Dancing Feat

DF has adopted a child-friendly strategy which involves the use of dance and interpersonal communication as tools for psychosocial support. The project team has developed activities based on the specific needs of the participants, who include children of women in prostitution, children in sex work or with a high probability of being sexually abused/exploited, substance users/abusers, and children with a history of multiple sex partners. (The project reaches out to children and youth - over 1500 of them to date - through its 13 partner non-government organisations, or NGOs). Organisers explain that the difficult circumstances the children come from, combined with the fact that some of them are infected/affected by HIV/AIDS, means that they face "double discrimination". A key strategy for challenging this is DF's policy that all children, irrespective of their HIV status, perform their dances together at public forums - sending the message of "no discrimination." Considering the high vulnerability of these children, combined with their extremely disadvantaged backgrounds, it was felt that a programme offering opportunities to learn and interact in a fun, light atmosphere would be effective.

One component of the project is annual public performances that give young participants the opportunity to perform with professional lights and sound in front of an audience comprised of their families, friends and communities. However, this project looks beyond performance, envisioning the medium of dance as having an inherent therapeutic value for the participants (building confidence, improving self awareness, etc.) and as a starting point for group interaction strategies (described below). Dance classes and creative dance activity sessions are seen as a means of spurring emotional expression, channelling energies positively, and fostering team work and discipline. The children are also involved in the development of dances exploring themes related to their own lives such as gender disparities, money and its ill use, and death of loved ones due to AIDS. Organisers intend to use these creations as a communication strategy in their community and the community at large. Peer group formation is offered for children who have the potential for advance training in dance; this group represents the project at different forums.

Other DF activities include the use of group counselling sessions as a tool for information, education and psychosocial support. A key focus is on facilitating the child's decision-making process towards healthy growth, with a particular emphasis on strategies for avoiding risk situations. Life skills education (LSE) sessions are designed to teach positive behaviours that enable children to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday living.

A key thread running throughout these activities is the use of creative, artistic methods to stimulate reflection about and to facilitate coping strategies related to such serious, difficult topics as grief and bereavement. For example, 12 sessions were held over a 3- to 4-month period for 14 children aged 8-12 years who are infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. To begin, the topic of death was introduced through a creative activity on expression of emotions with the help of a prop (scarf, dupattas). The group was encouraged to share and express their thoughts and feelings related to death and what happens after death through drawings. To further help participants understand that death/grief is normal and universal, drama therapy sessions were held in which the children enacted a story; some were asked to act as villagers and to share their own personal stories of death. More personalised sessions were held to provide an outlet to share experiences; one component involved writing letters to loved ones who had died. During one of the many creative dance sessions, children in sub-groups were given themes and were asked to create a dance expressing that particular emotion. Finally, LSE sessions focused on building skills for children in crisis situations like the death of a parent. These skills included self-awareness, communication skills, relationship-building, and coping with emotions.

At the centre of this project is introducing a component of dance and joy in childcare programmes conducted by various NGOs; to that end, the project team also reaches out to other organisations. Organisers offer capacity building which involves training the staff of partner NGOs to enhance the quality of existing activities. They have developed sensitisation programmes for corporates and interested organisations. The team also wishes to disseminate the information the project has gathered over the years in an effort to enable other organisations to replicate similar projects in the future: In the works as of this writing are a resource book to facilitate such efforts, as well as an impact evaluation.