The Kumari Project's program teaches empathy by using theater to help kids understand others' perspectives and become effective, collaborative leaders.

Problem

Recent political unrest has caused the number of orphans to spike in the Kathmandu Valley. Adoptions have been halted for years due to growing coercion, trafficking, and corruption of orphans. The number of orphans is increasing as resources are dwindling. Girls are especially vulnerable. Orphanages are mis-managed and under-funded. Often girls and boys at orphanages report being discriminated against in class for being poor or from a certain caste, blamed for stealing things just because they are poor, picked on by teachers for unpaid tuition, and being told they are inferior because they do not have what is considered a ‘traditional’ family. This, of course, adversely impacts their ability to learn and their chances of becoming confident, community leaders.

Solution

Theater is essentially the art of empathy. One literally embodies another character to tell their story. Theater is also play, so it a perfect tool with which to engage children to learn and practice empathy, collaboration, leadership, and improvise to problem solve. By teaching empathy through participatory theater to orphans, we can build confidence and empathy skills that will empower orphans in the face of injustice. By extending our empathy-focused theater curriculum to school children who are peers of orphans, we can cultivate cultural sensitivity and understanding, practice active listening, and develop the psychological skills of putting ourselves in another person’s shoes to understand their worldview. The workshops will consist of highly interactive workshops in writing, discussing, and playing improvisational theater games. The youth would create and perform theater scenes centered on topics of discrimination, allowing them to build and utilize empathy skills.

Example

In the process of developing and performing theater in these workshops, participants will develop the abilities to problem solve on their feet, understand other people’s motivations through character analysis, listen, cooperate, build confidence, and, most importantly, develop their ability to empathize. We will excite and educate participants using simple, fun theater games. Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed envisions theater as a place to practice new ways of thinking that actors can then incorporate into real life. We will use scenarios that address discrimination and bullying based on ethnicity, wealth, family status, etc. The students will improvise different scenarios, experiment with different endings, and use question and answer sessions to understand the motivations of each of the characters. They can then use what they have learned to collectively problem solve and enact the solution. There will also be a strong writing component based on personal exploration. Participants will begin by writing monologues about themselves. They will also interview a peer and write a monologue from that person’s point of view. Then, the children will write their own short scenes about a conflict and its resolution. Participants will sign up as directors and actors. In rehearsal, we will play, practice, and discuss how to embody the characters physically and mentally. How does the character move? If they are egotistical, how do they walk? If they are insecure, how do they behave? What is causing them to do this in the scene? Finally, they will perform their scenes. Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?

Marketplace

There do not seem to be any NGOs in Nepal with children focusing on building empathy based on difference. We hope to set a precedent for this kind of work in Nepal in other areas of discrimination (such as gender, lifestyle, etc). One group in Kathmandu is doing social justice street theater about relevant social issues. They, I believe, would be a potential partner, as we could collaborate to give children training with actors from their company, and perhaps partner to increase the sustainability of and expand the vision of both our projects. Furthermore, this program is unique to social activist theater programs, which work with adults, not children, and use theater to promote a message, rather than using the process of creating theater to teach participants empathy.