This month, the Gender and Development Committee is putting out our newest toolkit as warranted from our theme contest, featuring ten lessons that will enable volunteers and their counterparts to work with communities on topics of Gender and Identity Development through the use of theatre, performance, and folklore.
Why Theatre? For many reasons, but just to name a few:
Theatre is extremely popular among youth here in Morocco. From regularly planned Spectacs (Talent Shows), to random outbursts of group singing and dancing, to constant skit-making, many of our youth love to perform. Theatre gives them another chance to do so. With combining something that our students love with a topic like Gender and Development, we can provide youth with a meaningful experience taken specifically from their interests. The goal of the toolkit definitely is not to “disguise” the topic of Gender and Development by engaging students in theatre to do so, but instead to show them the versatility and positivity by which one of their hobbies can be used.
Theatre and International Development have a lot in common. When the theories, practices, and purposes of theatre and acting are looked at, a lot of them have strong correlations with practices that can help not only the international development process, but the processes of community and empathy building and understanding. This toolkit specifically uses Community Participatory Theatre, a form of theatre used to encourage community engagement as a tool not only to create theatre, but to bring people in the community together to problem solve, and Theatre of the Oppressed, a form of theatre used to give those who may be unheard a voice through performance. Community Participatory Theatre specifically asks communities, “What do we have here?,” an important first question is any international development process, and Theatre of the Oppressed specifically seeks to make sure that all voices are heard when seeking response, even the ones that may be tough to locate. Aside from that, concepts of plot, character, obstacle, objective, body language, pantomime, and other theatre tools are learned and exercised within this toolkit with practical applications that can build self-esteem and intentional decision making within our youth here.
The two most widely spoken languages are not written… thusly, storytelling is beyond powerful. Darija and the Amazigh languages are the most widely spoken in Morocco, especially in the areas that Peace Corps Volunteers work. When we talk about literacy and its importance to one’s ability to seek and understand knowledge, the question gets turned on its head when even the languages that could be read most frequently in books, news, and the internet may not be understood by their readers, not from lack of knowledge, but simply speaking a different language. Theatre engages people in storytelling and introduces communities to the importance of verbal expression and human connection as a way to share roots, values, and experiences to help us grow together. Folklore is also used in this toolkit because it serves that exact function… it unites communities through fantastical stories to help uncover historic roots and values, encouraging us to seek ways to live them in our communities today.
The new Theatre Toolkit, GAD and Theatre: Acts of Equality, is in the process of being translated, but we will be putting out the first couple lessons soon, and in time, all ten for Peace Corps Volunteers, their counterparts, and Moroccans to be able to use. We are excited to see the impact that this toolkit is able to make on our communities.
Why Theatre? For many reasons, but just to name a few:
Theatre is extremely popular among youth here in Morocco. From regularly planned Spectacs (Talent Shows), to random outbursts of group singing and dancing, to constant skit-making, many of our youth love to perform. Theatre gives them another chance to do so. With combining something that our students love with a topic like Gender and Development, we can provide youth with a meaningful experience taken specifically from their interests. The goal of the toolkit definitely is not to “disguise” the topic of Gender and Development by engaging students in theatre to do so, but instead to show them the versatility and positivity by which one of their hobbies can be used.
Theatre and International Development have a lot in common. When the theories, practices, and purposes of theatre and acting are looked at, a lot of them have strong correlations with practices that can help not only the international development process, but the processes of community and empathy building and understanding. This toolkit specifically uses Community Participatory Theatre, a form of theatre used to encourage community engagement as a tool not only to create theatre, but to bring people in the community together to problem solve, and Theatre of the Oppressed, a form of theatre used to give those who may be unheard a voice through performance. Community Participatory Theatre specifically asks communities, “What do we have here?,” an important first question is any international development process, and Theatre of the Oppressed specifically seeks to make sure that all voices are heard when seeking response, even the ones that may be tough to locate. Aside from that, concepts of plot, character, obstacle, objective, body language, pantomime, and other theatre tools are learned and exercised within this toolkit with practical applications that can build self-esteem and intentional decision making within our youth here.
The two most widely spoken languages are not written… thusly, storytelling is beyond powerful. Darija and the Amazigh languages are the most widely spoken in Morocco, especially in the areas that Peace Corps Volunteers work. When we talk about literacy and its importance to one’s ability to seek and understand knowledge, the question gets turned on its head when even the languages that could be read most frequently in books, news, and the internet may not be understood by their readers, not from lack of knowledge, but simply speaking a different language. Theatre engages people in storytelling and introduces communities to the importance of verbal expression and human connection as a way to share roots, values, and experiences to help us grow together. Folklore is also used in this toolkit because it serves that exact function… it unites communities through fantastical stories to help uncover historic roots and values, encouraging us to seek ways to live them in our communities today.
The new Theatre Toolkit, GAD and Theatre: Acts of Equality, is in the process of being translated, but we will be putting out the first couple lessons soon, and in time, all ten for Peace Corps Volunteers, their counterparts, and Moroccans to be able to use. We are excited to see the impact that this toolkit is able to make on our communities.
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