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The Arts

Problems

  • Education in Africa does not include the arts, giving children in orphanages no access to arts education or expression. Arts programs in particular must be personalized to a given area, matching the children’s skill levels, and capitalizing on the unique expressions individual to that community.

Solution

  • With orphanages usually dramatically understaffed, IBECOME helps subsidize arts programming through both organized and unstructured means.
  • Music: At Hananasif Academy, a church community committed to singing has created an exceptional choir among the kids. Having gained a reputation in the area, the children frequently perform in concerts in the local community, and have created multiple CDs of their music.
  • Tailoring:
    • The Tumaini Children’s Home incorporates a community sewing course into its daily curriculum of outreach. The primary goal of the sewing room is to make the children's school uniforms, and to educate women in the community of a trade. However, the older girls often participate in this practice as well, and they are taught both skills and a mode of self-expression in their recreational use of the tailoring room.
    • In conjunction with local craftsmen, the children have begun creating Batik fabric that can then be used for their own clothing, or for sale within Dar-es-Salaam.
  • Creative Writing: Through Hope Runs's involvement in this home, the kids have begun a creative writing project through their blog. The first blog on the internet written by orphans and vulnerable children, the blog gives a voice to these children that can be heard around the world, and also encourages them to express themselves outside of school compositions.