BRAVE KIDS 2015 20 JUNE 12 JULY P WARSAW 6 EDITION … · (leaders program), Agata Szeliga and...

BRAVE KIDS 2015 6TH

EDITION REPORT

20 JUNE – 12 JULY PRZEMYŚL – PUSZCZYKOWO – WARSAW

WAŁBRZYCH – WROCŁAW – ZAGÓRZE ŚLASK

Brave Kids Report 2015 www.bravekids.eu


DURING THIS EDITION OF BRAVE KIDS WE GATHERED:

113 kids and 22 leaders from 14 countries

19 groups of children in 5 Partner Cities in Poland

159 Host Families and 73 Volunteers in all Partner cities

102 Polish kids in workshops with leaders

27 Major events in the cities (performances, parades, meetings with host families, integration)

3357 Viewers at Polski Theatre final show, all Semifinals in different cities,

Parades and spectacles at Social Centers


THE IDEA

Brave Kids is a platform of dialog for children from all over the world. The project aims to inspire children to imagine a better future for themselves and provide tools to help fulfill their aspirations, using Art as the main medium of education.

During 1 month groups of children from different countries meet in an European city in order to exchange their artistic skills and cultures. The program consists mainly of artistic workshops based on the method "kids teach kids". With the help of facilitators, all international groups teach one another the skills they have developed in lessons, workshops or art classes in their home town. As a result all children need to have particular skills in the art they perform and be ready to teach their skills to other participants of Brave Kids. These skills can be diverse: traditional music and dance, break dance, circus arts, classical music, acrobatics among others.

Brave Kids is a unique educational project dedicated to unite children from different parts of the world in a common creative project. All participants exchange not only their artistic skills, traditions and cultures, but also create the perfect platform for discussing the problems that affect different communities of children around the globe. Since the creation of the project, Brave Kids participants have raised from 15 in 2009 to 113 in 2015!

An important aspect of our project are the local families who volunteer to host the international children and their leaders in their homes. During the first 2 weeks of the project, all participants stay with Polish local families in tandems. The host families provide them with accommodation and food, as well as organize free time. These families are a vital part of the project, giving a practical lesson of intercultural dialogue and learning.

We believe this valuable and exciting artistic process cultivates the emotional and social development f all participants, driving them towards positive transformation in their own lives and, in the long-term, in their communities.

During its 6 edition, the project has had the patronage of: UNESCO, Ombudsman for Children in Poland, (financially support) Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, National Center of Culture, City of Wrocław (and European Capital of Culture), Warsaw, Wałbrzych, Przemyśl and Puszczykowo.


BRAVE KIDS 2015 THROUGH THE WORLD During the sixth of Brave Kids had the pleasure to receive 113 kids from 16 different countries! The biggest Brave Kids since its’ beginning!

Brazil – Mais Caminhos Project Burundi – AREJR Association for Returnee Youth Estonia – Circus Folie Georgia – Caritas India – Rajasthan Folk Society India – Sarvam Foundation Iran – Donya Children’s Research Institute Morocco – Youth Association for Culture and Development Nepal - Rokpa Children’s Home Poland – Culture Practioneers Poland – Song and Dance Group Wałbrzych Poland – Hope4Street Romania – Tismana Village Russia – Rep. Buryatia School nr1 Russia – Mongolfieri Theatre Circus Slovakia – Haliganda Association Ukraine – Community House Zboyischa Ukraine – Sunflower School Theatre Uganda - Speed And Funky Dance / Guija Ting African Art


BRAVE KIDS GROUPS AND PARTNER CITIES 2014 The first stage of Brave Kids 2015 took place in 5 Polish cities: Przemyśl, Puszczykowo, Wałbrzych, Warsaw and Wrocław. At the end of the second week of the project, all groups met together in the same town – Zagórze Śląsk – in order to cooperate in the creation of a common final show. In PRZEMYŚL were hosted 24 children from 4 countries:

- Georgia – Caritas from Tbilisi - Iran – Donya Children’s Research Institute from Tehran - Romania – Tismana Village Foundation - India – Sarvam Foundation from New Delhi

In this city the project was organized by Magdalena Pardel (main coordinator), Hania Trefler (host families coordinator), Marta Winiarczyk (leaders program), Małgorzata Sielska (host families coordinator) and Jolanta Cicińska (volunteers coordinator), in the frame of Foundation of Cultural Exchange toTU toTAM. In PUSZCZYKOWO were hosted 18 children from 3 countries:

- India – Rajasthan Folk Society from Jodhpur - Estonia – Folie Circus from Varbola village - Ukraine – Sunflower School Theatre from Rivne

In the partner city of Puszczykowo the project was organized in cooperation with Mondo Kolektiv Association by Anna Mieszała (main coordinator), Karolina Szymańska (leaders program), Monika Kaczmarek (volunteers coordinator), Monika Rybaczewska and Ania Łuś (host families coordinators). In WAŁBRZYCH were hosted 23 children from 4 countries:

Uganda – Guija Ting African Art / Speed and Funky Dance Academy from Kampala

Russia – Mongolfieri Theatre Circus from St. Petersburg

Morocco – Youth Association for Culture and Development from Taroudant

Poland – Hope4Street from Warsaw In this city, the project was organized in cooperation with EMU Foundation by Magdalena Sawicka (main coordinatior), Agata Mikołajczyk (volunteers coordinator), Katarzyna Niemierowska (host families coordinator) and Aneta Skórnicka (leaders coordinator).


In WARSAW we hosted 24 kids from 4 countries:

Poland (Kirgizstan and Chechnya) – Culture Practitioners from Warsaw

Poland – Song and Dance Folk Group from Walbrzych

Burundi – Center for Returnee Youth from Bujumbura

Nepal – ROKPA Children’s Home from Kathmandu In the Polish capital city the project was organized in cooperation with World Within Reach Foundation by Aleksandra Ośko (main coordinator), Magda Sokołowska (volunteers and host families coordinator), Olga Kulesza (leaders program), Agata Szeliga and Paulina Malinowska-Zielony (local coordinators), Michalina Jarmuż and Kinga Białek (host families training). In WROCŁAW were hosted 24 kids from 4 countries:

Brazil – Project More Paths from Rio de Janeiro

Slovakia – Haliganda Association from Kosice

Russia – Buryatia Republic School nr 1 from Ulan Ude

Ukraine – Zboyisha Community House from Lviv In Wrocław the project is organized by Song of the Goat Theatre Association in Brave Kids headquarters, by Iwona Stankowa (leaders program), Laryssa Kowalczyk (host families coordinator), Justyna Warecka (executive producer), Magdalena Szymańska (project manager), Marta Kochanowicz (volunteers coordinator) and Ana Cordeiro (artist liaison).

On the third and final week of the project all children travel to a town 60 km from Wrocław – Zagórze Śląsk - where the final stage of the artistic creation took place, resulting on a show with elements of the artistic skills, traditions and cultures shared by the international children during the previous weeks of the project..

In ZAGÓRZE ŚLĄSK we hosted all Brave Kids participants: 113 kids from 19 groups and 14 countries!


BRAVE KIDS IN NUMBERS During the weeks of Brave Kids when all participants (children and their leaders) were in Poland, we made an effort to collect information that could help us improve the program in future editions. Bellow, you will find some results from the data found in these questionnaires given to the children during their final days in the project.

Similarly to other editions, we tried to guarantee balance between the ages and the genders of child participants. However, considering genders, every year there is the same tendency to have more female than male participants. In 2015, almost two thirds of participants were girls (62%). We believe this tendency might be related with the fact that boys are more attracted to sport events than cultural ones all around the globe, therefore, making it worth to think of including the aspect of sports into our project.

In relation to ages, as a rule, we invite children between 8 and 14 years of age. Nevertheless, we also accept teenagers amongst the groups with the condition that they cannot be the majority (14% of participants, this year). As you can see in the graphic bellow, the great majority of participants are within a age range 11-13 years of age (60%), and more than ¾ of the participants between 8 and 14 years.

Another goal of Brave Kids is to give the opportunity of participating to the biggest number of children possible. In this way, every year we try to bring new participants, and limit the ones that have participated in previous editions. This year, only 5 kids in 113 participated in previous editions of the project (4%).

The participants of Brave Kids are all children and youth who practice some form of artistic competences as a tool to make a change in their local social environment, to explore and learn new forms of art, or to discover their own culture and artistic potential. This year, from the 19 groups that took part in the project, the great majority – 15 groups – worked on performances related with the specific culture of their country, their traditional music and dances. The four groups remaining practiced circus arts (2), breakdance (1), and theatre (1). However, besides the general artistic categories in the graphic, some of the groups had diversified performances, compiling not only aspects of their traditional culture but also: breakdance, beat boxing and tap dancing (Uganda), drawing and painting (produced during the performances, Ukraine/Lviv) and singing (Urkaine/Rivne, Burundi, Slovakia, among others).


In order to understand the participant’s view on the project, an multiple question evaluation questionnaire was produced and delivered to each child. The questionnaires were filled in with the support of the team leaders. As this documents were distributed on a very stressfull day, close to the final show and departure of some teams, we were only able to collect data from 13 of the 19 participating countries. Nevertheless, some curious and interesting information can be taken from the results.

Amongst the issues covered, there were thoughts on the definition and understanding of what is the project, biggest cultural differences, most exciting things, hosting conditions (food, host family and conditions in the houses, workshop rooms and hostel), artistic skills, social and cultural achievements, biggest challenge in preparation and during the project and plans for the future.

When asked about the definition of the project, practically one fourth of the answers states that “Brave Kids is a meeting of children from different parts of the world who learn (from) and teach each other”. Based on the following majority of answers we can state that the participants share competences and create artistic performances related to their culture, and in particular, their traditions (“learn about different cultures” 21%, “share their traditions”20% and “create performances” 19%).

“Hospitality of people” and “people are more friendly” were voted the strangest things about Poland (in this case, we belive it can be analysed as “the most surprising”). Therefore, it can be curious to notice that although hospitality and friendliness is mentioned mostly by groups from outside of Europe (Burundi, Morocco, Uganda and Iran) two European countries - Ukraine (Lviv) and Romania – were also (hapily, we hope) surprised.

Not so surprising is the fact that food was voted the strangest by 6 Burundians, 4 Nepalese and 4 Brazilian children, who probably had the biggest gastronomic difference. Another interesting factor is that for Iran, India (New Delhi) and Brazil, the time (or schedule) when the group would have their meals was also different than expected.


According to the questionnaires, the most exciting aspect of the project was meeting all the children and having workshops with them (38% of answers). In addition, we are proud to confirm that the second place for exiting features of the project was “living with host families”, with 17% of replies. Especially for India (New Delhi) and Burundi (6/6 answers), and Ukraine (Lviv) and Brazil (5/6 answers).

As a funny aspect, you can notice that food was the least voted exciting thing in the project, nevertheless being voted an exciting thing by 2 children from Brazil and 1 from Estonia!

Another aspect we chose to look into were the challenges faced by the children before and during the project, and what goals the children had for the future, after their return home (3 graphics presented on the next page).

For the groups from India (New Delhi) and Nepal, the biggest challenge before the project was the “preparation of documents” that allow the group to travel to Europe. In relation to Nepal, we can assume that in part, this difficulty was due to the recent earthquaque that shook Nepal in April and, along with so many other difficulties, delayed all bureoucratic processes. In addition there is the fact that, although all children live in Kathmandu, some of their relatives (from which they needed documents) are living in villages with difficult or limited access.

In the case of the Indian group, the children needed to start the process by making their passports, which was not an easy task for some of their families. In a particular case, for example, this expensive and complicated process was made more difficult because the parents of a girl emigrated from Nepal decades ago, and although she was born in India, ofically she has Nepalese nationality. It is also interesting to notice that the group from Uganda did not choose “preparing documents” as one of their biggest challenges (only 1 vote), even though they had to travel to a different country for visa application.

“Fear of travel” was a challenge mentioned the most by groups that came from the furthest locations (Brazil, India, Iran, Nepal and Uganda) with two exceptions (Romania and Ukraine). The only challenge mentioned by 5 members of the group from India (from New Delhi) was “travelling for a long time”.This group travelled for aproximately 15 hours, departing from New Delhi to Warsaw (with a stop in Moscow) and after had waiting for them a trip by bus to Przemyśl, which alone lasted for about 5-6 hours. Nevertheless, the “winner” of the longest trip for this year, was the group from Russia, from the Buryatia Republic. Their trip from Ulan Ude to Wrocław took 3 days all together. Therefore, it is curious to notice that no one from this brave group chose travelling for a long time as a challenge! On their opinion, speaking in english was a bigger challenge then their trip.

In relation to the choice of participants for brave kids, it becomes clear that the group that faced the biggest challenge in the choice of participants was Brazil. Is it important to mentioned that in this group the children were chosen not only for their attendance in artistic workshops or social background, but also with attention to their performance in school.

Based on all data, it becomes aparent that english language (or learning this language) is an important aspect that children regognize. 23% of participants chose “learning english” as challenge they faced before the project, and 14% chose “speaking english” as a challenge during the project. In addition, the language element emerges again as a goal for after the project, with 18% of participants chosing “learning new languages” as an goal for the future.


The volunteer force of Brave Kids project seems to be the most valuable aspect for the participants. It seems uncommon for people to give their time and open their houses for no other reward then to spend time with different people. Yet, we are happily surprised every year with the amount of people ready to share part of their lives with complete strangers. Every year international children fall in love with polish families and families with them, sometimes creating bonds that will last a life time.

On the other side of the scale, the least exciting aspect of the project is the food. As organizers, we always work towards providing the best possible quality of food for our participants. Nevertheless, we focus on the cultural aspect of the project, and want to give children the opportunity to taste the real Polish flavors which, sometimes, are very different and new to our participants. As we hope to give children a taste of Polish food, we always encourage groups to bring their own recipes in order to give their host families the same opportunity – to taste typical dishes from their home countries. We hope that food can also be part of this rich cultural exchange.

When asked to reflect over the learning outcomes approximately one third of participants highlighted the cultural aspect of the project (32%). Respecting and learning about different cultures was for participants the most palpable opportunity they had during Brave Kids.

During 3 weeks of workshops, communicating without language was a challenge experienced by all children, facilitators, volunteers and staff. According to our questionnaire, 13% of children identified non verbal communication as a learned skill. Therefore, it is interesting to consider the results from previous questions concerning challenges. There, we can see a number of participants identifying English language as a challenge and/or learning as a goal. Although a strong need to learn English as the common language seems to be a concern for most participants, during the project they did not let this limitation stop them, using other tools for communication. In every edition we are amazed at the fact that people that cannot apparently communicate verbally are nonetheless able to exchange complex skills (like dance moves, scene planning or music).

One third of answers can also be related with teaching (“teach my own skills”, “open myself to learn and teach” and “respect teachers”, with a total of 34%). During the project, participants have the opportunity to be both students and teachers of artistic skills, having a deep and strong influence in the final results of the project, especially in what concerns the Final Show. Children are able to teach what they are proud of, but also to learn elements of the culture of someone else that they personally find interesting. It is interesting to see in different editions of Brave Kids, that each final show incorporates in itself the specific energy of the group of children in Poland at that time.


ORGANIZATIONAL COSTS OF BRAVE KIDS 2015

Brave Kids Project would not have been possible without the precious help of all our patrons, sponsors and donors. Partners from around the world had the generosity to contribute in order to bring this amazing groups of 113 international children to our project. We are profoundly grateful for your help in making Brave Kids happen!

We give special thanks to the teams from Iran, Russia (Buryatia Republic), Estonia, Poland (Wałbrzych), Slovakia and Brazil, for their vital contribution to the costs of international travel and Uganda, India (from New Delhi and Jodhpur), Morocco and Burundi, for their amazing (in some cases international) quests for Visas.

Nonetheless, all groups without exception contributed within their possibilities to the costs of necessary documents for travelling, transportation to embassies for visa application, doctors appointments, and many other logistic processes.

To sum up, in general 87% of the costs were covered with the support of Brave Kids project’s Sponsors and Partners and 12% of costs were covered by the group’s sponsors, private donors and returns from the tickets of the Final Show.

One vital information not showed in the graphics is the moral support and cheering given by host families, volunteers, families of all participants, organizations abroad, and partners all over the world - Without which this project would not have had the same energy and meaning!


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful for the contribution of all people involved in this extraordinary sixth edition of the Brave Kids Project. We believe it presented a beautiful picture of what this project is about – a united voice of children, that can stand as one, no matter where they come from and what their background’s are.

THANK YOU!

All Organizers in different cities: (Przemyśl) Magdalena Pardel, Hania Trefler, Marta Winiarczyk, Małgorzata Sielska, Jolanta Cicińska, (Puszczykowo) Anna Mieszała, Karolina Szymańska, Monika Kaczmarek, Monika Rybaczewska, Ania Łuś, (Wałbrzych) Magdalena Sawicka, Agata Mikołajczyk, Katarzyna Niemierowska, Aneta Skórnicka, (Warsaw) Aleksandra Ośko, Magda Sokołowska, Olga Kulesza, Agata Szeliga, Paulina Malinowska-Zielony, Michalina Jarmuż, Kinga Białek, (Wrocław) Iwona Stankowa, Laryssa Kowalczyk, Justyna Warecka, Magdalena Szymańska, Marta Kochanowicz, Ana Cordeiro.

All Volunteers that supported the Brave Kids during artistic workshops for children and preparing artistic workshops for leaders in our 5 partner cities and in the final gathering in Zagórze Śląsk!

To the nurse Halina Potera for her support caring for the health of all children in Zagórze Śląsk.

Big thanks to Brave Kids Host Families – people who decided to devote their time and space in their own house for two weeks to get to know other human beings. Thanks to these host families Brave Kids has a deeper meaning and starts to live its own life!

The present fifth edition of Brave Kids would not have been be successful without the engagement of Group Leaders: Tsytsygma Anandaeva Emerson Horacio Pedro Virginia Martins Tetiana Popovych Arezou Ali Anju Nepali Désiré Nsengiyumva

Sylwia Sałamaj Dominika Michalska Gaili Ilisson Kayum Khan Iryna Pukas Larisa Markina Ania Szmid

Patrick Sserugo Rachid Wahid Nehha Bhatnagar Shikha Walia Jimi Chachkhalia Roman Sorger Zuzana Palkova

Their ideas and work ultimately brought these children to Wroclaw, Puszczykowo, Warsaw, Wałbrzych, Przemyśl and Zagórze Śląsk. Thank you for your huge effort during the weeks that preceded the project and for the daily care devoted to the children! Big applause for your courage and confidence in Brave Kids project, and the willingness to be with us during this time!

BRAVE KIDS 2015 20 JUNE 12 JULY P WARSAW 6 EDITION … · (leaders program), Agata Szeliga and...

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