After such an incredible final performance and also the most amazing 11 weeks together, ending the program and saying good bye to the kids was something none of us were looking forward too. However on the 18th August they all head back to school, so our timing was perfect. These children have taught me so much about compassion, understanding, family, courage, responsibility and true joy! Just thinking of their faces as I write this brings tears to my eyes.
The Right to Shine really touched the hearts and lives of these children and their communities, and I am so grateful to have been a part of that process.On my last day with kids from both the villages, I witnessed a new sense of self and confidence amongst the kids. And also, a closeness amongst all the members of the group, this program really connected people to people and created an indepth understanding of each other. This has given them a new courage to embark on their journey's regardless of their daily difficulties.
Our final workshop with each other was truly beautiful. After 4 weeks of performance creation and rehearsals, the kids got to freely explore their creativity and imaginations again with a couple of drama games. They were over the moon! The kids also got to watch themselves perform on DVD, and received certificates of participation, photo albums of their 'Right to Shine' journey, and a special note from Linh, Nam and I telling them the things we love about them. Watching the kids faces as they looked through their personalised albums and reading their special notes was so beautiful. I am sure they will cherish them for a long while to come, just as I will cherish this incredible opportunity to bring joy to the lives of such precious children.
Admiring their performance
Sharing memories
Nothing like a good dance to distract us from our tears!
We are so proud of you!
Phuong Dien kids:
What does this program mean to you? What is one thing that you learnt that you can apply in your life?
- This program has been very meaningful. I have become very confident and now when I go out I have the feeling of a movie star.
- This has been very meaningful, it has brought the opportunity to shine like movie stars. I have learnt confidence.
- This program is very useful. It can prevent us from going to
- I have been able to improve my English and it has helped me to be confident in front of people.
- I am confident on stage so now I can express my real feelings.
- Now I can act on stage and have confidence within myself.
- I am confident in public now.
- My parents won’t send me to
- I am no longer embarrassed in front of people, I used to be very nervous.
- When we gather here it is a good place to play in the shade. Now I am confident to act without laughter.
- This program has brought me a very nice time with my friends, and now I am no longer nervous on stage.
A hysterical hairdresser scene!
They were so happy to improvise again
Watching their performance, drew a crowd!
Our final group circle
They all deserve a BIG clap!
Hai Tien Kids:
What does this program mean to you? What is one thing that you learnt that you can apply in your life?
- I learnt a lot form this program. Before I used to want to go to
- This was a very interesting program.
- This summer program has been so interesting, fun and filled with a lot of joy. One of the things I learnt was that I need to continue to go to school, to keep my dreams alive and believe they are possible, and to be a good citizen of the country.
- I am so grateful to
- I am very grateful to
- I love drama
- For me, this has been a very useful program
- I learned from the performance to be careful who you trust, because bad people can hurt you.
- I am so grateful to
- Apart from what I said in my speech at the performance, this program has been so exciting for me, with lots of fun games. I will share these games with my friends at school so it can also bring them the same joy. All the different situations we were given to improvise and think about has taught me how to best react in many situations.
- This program brought a lot of fun games and we got to know each other very well. I now am confident on stage and it helped the kids in Hai Tien to be famous.
- The program brings so much happiness to me. I really loved my character and felt that I was successful in my role and I will do it again.
- I am so sad to end this program. The joy in my life is my friends, Skye and Linh in this program. So I will miss Skye and Linh very much.
- I never thought that we ( us trafficked kids) would have the chance to be on stage. This 3 month program brought us to the stage.
- The program has brought a lot of joy to me and has lifted me up.
- This has been a very meaningful program and I understand more about drama.
- I am so happy with
- This program has created joy and friendship for me. And I am so sad when it ends. Hopefully Linh, Skye and
- This program has been very useful because it has connected kids to kids. I hope in the future we will have many wonderful programs like this.
- I understand more about drama, and I am very sad to say goodbye.
- I learned a lot about drama, Skye taught me a lot. I am very sad when you leave.
- You have changed a lot of things here, I am very sad when you leave.
- I am happy with the program and sad without it.
- I learned a lot from this program and I don’t want to go to
- I don’t want to go to
- I learnt a lot from this program, now I have become more careful about strangers.
- In the performance, you put the chracters from life, so I learnt a lot from the performance
- I am very sad when you leave. The lesson for me is to me a loving human being, and don’t be cruel.
I would like to give a big thankyou to everyone who has supported this program in some shape or form, especially Blue Dragon Children's Foundation, The Red Cross, ArtAction and Nadine Ziegeldorf. I also need to give a very special thanks to Linh and Nam who have been the most incredible team I could have ever asked for. Throughout this whole program, they have shown immense care, love, compassion and support to all the children in the program, and to me. If it wasn't for all of their efforts, this program would not have been possible. So I thank them from the bottom of my heart for working so tirelessly with their hard core Aussie Team Leader. I send them all of my love as they continue to work with the daily issues and lives of these incredible children and their families. If anyone would like to support these children further through the 'Safe and Sound' program, please contact Blue Dragon Children's Foundation www.bdcf.org
Linh and Nam
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