We have dreams!

The voices and art of the kids...

• I want to be a mechanic and I think it is realistic for me
• If I want to be a singer I would have to train a lot
• I want to be an artist, so I sometimes practice at home

• I definitely want to be a singer, so I have to practice all the time, always be happy in front of people and also confident on stage
• Being a doctor is my dream, I think it is possible for me, I am always trying my best in my studies for my future
• I want to be a teacher, and I know I need to try my best in my studies now

• I want to be a motorbike mechanic. I am already practicing to fix motorbikes and bicycles, an older friend is helping/ teaching me.
• In order to work in construction I need to observe people working in this field now, to learn the skills

• I really want to be a professional football player. I am not sure if it is possible, because to achieve it I need to sign up for special football camps and I don’t have the money to pay the registration or travel expenses.
• I want to be a Chef, I believe it is possible for me to achieve. In my home I cook frequently to learn and practice.

It has been another incredible week, I have observed such sensitivity and care towards each other in sculpting activities, creativity and imagination in improvisation games, and profound awareness of the factors which affect their lives.

The kids are now really thinking about their lives and their dreams for their futures, how attainable they are and what steps they would need to take to achieve them.We combined Art with drama this week in mapping their lives of where they are now and what they want their life to look like in 10 years time. The children created wonderful theatrical paths to travel from the present to the future, acting out real obstacles and challenges but still reaching their goal through strength of the human spirit and never giving up.

Looking at their futures

In our reflection together, some kids didn't think their dreams were possible due to their economic situation. One little angel, has always wanted to be an air hostess, but recently she realised that it will never be possible due to her family's situation, she held back her tears as she told us this. She would be an incredible air hostess, she has a smile as big as the sun! In reality, it may not be possible, but who knows what opportunities will arise in pursuing it. We continue to encourage the kids to dream, believe in themselves, make the most of the opportunities they have now, and continue studying to give themselves more options in the future and break the cycle of poverty. There will always be people who are worse off or better off than us, but we are all human and we all deserve to have our basic needs met and the opportunity to pursue our dreams.

Discussion about Needs and Wants

When we moved onto identifying our basic needs in comparison to our wants, I witnessed the most incredible display of compassion in Phuong Dien village. Each group of kids were given a basic need, and explored the long term effects on their life if that need was never met. Some of the performances brought tears to all of our eyes. The children really accessed their experiences and took them to another level. Their compassion and understanding of these issues was beyond their years. The performances they created were so impressive!!! We were all so proud of them. They connected with their own raw emotion and brought it to their performances, WOW!!! In our discussions after the performances, they all commented that even though they themselves were very poor, there are still some people who are in worse situations than they are, and they consider themselves lucky. These children are amazing!

• I used my real emotion when performing. I think I am luckier than other people, because other people are still in worse situations than my family. Even though, I feel like my family's conditions are very poor.
  
• I was happy to perform. These topics feel very familiar to our lives so it is not difficult to perform. Now our lives are a little bit better than the lives in our performance, but still there are some very poor families facing these difficulties in their life.
• It was difficult to perform because our situation was very dramatic and I had to prepare my tears. For me I acted with my real heart.
• If you are not healthy, you will die.
• I am pleased with our performance. I acted with real emotion. I can see that our lives are still better than the circumstances they performed
• I was pleased with our performance. I played two roles, The mother who loved her children, and the shop owner who despised the family. I felt sympathy for the neighbor who helped my family in the performance even though they were also poor and didn’t have much they could share but still they helped within their means. Even though I played the mean shop owner, I didn’t agree with the way we were treated, and as the mother I felt real love for my children.
• Our performance was about the worst situation a family could be in without any accommodation. I see our lives are better. I played the role of the daughter who was a very poor child with no education or hope
• I became very emotional about the mother’s love in our performance. Because in difficulties the mother always sacrifices herself for her children.

When difficult is your normal, then it’s just a different type of difficult…

Last week was a very deep and insightful week into the reality of these kids lives and their experiences in Saigon working in garment factories, and selling on the streets. Before we started delving into personal experiences we talked with the kids who haven’t been to Saigon yet, to ask if they wanted to go, hands shot up into the air like it was an exciting journey to paradise, when they expressed their reasons, they giggled with childlike innocence and bravery...

• I am ready for hard work, so I am keen to go
• My family is very poor so I can help them if I go to work in Saigon
• I don’t care about working hard, only about earning money

These two workshops have been the most challenging for our team so far, as the kids really opened up their hearts and lives to us. It was not easy to hear and see their stories before us and stay composed. It really woke us up to the fact that these kids have such a high level of resilience as the level of difficulty of their everyday lives far exceeds any of ours. When all you have ever known is 'difficult', then your tolerance of hardship is much higher. The parents of these kids are doing the best they can, living with a lifetime of poverty, day to day survival, hard labour, endless childbirth, and trying to provide enough food for the mouths that depend on them. However the reality is that it is inevitable that these kids will need to work to support their families, its just trying to find the balance between child appropriate working conditions and employees, and still attending school so they have more opportunities in the future to break their cycle of poverty. In casual conversations with the kids they are starting to think about different ways they can help their families locally, so this is a start! Also the children who were at high risk of being trafficked had a total transformation of their belief of working in Saigon...the land of promise, and now have a more informed perspective on the reality of life as a working child in the big city.

Voices of the children in Hai Tien village...

• The trafficker ( Mrs Diep) came to our village looking for children to take to Saigon. She talked with us, telling us how wonderful Saigon was, it sounded like a paradise. She told us that we could save 3 million VND in one year, and then if we were good we could get a salary increase. A group of us went together.
• Some kids had to convince their parents, but some parents thought it was a good idea because they couldn’t afford to keep their children.
• With Mrs Diep, they were split into two groups.
• We had to change our body clock because we would work all night selling flowers
• My sister and I had a really hard time, if we didn’t make enough money they were beaten, they would pull their hair and hit them with a broom. When we were on the street selling flowers we were monitored by people on motorbikes, who would order us around.
• But the other girls in the group said that they were treated well and their boss was a nice person.
• There was one school, like a centre to help children. The girls saw that the children there were in very poor condition, but they asked their boss if they could attend some classes at the school. The boss agreed and they used to attend 3 morning classes/ week to join in with activities, etc. ( I think it was free because it was a child help centre)
• They were mainly very homesick
• On the first day they arrived, the food was very good and they were very excited to be in such a beautiful and amazing place like Saigon, but as time progressed the food became very poor.
• It turned from paradise to hell very quickly
• One of the girls said they went on a trip to Nha Trang for 3 days and also to Vung Tau, so she thought that it was ok working for these people

.

Closing Circle Reflections about their experiences

• Working in Saigon at such a young age requires a lot of energy to work like that. And then you miss out on going to school and remain or become illiterate.
• I can say for sure that the employers are exploiting the children
• Before we did the performances, I was very curious to work in Saigon, but now I see the reality that it is very difficult
• I also agree with Uyen, that I was very excited and curious about working in Saigon, but now I see it is important to encourage kids to stay at home and school and to build and follow their dreams
• From the performances, I see that the children have to work very hard, there is poor nutrition for them, the trafficking is criminal activity, and the employers are exploiting the children.

Voices of the children from Phuong Dien Village..

What was the reality once you were working in Saigon?

• Working hours were difficult, but we were treated normal ( What does ‘normal’ mean? )
• I was insulted and beaten when I was absentminded, or daydreaming while I was working
• It was difficult

How did you know about working in Saigon?

• All of the kids already have older brothers and sisters working there.
• Some went by their own decision
• One boy was forced to go by his mother
• Parents told them to go

Why did you go?

• Because of poverty, I am only at my house not doing anything, so my parents told me to be useful and do something, so I went to Saigon
• I didn’t want to go but my mother pushed me to go
• My parents said “ You are useless here, we can not afford you”
• My mother didn’t make me go, although she couldn’t afford to keep me but she said she would try her best, so I went by my own decision.
• I feel I have a responsibility to earn money to take care of my siblings so they can go to school, that is why I went.

Closing Circle Reflections about their experiences

• Our parents don't understand the difficulties children suffer and the hard work we had to do
  
• The employers in Saigon have no conscience, they fight and beat the kids and insult them
• The employer they acted was a little bit kinder than the real employers I have worked for. In reality they are very cruel. They treated us like animals, beat us whenever they liked. Both of my employers exploited me.
• After observing the performances, I no longer want to go to Saigon to work. I see it’s a hard life and it is not the same as my expectations.
• There is no other option but for our parents to send us to Saigon because their daily reality is very hard
• Because I made my own decision to go to Saigon, when I came back I had no sympathy from my parents, they said “ well, that’s your fault, we tried to prevent you from going but you didn’t listen”
• I went by my own decision, and I regretted my decision once I was there. The employer was so cruel and I have heard a lot of terrible stories about other employers.
• If someone asked me to get in a car to go to Saigon now, I would say NO
• I still think its my fault and I regret making my parents upset
  

We love a challenge!

Counterbalances, Acrobalance and Physical Theatre left us with dirty footprints on our backs, sweat drenched clothes and very very happy hearts. This week we challenged the kids with new concepts of working together and relying on each other for support. All the activities involved a lot of trust, risk and surrender, which the kids were all so eager to attempt. The kids not only explored the extension of the body, but also sensations of falling, being lifted, pushing body weight to stabilize new movements, walking over human bridges, moving through the air and working as a team to keep all members safe.


With a new and daring physical language, both groups were able to express scenery, movement, emotion, and magic to create the most wonderfully expressive image theatre on conflict, and also in the re-telling of folk stories. What I love the most is the kids pride after their performances, there are always comments about how they are becoming such good actors and that they are improving with every workshop. This really excites me, as the children are so willing to explore their physical expression as well as their emotional expression to really portray their truths. And all done in such a supportive and encouraging environment. It is incredible to see these kids strive to be stars, it says a lot about their nature and also of their futures if they are able to find suitable opportunities for growth.


We also had a very insightful week into the reality of the kids perspectives about working in Saigon. When asked what was your happiest memory? A few of the kids said "when I was in Saigon". This alerted my little antennaes to look further into the ideas and beliefs about what working in Saigon means for the kids and their families. We specifically talked with the children who haven't been to Saigon yet, but are at high risk of being trafficked. We needed to understand what their perspective was and most of the kids genuinely believe that even though it is difficult work, that it is good to earn money to help their family who are very poor, and they hope that in the future their parents won't have to work as hard. I understand their responsibility and obligation to the well being of their whole to their family, especially that of the eldest child. This was a real eye opener for me as I realised that there are so many contributing factors to the trafficking situation, and that I need to put my western views on hold and really listen to the community about how they want to improve their lives. I look forward to this week when we start to delve deeper into the experiences of the children who have already worked in Saigon, and using their stories to spread awareness of the reality to the children who haven't been yet. I am excited to learn from these kids, of their thoughts and ideas about their current situations and their futures. Stay tuned!!!!


Enjoy the kids feedback:

• I liked the fishing net game, because I like eating fish

• I like acting our family conflicts, because when I mature and get married, I can avoid the problems that we are acting out.

• I love image theatre, I am so impressed by the pictures we can paint with our bodies. We are all excellent painters.

• I liked the group catch and falling activity. It felt great being lifted. It is a risky activity and I like to be challenged. Image theatre taught us how to draw with our bodies

• The fishing net tag is very familiar to our lives, so I really liked it.

• I feel more confident and more brave because of the falling and trust activities.

• I like acting conflict between friends when drunk. It’s a lesson, to not gather when drunk because you can damage your friendship

• I feel relieved that I am able to express the conflict in our families

• I liked acting out the conflicts, because in real life I am always the passive one, but in drama I can play a more powerful and active role and drive the direction of the conflict

• I really liked the bridge activity but I could not pass over the bridge because I am heavy

• I loved the bridge, I crossed the bridge many times, because I cheated he he he

• I liked the folk stories especially the princess character that Viet played, he acted so well

• I really loved the Greek exercise because I want to be a champion to rescue the beautiful girls from the enemy!

• I feel more confident in public now

• People live longer if they laugh a lot, and in drama we laugh a lot, so we will live longer!

• I enjoyed being a king today and having lots of servants

• The singing was my favourite, Khanh has such a gold voice

• To cross the bridge you need to be skillful to keep balance and to use the support from other people

Trust, Team Work, Emotions and Conflict

After a week of introducing drama to these amazing kids, they were pretty sold on the idea of continuing with the program over their summer holidays. Not only to develop a performance for their communities, but also a strong supportive group amongst themselves, have fun developing drama and life skills, and challenge themselves to fulfill their potential. We have established our two groups. In Hai Tien village we have 27 kids, and in in Phuong Dien village we have 16 kids participating in the project. Exciting, exciting!!

Week 2 has taken us on a journey from blindfold trust activities to expressing different emotions through subtle expressions or large exaggerations, playing out scenarios with emotional catalysts, challenging our right brain and left brain through movement, hypnotising each other in lead/ follow exercises, creating beautiful movements and team work as schools of fish, to expressing conflicts from our own lives, and trying to find solutions through play. It feels like I have known these kids for months! The determination of these children to improve their acting skills, life skills and discover new ways of thinking and applying lessons to their lives through drama is incredible.







I have learnt a lot about the children's lives through the conflicts they acted out this week. Some of the children took big risks in acting out some very personal issues in their famlies. The two that stick in my mind and heart both involve alcoholic fathers. And in both situations, the children of these fathers acted as their fathers. This was a very brave step, there were a lot of whispers amongst the audience, identifying the real people behind the characters. But there was also group support and solidarity for the kids whose experience this was.





Through this process, most of the children were relieved to express their problems and realise that there was conflict in everyone's families, between parents, and also amongst siblings. This created a sense of normalisation of the problems, creating a safe base for us to continue delving into the issues in these kids lives. This workshop was very emotional for us as this was the first insight into the reality of these kids lives, besides the data recorded on paper. It is moments like these that makes us want to love them more and more. And its moments like these that inspire us as facilitators to be the best we can be in facilitating this program so the children can exceed their potential.




I'd like to share some of the kids feedback to give you more of a sense of who they are...


I found emotions difficult to express, because if I am feeling very happy and I must act out sadness it is hard to change from my real emotion. Also expressing loneliness was difficult for me
It is easy to distinguish emotions one by one but sometimes, they blend together and are very similar

It was easier to act out real conflicts than situations we are not familiar with

People have different opinions and in life not every conflict can be solved, but by acting out the conflict and then finding a solution, I will be able to use this in life

I was not happy with our performance because we weren’t able to find a solution.

If we look at our own lives we can see many conflicts amongst our siblings and in our families. So in life, I can try to solve these problems

I learnt a lesson from todays performances – Don’t play football on the street, because it is dangerous for pedestrians walking by

I liked the way we gave the solution, by explaining in a soft way to the people in the conflict

I couldn’t act well because in my group people were laughing and couldn’t play the characters seriously

It was easier to perform our own conflicts because we were able to bring the real emotion to the drama

There are lots of problems in life, many are complicated. Some problems can be solved easily but sometimes you have to call the police to help. It is difficult with boys fighting each other because you can’t resolve the problem by talking

It was easier to play our own characters in our real conflicts

The conflict we performed was from my experience, at the time I felt very scared as I was being falsely accused, and I was afraid that people wouldn’t believe me. In the real situation I cried and waited quietly until they found the person who had stolen the thing

When I was acting as a thief I was afraid of being accused by the police man

I was very happy when I can act for 20 mins from real life experience. We performed a conflict we saw last night on the beach. By acting it out we saw the value of friendship, and that if we face our difficulties we will become very tight friends

Its very difficult to control a hot temper in real life, but also in acting it was difficult to control because it felt that we could easily get swept away with the fighting