BackPact
In Nepal, children learn by rote and there are limited opportunities for them to be artistic or creative. As part of a group of volunteers, we want you to inject a big helping of creativity and fun into village schools. From school to school, we want you to hold workshops and introduce drama, music and dance to Nepali children who would otherwise have limited opportunities to be creative.
From school to school, we want you to hold workshops and make drama; music and dance accessible to Nepali children who would otherwise not have the chance to be creative. The aim of these short workshops is to increase the children’s self-confidence and develop their language skills through theatre games and song.
What can I do?
Backpact is a group project and requires 3- 6 members to be successful. Depending on the length of your stay in Nepal, you will be expected to tour a number of schools and hold workshops that last several days each time.
Your theatre workshop will provide an environment in which we hope the children will get a taste of speaking and performing in front of an audience. The main educational benefit for the children will be in providing them with an opportunity to converse and interact with English speakers.
Typically, your group will begin with a number of theatre games allowing the pupils to relax and so feel more confident; you can then introduce the more challenging drama games and improvisations in the afternoon.
We also recommend that you divide the class in four and work in smaller, more specialised groups enabling you to give more attention to each child. The children will then proceed to rotate the different workshops, which will individually focus on, body, music, voice and contemporary dance. You shall then progress to some more serious exercises in which they will be encouraged to engage in role-play exploring issues prevalent in their communities.
The next day you can divide the children into eight even smaller groups led by one actor. Each of the groups will prepare a simple piece of theatre or song, and the afternoon will conclude with each group performing in front of their classmates. You are also encouraged to devise a short piece of theatre; this will be a way of rounding off each session and will act as a way of expressing your thanks at being allowed to visit the school community.
We hope that your theatre workshops will provide an environment in which the children will get a taste of speaking and performing in front of an audience.
Make a fundraising page
If it helps, you can make your own fundraising page with Justgiving and raise funds for your project.
