberia. It’s an exciting and humbling time in my life, and I know after Asmi’s first trip, our vision will only become clearer, more effective, and more creative.
Thank you so much for your donations, support, questions, and ideas. And thank you also to my wild and wonderful parents! I am constantly inspired by their adventuresome spirit, generosity, and love.
Keep up with us - post the Asmi California Coastal Tour - at Asmi International.
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