School of Comedy and Mime
The School of Comedy and Mime is an innovative project to educate young people of Granada who are in precarious family situations where poverty, drug abuse, physical/sexual abuse, gangs and other criminal activity are an unfortunate part of daily life.
Through theatre, clowning, mime and circus skills students will discover how to respect themselves and others when taught that they can make a living through this art.
Physical abuse of the children, who are a part of the marginal economic class, is a major concern of our program. It often starts at the immediate family level where living in one house often ranges from 6 to 15+ people. As a result, many children are forced to leave school and to work long hours. So access to education, vocational/professional education, sports, technical, art, and other activities is almost nonexistent for the poor in Nicaragua.
The lack of alternatives for social and personal achievement contributes to the serious risks for young people who are completely surrounded by a world of drugs, violence and crime. Therefore, there is a need for alternatives that pay attention to this problem. The “School of Comedy and Mime” considers itself an interdisciplinary and inter-institutional agency that meets these needs.
The program offers the students an opportunity to receive a qualified education through academic/artistic training. More importantly, the aim of the school is to give kids a newer, healthier perspective that will improve their lives and pave a road for a secure future. The program focuses on teaching skills that will prepare them to earn an income and strengthen their confidence to accomplish tasks that they previously thought were impossible.
The program also promotes an ambience that fosters confidence building in young people who normally have little self-esteem. This encourages them to develop a critical attitude enabling them to interpret, think, create and make better personal and professional choices.
Ongoing needs
Due to the school building project all the school’s needs will increase towards the amount of children they will have. Still they also have important needs now: Theatre and circus items and materials are non-existent in Nicaragua, Clothes and shoes, Toothpaste, toothbrushes, vitamins, others.
