I realized that my previous plan to play catch-up is probably not feasable at this point. I've moved away from the compound and am staying in one of the Nairobi slums for the next three and a half weeks. My internet access comes from the office of the place I'm working and is limited, especially since people have to use it for other business.
Anyway, I'm currently working with Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) with their performing arts-based HIV/AIDS education program. They go into 16 Nairobi slums and perform skits about HIV/AIDS, women's rights, drug use, and child abuse. I am currently teaching two guitar players how to read music as well as scales and other helpful theory exercises. I am starting general lessons for anyone interested on Monday.
Next week, I am leading two-hour workshops everyday about drama. I'm pretty nervous about that because I'm definitely not qualified for that kind of instruction, but I figure I'll just show them everything I know. The schedule is as follows:
Mon- Warm-ups
Tues- Voice
Wed- Characterization
Thurs- Script Writing
Fri- Script Writing
The idea of the script writing workshops are to brainstorm as a group and come up with a new skit they can use in their repertoire. These four weeks promise to be amazing. The kids are so energetic and optimistic, which is a relief in a field of study which is full of jaded, pessimistic humanitarians.
I hope to have time to copy some journal entries about previous experiences during these next four weeks, but I don't know what kind of time I will have. If nothing else, I can post them when I return to the compound or even when I go home in December. Also, you can shoot me an e-mail anytime (lrwhalen@wustl.edu) and I will try to answer any questions.
Love you all! Hope everything is well.
Reynolds
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2 comments:
I'm glad to hear that you're okay and enjoying your independent study. Do you work with the kids at the MYSA main office, or have you been going into the slums to teach them?
well, first of all the MYSA main office is right on the edge of one of the "slums." They actually call them "zones" at MYSA, but it doesn't really matter. I'm actually living in Umoja with the director of Haba na Haba (the drama program), which is really close to the headquarters.
They also have an office in a slum called Eastleigh, which is where Haba na Haba usually meets for rehearsals. However, next week, we're meeting here so I can give the workshops and they can rehearse in the same place. It would be difficult for me to get to Eastleigh by 10 a.m., which is when the workshops are supposed to start.
Everything's going great and I'm having an amazing time. I can't wait to tell you all about it!
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