Beautiful Expression-Beautiful Change
Beautiful nonviolent expression through theatre, arts and culture against ugliness of occupation and violence, break the stereotypes, show another image of Palestinian people
About You
Location
Project Street Address
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Your idea
Year the initative began (yyyy)
1998
Project URL (include http://)
Plot your innovation within the mosaic of solutions
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Culture/environment of conflict exposes and enlists young men in violence
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Create credible choices and opportunities
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic:
This field has not been completed
Name Your Project
Beautiful Expression-Beautiful Change
Describe Your Idea
Beautiful nonviolent expression through theatre, arts and culture against ugliness of occupation and violence, break the stereotypes, show another image of Palestinian people
Innovation
Describe your program or new idea in one sentence.
Beautiful nonviolent expression through theatre, arts and culture against ugliness of occupation and violence, break the stereotypes, show another image of Palestinian people
What makes your initiative uniquely positioned to create change in your community?
Alrowwad was the first to initiate Beautiful Non-violent Resistance in a palestinian refugee camp as a way to offer to children and young people to express themselves independently of political or religious affiliations to find the peace within, to defend their humanity, break the stereotypes, and resist the temptation to respond to violence by violence.
Describe how you organize and carry out your work?
Alrowwad is open to public free of charge. We contact parents, schools, and children and young people , publicize for activities and new programs in theatre, dance, choir, photography, video, sports as well as computer training and educational courses. Yongmen/women and chhildren are divided in groups and follow up training sessions 2-3 times a week with qualified trainers in the different domains. At the end of the training periods, their artistic production is performed or exhibited, and that goes on.
What is your plan to scale and expand your innovation into your community and beyond?
Alrowwad has started with Aida camp and the neighbouring areas. Actually Alrowwad has partnerships with 7 refugee camps, 2 villages and expanding on international level as well. In the coming 2 years, alrowwad hopes to partner with the 19 refugee camps in the West Bank, and start with other refugee camps in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Alrowwad has also performed in more than 60 French cities and villages, 5 Belgian cities, 5 states in the USA, and in Egypt. In 2007, Alrowwad theatre, dance and clowns troops have performed in more than 20 Palestinian villages, cities and refugee camps.
What other resources, institutional, or policy needs would be necessary to help sustain and scale up your idea?
Alrowwad actually is working to raise funds to build a perfroming and visual arts training of trainers center, which shall host trainees from different villages, camps and cities in Palestine and elsewhere hopefully. SO funding for the purchase of land, building, and human resources capacity building + employement of additional trainees is needed. A partnership with national and international theatre groups and universities in performing and visual arts, as well as the Palestinian Ministry of information is also in process to create a professional training diploma to be delivered for trainees.
Impact
Describe your impact in one sentence, commenting on both the individual and community levels.
Capacity building of human resources in non-violent art means a way of resistance and a mean to decrease violence within the community, and break stereotypes
What impact has your work achieved to date?
Alrowwad has performed in Sweden, Denmark, France, Belgium, USA and Egypt. It has also performed theatre, Dance and choir and clown shows in the West Bank. It has partnered with more thank 7 Palestinian refugee camps up to date. About 3000 to 5000 children/young men, 400-600 adults benefit from its activities. It has created the first free Supportive educational program for chilren in difficulty in the West Bank, the First Out Door Movie Festival in Palestine, the First professional Video-Photo training program for 2 years in a refugee camp in Palestine, and the first fitness program for women and girls in a refugee camp.
Number of individuals served
Direct Beneficiaries: Children/young men: 3000-5000 yearly
Adults: 400-600 Yealry
Photo/video training: 60 people
Supportive education program: 300 Children weekly
Community impact
Despite the continuous violence by the Isralei soldiers on the population of Aida camp which surrounded by the separation wall on 3 sides, Alrowwad has managed to partner with schools, and families to work on a long term partnership and gradual change within the community. Its theatre, dance, and clown groups have created a big impact within the community and wherever performed internationally. Alrowwad manage to rapproche the gap between families and their children, breaking the lonliness and the isolation into a community spirit newly refound after all the hardshhips that the camp passed through. Alrowwad has managed to gain respect and confidence by the community, where girls and boys perform together in such a conservative community. One of th emost important impacts is the self-confidence that children and mothers start to have, and their use of less violence than their communications and behaviour with others.
Society at large
Alrowwad performances and non-violent message have gained an international reputation and managed to break the stereotyped images about the Palestinian children and people. It has shown another image that is not shown usually by the media about palestinian children. Alrowwad national tour in the West Bank, in 16 refugee camps, villages and cities have created a huge impact and encouragement for others to do the same, where about 6000 people have seen the performances
What measure do you use to gauge your impact and why?
We have a psycho-social follow up with the children and families to follow up the bahviour as well as academic follow up, meetings monthly with parents and teachers, and on weekly basis with children/young men and families in difficulties.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative currently being financed and how would you finance further expansion and/or replication?
It is difficult to speak about sustanability in a cultural and artistic domains where 70% of population are unemployed and about 60% are under poverty level. However, Alrowwad has managed through the friends of Alrowwad and projects through different organization to support some of its activities and programs. In additions, selling video productions and photos produced by the training generates soem income. Alrowwad launches a fundraising campain, and presents projects for new building, and contact potential partners for the creation of the performing and visual arts training for trainers center. THe human resources power through a spirit of volunteerism is a big plus in the work of Alrowwad based on social entrepreneurship.
Provide information on your current finances and organization:
Alrowwad status in 2007:
Budget: around 260,000 US$, Revenues: about 10,000 US$ (Selling products, membership fees)
Staff: Full timers: 14, part timers: 6, volunteers: 21
Who are your potential partners and allies?
We have local and international partners. In Palestine we partner with schools, kindergardens, ministry of culture, ministry of Information and education as well as other artistic, theatre and cultural centers which work in the same domain. We are also partners with UNRWA on many activities and programs.
On international level, we have also the Firends of Alrowwad association in France, Belgium, Switzerland, UK and USA. We are member of AnnaLindh foundation, as well as Ashoka.
Who are your potential investors?
Ashoka, Nike, Friends of Alrowwad, Hoping foundation-UK, UNRWA
There are also private investors.
The Story
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
The origin of the innovation came from the need in Aida camp to have a safe place where children and youngmen could find a peaceful mean of expression rather than becoming a number on a list of martyrs, handicapped or imprisonned.
I am holder of a doctorate in Biological and Medical Engineering/ When I was a child and till I finished my BSC I was a football player, table tennis player, head of the cultural and artistic committee in the youth center in the camp. I was also painter, poet, and actor. I got a scholarship to continue my studies in France, while doing my Master and PhD in Biological and Medical Engineering, I continued to follow up painting and theatre as actor, playwright and Director. I came back home after 9 years in France and founded Alrowwad Cultural and Theatre center in 1998 in Aida camp with some friends, as a way to defend our humanity and break the stereotypes diffused in the media about my people representing them as violent and terrorists, and a way to offer our children a peaceful and nonviolent way of expression and I called it “Beautiful nonviolent resistance”. My main concern in the children and women place in the society had led me in 2005 to quit my paying job as professor in Bethlehem University and Head of Microbiology lab in a Palestinian Pharmaceutical Company to volunteer in Alrowwad for 2 years before having been elected as first Ashoka Fellow in Palestine.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material.
Born in 1963 in AIda refugee camp in Bethlehem. Bsc in Biology at Bethlehem University an dthen Master and PhD in France in Biological and Medical Engineering. Playwright, Poet, Painter, Actor and director. Worked as Assistant professor in Bethlehem University and as Head of Microbiology in Beit Jala Pharmaceuticals company since 1994 until 2005.
See attached CV for more details. Elected as distinguished volunteer in 2004 By Sharek-UNDP initiative.
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Comments
Hello Abed, It was great to meet you last week! In the "origin of the innovation" section you mention that your innovation came from the need for a safe space in the Aida camp. Could you address this in the entry form more specifically as one of the key impacts? Could you share a story of how your cultural and theater center has impacted someone's life? Lastly, do you specifically do outreach to young men at risk? Thank you for your response.
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
Hi Dana
It was great to see you as well and have a time at Ashoka's office
I think that Alrowwad space availability to everyone in the camp as an alternative to the street, where most violences happen in terms of children and youngmen fighting each other, or in relation to frequent Israeli incursions in the camp, and the violent confrontations that happen between young men and Israeli soldiers make it a safe place of empworment for them with a great impact to find the peace within and express themselves in most non-violent means.
One of the stories is a bout a young man, who was completely closed within himself, and didn't want to interact with others, always shy and intimated. He has been in the theatre and dance program since 1998, and he is actually a 2nd year student in biology at the university... he is a permanent volunteer in alrowwad and trainer for younger children. Another young man was continuously quarelling with others, beating them, steals things, destroying public properties, revolted against everything. We involved him in supportive education, with psychological follow up, and in drawing lessons... he needed a lot of attention, and now he is completely a different young man.
Other girls who were with us since more than 10 years now, are actually board members in Alrowwad.
We do a lot of outreach work with young men at risk, workshops, and awareness campains. Mostly we use theatre, photography and video with them. SOme of them now see photography or video as mission of their life... they have sen how their work was valued and people liked it. A group have done aslo a video about drug addicts in a step to launch a drug awareness campain as well in schools.
I do hope that clarifies things for you. I am of course available for any further expalnations
First, I truly am drawn to the name of your innovation, "Beautiful Expression-Beautiful Change". The arts are POSITIVELY healing/transformative! I just am always so inspired to learn about work such as yours on the other side of the globe that parallells soooo much that's happening in the streets of Washington, DC. It's just AMAZING! ...truly a testimony to a shared "human condition".
Thank you for this gift of "Beautiful Expression- Beautiful Change" . Please visit our website, www.lifepieces.org to learn about how we use the arts in "safe places" to awaken our young men and boys to a sense of purpose in Washington, DC.
I am DEFINITELY interested in learning more about your work as well.
In Peace
Mary Brown
Life Pieces To Masterpieces
Thank you kindly for your message. I believe that we share so much everywhere... Arts are such amazing tools and ways that shows what beauty and humanity we have inside everyone of us, and illuminates us in the darkness of injustice, ignorance and intolerance...
When we tour in different countires, I usually take my young people to go in difficult neighborhood, to show them they are not alone in their struggle to have their rights and justice... Our main problem is Israeli occupation, but even in "rich countries", and "free countires" a lot of children, young people and adults do not have their rights, their health insurance, their homes... our way to break also the stereotypes and share with others... Arts make people closer to each other... they are like love, show to us the beauty of those who we love and mask everything else.
I looked at your website, and I do admire the work and achievements... I look forward as well to seek possibilities for partnership or exchanges
love an dpeace
Abdelfattah Abusrour
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