I work with Alex Pinder in an organisation called Artists in Community International.   We are really excited to launch our project Make Do Tell,  two months creating art and drama with disadvantaged communities in  Nepal and India.  We leave on 30 December 2013.  (This project is now complete and we will be returning to Nepal and India again at the end of 2014)

We are inviting you to participate by supporting our Pozible Campaign to help us raise funds to spend six weeks in Nepal with the street children of Bhaktapur.  We are also spending a further two weeks in India  which we hope to fund through this campaign too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLZ8IRJhU80

We are aiming to raise $6500 to cover air fares, accommodation and materials.  Please support Make Do Tell  if you can.

Make Do Tell 

is a skills based, arts and education project building on the work we did in 2012 with the street children of Bhaktapur, the SaltPan families of Gujarat and will also include refugee families in Nepal.   The title, and the projects brings together so much of what we see are the important for wellbeing in the community :

Make  Do Tell– being creative, learning new things, painting, making things in clay, making theatre, and making childhood fun.

Make Do Tell : doing theatre and drama, doing things together, being active,

Make Do Tell : Being resourceful .  Creating with very little.   Being adaptable with materials and spaces.

Make Do Tell : Giving participants  a voice through the arts. Creating stories, drama and artwork to reveal about the lives and experiences of participants.  Participants telling  their friends, family and community through exhibition and performance.  Sharing their stories with you.

Make Do Tell : an invitation from us to individuals and  communities to share their stories .   We will post their work on our website and YouTube Channel

We formed the foundation of strong creative relationships in 2012.  We are now planning to develop that work through an extended period of art and drama and professional development workshops.  Participants will be learning new skills in many aspects of the visual and performing arts, as well as the incidental skills that are developed through participation and being part of a learning and creative environment.  At the end of the six weeks we plan to have an exhibition and a performance of their work to be celebrated by their own communities Professional development training to artists and community leaders will also be part of the project.

Background

Bhaktapur is an ancient town in the Kathmandu valley and was the former capital of Nepal.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, acknowledged for its rich culture and artisan work which includes pottery, paper making and Thangkur painting. The other side of this beautiful place is the impact of years of political instability, civil war and poverty.  As a result, children come from rural areas to Bhaktapur looking for a way to survive – through work, begging or for the most fortunate, education.  We know that many are orphaned, some are children of drug-affected parents, and parents who suffer from the many consequences of war and poverty and are unable to look after their children.

The street children of Nepal are vulnerable to exploitation as child labourers and human trafficking. They have very little access to good education and their rights to be a childhood, described in the UN Convention Rights of the Child have been denied.

In 2012, we collaborated with two foundations (Unatti and the Children’s Art Village) to run an Arts and Drama program for the street children of Bhaktapur.  This was a short project of just one week but in that time the work captured the children’s imaginations and left them with many new skills.

The art and drama workshops gave children insights into painting techniques and an introduction to improvisation and physical comedy.  Children jumped into this new creative world with gusto and in a short period of time created work that far exceeded the expectations they had for themselves.  We were honored to be acknowledged as finalists in The Australian Asia Arts Awards for this work.

GIFT CARDS

Over the years we have raised money for our projects through asking friends and family to not give us birthday presents but support our work instead.   Perhaps you could give an Make Do Tell  gift card in celebration of a birthday or gala event and know that you are also supporting creativity, educaton and childhood in disadvanged communities .    We will also be launching a Christmas Gift Card soon.