Cops Are In Your Head

“The cops are in your head but their headquarters and barracks must be outside”  Augusto Boal

“Be the change you want to see....” ..Nothing will work unless you do”....”A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.” ....”Butterfly effect” ...”Every step counts”....”Change in small steps” (this list of course is longer) is a list of messages, sentences that surrounded (and are still surrounding) my work in empowerment and community development in the last years in different countries (Some of the methods that I work with includes theatre of the oppressed (especially forum theatre)

One of the features of these methods is to activate people, to determine them to take action, to stand up for their rights, to be pro-active in their community, to do something for themselves, to determine other people to do something, to change etc.- shortly to identify the right “responsibility” or “power button” and push it (and then this to lead to other “buttons” to be pushed. 

In the same time I don’t believe a person can be forced to change or do something regardless of how many buttons were pushed around but this doesn’t necessary means that there shouldn’t anything done at all and just leave it to the person in case to decide/do/change (if) anything and “clean” any other external person of any bit of responsibility.

Let’s look at a classical example referring to a universal problem – domestic violence

- we have a women- which is a physically abused by her husband (they don’t have children) for a long time. He is abusing the power he has in the relation and she feels powerless– she has various connections outside of this context (colleagues, friends, neighbours, other family members) – he also has his own connections. Some of these people from the outer circle know about their issues (or they suspect) some don’t – some are indifferent to such issues – some are not.

Based solely on this information who do you think can influence this situation and bring an improvement to this oppression between the man and the women? Who has more power to influence?

There will be people in one side (sometimes extreme) : “is her problem, is their business, is up to them/her, she has to decide what she wants to do”.... and of course on other side (sometimes as well extreme) “she needs to be advised, we need to talk to her, to call authorities, to involve NGOs, to suggest therapy, and not to give up until she is not out of there.”

I do believe that an oppressive situation could be changed by affecting the power relation (unbalanced and abusive) that is between the oppressed and oppressor. I think that sometimes until the oppressed doesn’t have enough little power to be able to stand for her/himself a bit of power can come from the people around that even if are not affected directly can have an influence. 

My work with theatre of the oppressed was focused a lot on giving this kind of awareness and mind set to any people around and to be awake and ready to push power buttons.

The ultimate change has to be done by the oppressed person – the people around can start, declick this intention, to empower with support and solutions- but this can go up to the limit imposed by the oppressed person.

We were in some situation oppressed along our life- we are all had to deal in various moment in our life with situations or relations were we were weak, powerless and worthless. We gather from these different internal “cops”-authority that maintain the oppression from inside and preventing us from having more power in various future situations (sometimes for ever). The inside oppression is tricky – you don’t know where is it, why, and how it end up there. This dirty cops came from outside but are in a mission inside.

Therefore is fascinating to use same type of methodology to work as well with inside oppression. 
Although I was focused in the last years in how to deal with outside (real life –from here and now) oppression recently I worked with “Rainbow of Desire” and it was truly inspirational to have this experience. 

It can be called the therapeutically dimension of this methodology and it has lots in common with other therapeutically schools although the true effect is beyond the rationalization and awareness – is leading to liberation without necessary identifying what exactly made which cop to go back to his office but with the involvement of every member of the working group. 

Is not a method to go in public with and is not a method to play with- is very personal and can lead to very strong emotional moments that could be difficult to manage by more inexperienced facilitators and also less skilled in psychological dynamics.

This was only the beginning – I will continue to explore it more because this road has lots to offer and is one dimension that complete the mission of change of theatre of the oppressed methods have!

(and yes ...cops can go away)

Theatre as a Tool For Change

A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.
– Horace Mann, Philosopher

It is true that in a nation the true power of change lies in its people! We can extend this to a global perspective and  say that the key for change in this troubled world it is in its inhabitants.

• What motivates people to decide to change something in their society/community?

• How can people discover and use their (inner) power for bringing about a change ? 

Read more

Africa for beginners – Ghana

My previous experience on African continent (you can read also about here) showed me different aspects of African life (I didn’t include in those articles my experience in North Africa which I separate it because of so many cultural and historical aspects).

The sign: “Africa for beginners” on Ghana travel guides made me smile ;) and by saying this “promotion motto” to all the Ghanaians I met for sure they all smiled even more but in the same agreeing with it-myself as well after spending some time over there!

First time in Africa? – You can start with Ghana! Is a very easy going country, with peaceful and very friendly people, where you feel secure and not so much in the “zoo syndrome”. People are quite used with white people and have a very open and calm attitude towards life and other cultures.

Some of the reasons for what stated before are the following points

Ghana is the country of NGO-s and international volunteers! You will be surprised how big is the level of knowledge and awareness of regular Ghanaian people about volunteers (there already see them as a different category of people that are in their country: "are you a tourist or a volunteer?"). In every city and region of Ghana are hundredths and thousands of NGO-s and most of them are working with international volunteers. At the moment i can just dream to make people in Romania or even Turkey (where I lived so long) so aware and acknowledged about the civil society and international volunteering.

Of course to volunteer there means mostly to pay from your own money for accommodation and food and maybe some taxes to the people that are managing your local project but you can choose a very broad area or work : from helping build a school to deliver workshops for children or adults!

I even met some American friends that travelled and explored 14 African countries before deciding to develop a branch of an international NGO in Ghana – because is the most easy going country in terms as well of paper work.

I meet some of these NGO , some of them planed, some of them just in the bus , or on the beach (because I told you they are at every corner) and some of them exist only through international volunteering, sometimes with no local volunteers at all and in my perspective this is not sustainable at all and also not valuable for the local community.

For sure on such a good public opinion and huge network many things can be build – a base exists – the will is missing at the moment!

Ghana is the country of churches! Yes it is! And not only of churches, I think is the country of love for GOD! First , at every corner of every city you will find a different church (Pentecostal, Catholic, Orthodox, Methodist, Evangelical, Presbyterian, Anglican, Protestant, Baptist, Lutheran, Muslims, Charismatic Church, New Age, etc – and I am really sorry for not recalling all but for sure are much much more). I think for every 50 people is another church? I was in a village of 1000 people and they had 8 different types of churches .

Every Sunday everybody is on the roads going to various churches for the mass (some of them starting in the middle of the night in fact with the services)

As I said is not only about the churches, is about the love for GOD, almost every shop has a title related to some divinity actor: Jesus loves shoes! GOD loves you shop! Clothes from Jesus! Etc. etc. (I think i didn’t see any shop that didn’t have a divine title!

Obroni! Means "white" in some of the local languages and people will address to you by using this title : something like: YOU , white one ......! It can be fun at times, and annoying at other times , especially when you realize that for some people you are just a colour and not more ; they do address each other with friends, sister, brother (without even knowing each other) but they will not address to you like that! Maybe the most disturbing thing is that children learn that from small age, shouting to the white people on the streets: obroni, obroni, obroni! And their take cares are not explaining, telling anything to them! Is a different experience when you go in villages, where sometimes children will be terrified by you because you are white, speechless and curious – as a difference from cities where they have a lot of “superficial” contact with white people.

Non-formal education! I experienced and play with various methods with some NGO leaders and with some girls from a girl high school! None of these groups were familiar with non-formal methods, they were expecting lectures and one way information giving. For some of them was strange to ask them to involve in various games and exercises.

I had a very interesting and fascinating experience , and indeed growing for me as a trainer. Using the circle of stereotypes (where everybody has to show with they body – as statues various concepts and words) proved to be a very different experience then in Europe. With the groups I worked with in Ghana the concrete thinking was prevalent and the abstract one was a lower level. I tried to use same words like i do in Europe (some of them concrete: man, women, volunteers, American, villager, etc or more abstract: change, power, will, etc) and the results were most of them showing the concreteness of their first thoughts on those concepts.

Another interesting part was when i asked 4 groups of girls to create a small sketch where to show an ideal school. And all of them performed violence made by the teachers, strong discipline towards the students and between them. All the groups said that this indeed how they imagine an ideal school : with even more discipline and firm and tough teachers!!! Once again I was reflecting on the fact that I am just facilitating a process and not their results. Their lesson in that day from my workshop was that each of them are responsible for the discipline in their class!

Don’t imagine socking beautiful nature or safari opportunities ...Ghana doesn’t have to much of that ...the beauty and easiness of travelling around is coming from its people!

Tool Kit on Street Animation for Social Change

Almost a year ago, when EVS my project in Turkey finished I was mentioning about the fact that I will work on a tool kit based on my experience in Turkey and not only.

Well, the work for this manual finished some time ago, there are still some free copies for the people that are interested in having one (so feel free to contact me) but you can have a look or even download it from here.

You should know from the beginning that this type of guide is the first one to be realized in the English language and what is making it unique is the fact that it offers every reader the chance to go through a variety of street animation methods, to open their curiosity and appetite towards them, and more than that to offer an alternative that maybe was not in your mind: to practice street animation in order to make a social change in your community!

More information, details, and articles about this Tool kit you can find here:

• An article on a Local Philanthropy Community Web Site
• On a Salto website (Tools section)
• DEEP Times (newsletter January 2011)
• TRIALOG Information Service (January 2011)
• An article on the Turkish Host Organization (Community Volunteers)
• In 2008 a Romanian tool kit on Street Animation I developed was mentioned and introduced here

Enjoy this tool kit and I truly hope you will find it useful for your work!

Please feel free to add your comments, questions or if you want the material, the comments section is open!

Image Theatre-World Youth Congress

This summer I had the chance to participate in 5^th World Youth Congress and I also delivered a workshop on Image Theatre.

It was for the first time I worked with a group of participants from almost all the continents and the most challenging aspect was to work specifically on social problems because the perspectives , opinions on them are so various and different– especially if we were trying to find solution and to speak about their realism and possibility to be applied in their reality – when we talk about state, NGO, or even people role in the society here my participants came with so many different realities that made the discussions so hot and so lively and with no specific conclusion that fits each of them. (we approached problems of discrimination, corruption and domestic violence).

I don’t have pictures or material form that specific workshop but I have from second day where I had to present the method of Image Theatre to others educator in the field.

Here is a short movie about it.