Art & Dance lessons for 300 Children in Cambodia

Happy Khmer New Year! It’s the start of a new school year here in Cambodia. We're still on our mission to bring art to children in local schools and to change children's perceptions about people with disabilities.

Savun & Chea have recently graduated from our Inclusive Education Programme. Over the past two years they've been exploring performing & visual arts with Epic Arts. They've joined the new mix of facilitators who're leading the Arts in Schools project this term.

Savun tells us how she was feeling about leading her first Arts in Schools workshop.

____

 “I’m excited about the workshop, it’s my first time working with these children. I would never have thought that would have the chance to teach children at school!

 I’ve learnt a lot in the past two years at Epic Arts not just about the arts but about being a leader as well.

Today I led the introduction and warm up with the students. I was a little nervous about it. When we got to the school I asked to rehearse with my team leader Thou.

The workshop was fantastic! It was our first session so we played games and led some movement activities to get to know the new students.

My favourite thing about the workshop was seeing how much fun the students were having!

 I was very surprised by the children's attitudes. They remembered and respected the facilitators from last year.

Usually when I meet children they stare and ask questions about my disability. I was glad they didn't stare, it's clear the children today think differently

 I’m really looking forward to coming back and working with the children next week! "

____

 Thanks to your support and donations we've been able to continue to lead Arts classes in Kampot schools.

Savun picked up on an exciting observation - that bringing in two new facilitators, who both have physical disability, has highlighted how the students react to disability. This wouldn't have been possible without having consistent workshops led by our team.

Thank you for being part of helping us change perceptions about disability

Thanks to your generous donations our Arts in Schools project has been running for a year now and has reached 157 children in Kampot. We’ve got two schools on board and have delivered 42 workshops over the past 12 months.

 ___________

Saan is an arts leader for the Arts in Schools community project, here he tells his story from unable to access school to becoming an arts facilitator and leading workshops.  

Both my brother and I were born deaf (he’s five years older than me). We didn’t go to school because we couldn’t hear the teacher. When we were children had no idea that sign language even existed!

I thought that I’d never be able to communicate my thoughts clearly to another person, I couldn’t speak, read or write.

The first time I went to school was when I was 14.

I started at Deaf Development Programme (DDP) where I learnt basic math, literacy and sign language. After finishing at DDP I joined Epic Arts as a student on the Inclusive Arts Course. For two years I learnt about being an arts leader as well as how to use the arts to express myself.

Now I teach art to children in schools something I never imagined I could do!

The first time we arrive at a new school children see us signing and that some of the team are in wheelchairs. They always stare and they always ask “What’s wrong with you?!”

I don’t blame them though; they don’t know what disability is. They’ve never seen people with disability before so that’s why they ask.

I like to teach because I want to share my knowledge about art. I want children to have access to arts workshops. I want to show them different ways they can channel their emotions.

It's important that we do the Art in Schools project because we are showing the children that even though we have disabilities we CAN do things. 

I like encouraging the children not to discriminate against people with disabilities.

I tell them that “Every Person Counts”

 ___________

Please help us deliver more workshops this year to children in local primary schools by donating today or setting up a recurring donation.

Summer break is coming to an end in Cambodia and our team of Arts Leaders are ready and waiting to get back to our partner schools.

 After two terms of Arts and Crafts classes, this term The Arts Team will be delivering Movement and Drama lessons in the schools we work with.

“I think Drama is a good way for students to express their feelings, create and play!” - Arts Team Facilitator

 During the summer break The Arts Team have been on a community tours as part of a UNICEF Cambodia and Epic Arts Project ‘I Can’. During the tour Arts Team delivered dance workshops about the rights of those with disabilities to children and young people with and without disabilities. Working with a range of children The Arts Team have become stronger in their leadership skills. They think that what they’ve learnt on tour will help them improve their teaching on the Arts in Schools project. 

“On the I can tour I learnt to work with children of all abilities and how to adapt the activities. I’m more confident leading workshops and I think I’m clearer with giving instructions and getting students to focus. I’m looking forward to getting back to the schools in Kampot and working to bring art to the children” - Arts Team Facilitator

 Here’s to another term of great art workshops in Kampot! Thank you for supporting our project

For two hours a week, these students in Kampot, Cambodia get to express themselves through the arts. I went along recently to the project and saw how much fun students were having with paint, glue and a lot of empty water bottles.

“I feel very happy to join the Arts In School activities. I think this workshop support to me learn at government school such as to create something new, and give me different skill. I want the arts workshops to continue.”- Student on Arts in Schools Project

During the workshop I noticed a group of children crowding around one of the Arts Leaders, Teuly. The excitement of the children is not because they are curious about his amputated legs, but because they want him to help them with their work. 

Teuly told me “ It makes me feel so confident that they want me to help them. I believe that they see me not my disability”

One of the reasons we run community projects is so that children have positive interactions with people who have disabilities. We believe our Arts Leaders can change negative attitudes and perceptions through being positive role models. You can see this is happening in the way the students interact with the facilitators, who all have a disability.

At the end of the session the children ran out of the school with huge grins and clutching their plastic creations ready to take home to show their families. Whilst chatting with the children they echo this sentiment, one student told me “I feel so happy but now I want to do Arts twice a week” I asked him why and he simply said “It’s fun and it helps to support me to learn at school.”

We see this love for learning everyday on our Inclusive Education Programme for children with & without disabilities because when there is time for creativity and fun, children want to come to school.

We're only $683 away from our target, help us reach our goal by donating today using the link below. Or why not support the art classes by setting up a monthly donation - from September 21 to September 27, 2016 your donations will be matched by Global Giving.

Links:

• Visit our website
• Like us on Facebook
• Follow us on Instagram

After a short break for Cambodian New Year the Arts in Schools project is once again underway. Last week saw the first art class of the new term at Chumkriel Language School.

For the next seven weeks Arts Team will be leading visual arts and crafts classes at three schools. Taking on feedback from last year, this term our arts class will focus on the theme of recycling by creating crafts and art from waste materials

“ I like arts very much. Today I made a pretty flower to recycle a plastic water bottle” - Student from Chumkriel Language School

The start of the new term also saw Arts Team pile into a mini bus on a visit to one of the new schools signed up for the Arts in Schools project. The school, Boeung Preah, is around 15km from Kampot town enabling us to reach a wider more diverse group of children.

Greeted by 150 intrigued students the team arrived at the school and took the lead giving their first presentation about the Arts in Schools project. With their fun presentation style in both the Khmer Language and Cambodian Sign Language the team had no trouble engaging the students. To the captive audience they informed the children about the importance of arts and explained the Arts in Schools project.

You can still donate to help deliver this project on GlobalGiving to help us reach our target of $7,000