In Movement, art for social change

Yesterday, I went with some of our students to visit a project that really impresses me.





The group is called In Movement, Art for Social Change.  And I don't know if I can accurately describe how humble and thoughful the project seems... they are situated in a small house in a little walled compound about a mile from the American Embassy (not such a small house or such a small compound:).  


The managing director is an American, trained in education and management.  All the art facilitators are Ugandan artists and the whole team seemed intent and natural in their goal--empowering disadvantaged children through various creative means--less concerned with "products" than a transformative process for children.  


We were visiting on Friday and apparently we were seeing first year students (they have an afterschool program for children in grades 4,5,and 6 as well as camps on their long breaks).  From what I know about Ugandan children and especially children who have less than average resources, the program set up and community must be a very safe and secure place for these children to explore their creativity.  The children calmly entered the compound, changed into their t-shirts and found their journals and began to write and draw their responses to a prompt (how many limbs do you have?how did you use your limbs today?etc).   


They then were divided in groups and each group thoughtfully had an opening conversation in which the kids participated confidently.  The groups then began to warm up for their activities (there were three groups--dance/clowning, music/theatre and visual arts/creative writing).  Sadly due to traffic demands, we did not get to watch the whole session but in another life, i would love to be part of that group! Good leadership, good teamwork, good vision and means of executing it, and ultimately a good outcome--children who learn to value themselves and express themselves through creative means!