Visions of hope

 Future Visions

As well as working with Dynamic Theatre and other forms of drama we also invited the children to express their hopes and dreams through picture drawing. With some of the funds we raised we were able to buy paper and coloured pens and pencils. We bought the materials locally to support local business.

A picture paints a thousand words

As well as working with the children, Filipe ran two morning groups working specifically with the mothers who had lost their sons. Sometimes we need more than just speaking and for some using drama as a form of expression is too exposing, so for those who wanted to Filipe explained and worked with the benefits of drawing out feelings through art and also the immensely therapeutic tool of letter writing.

The mothers were able to express their pain and loss through these creative art forms. Filipe guided and supported them through their pain and helped to then transform this into new visions of the future.

   

 

 A place to grow and always a place to remember friends 

 Transforming the image of football, from tragedy to joy

A vision of hope for me, my family and my country

The most basic of images can lead us on exciting journeys and open up the world of possibility. By  giving form to our imaginary worlds whether it be through art, drama or storytelling we are able to bring light and hope to our darker experiences, and by showing there is a continuation and that our story spreads on into the future we gain hope for a brighter tomorrow.

"The soul never thinks without a picture"

Aristotle

Football Match

 Filipe and his "Portugal" team

As a way of bringing everyone in the community together and bring back the sense of joy and laughter to football  again we organised a football match for our final afternoon in Mirasorai. We wanted to honour all the boys who died that fateful afternoon in July, all returning home excited and celebrating after winning a football match, little knowing a few hours later life would change forever.

The local children decided they liked the idea of having England play Portugal in our honourary football match. Mark being captain of England and Filipe captain of Portugal. Eleven players soon became fifteen or more on each side as everyone wanted to be involved and join in the fun.

It was a great joy for us to see smiles and hear laughter returning to children who had previously told us they would never play football again as so many friends had been lost to the accident. 

The community comes to watch

"Portugal" heading for "England's goal

Where's the ball?

Portugal 1 England 0

It was a great game supported by everyone from the community. We wanted to end our work with this game to bring back a joyful and positive attitude towards football, success and winning, all of which had been badly and sadly tarnished. By ending our work this time with football we hoped that people would then be able to remember the smiling happy faces of their sons, brothers and friends enjoying a game that unites people worldwide, and in that united feeling they would sense the love and support that reached out to them from people around the world. 

The team

Pial, Reza, Sudarshan, Mark, Saimun, Filipe, Shishir

Back in Chittagong we met for a final debrief after our work in Mirasorai. Pictured here are the great men who volunteered to come with us, and together we worked, we laughed, we cried, and together with the help of the women who also volunteered, we supported the families, the children and the community come to terms with the loss of 45 young lives.

Without these dedicated people who willingly gave up their time and holidays to work with us as a team we would not have been able to do and achieve the things we did in the community of Mirasorai.  Through coming together as a group we learnt what made our team work effectively and cohesively, and also what separated us. Thankfully the team spirit and the vision of why were a team enabled us to move through challenging times, great humour and storytelling were great night time companions.

Part of the team 

Mark, Rihar, Filipe, Pial, Munmun, Ruma

Shishir, Saimun, Ridom, Choity

To be a member of a team takes a special kind of empathy to think and feel beyond one's self

DTWA - Asia

Mark, Saimun, Filipe 

It was with great pleasure that on our last day in Chittagong we created, with our newly made friends from Jahangirnagar University (near Dhaka), the Asia Branch of Dynamic Theatre World Association (DTWA). Pictured here with us is Saimun, he along with his and our friends, Shishir, Pial, Rythm, Choity and Munmun, will help us create a stronger presence initially in Bangladesh with plans to spread outwards into other parts of Asia.

Our plans are to continue our work and visits to Mirarsorai and other parts of Bangladesh to assist the children, the families and the community as much as we can.

We would like to thank you for all your support in enabling us to work with this small community in the south of Bangladesh. We know that it is the children's and the family's wish for us to pass onto you their deepest gratitude for reaching out to them in their time of need.

  

Thank you!

Mark & Filipe

Dynamic Heart Bangaldesh - Portugues

Um chamamento à Acção

(See next post below for English text)

De 30 de Setembro a 12 de Outubro

Distrito de Chittagong, Bangladesh

A 11 de Julho um veículo escolar carregado de alunos alegres, celebrando a vitória num jogo de futebol contra outra escola local, despistou-se em direcção a um rio, matando pelo menos 42 estudantes.

http://tv.ibtimes.com/bangladesh-bus-crash-kills-at-least-53-school-boys/1197.html

Mostafa Jatra, do Teatro Unido para a Acção Social (UTSA), escreveu-nos, pedindo ajuda terapêutica para os funcionários e alunos que estão a sofrer com o luto e o trauma da situação. Uma das vantagens de Mostafa é que ele acredita que o teatro e a dramatização são grandes formas de ajudar estas crianças e adultos a lidar com o seu sofrimento. Ele escreveu que numa turma que perdeu 12 alunos, as crianças que sobreviveram não sabem como lidar com o sentimento pesado de perda e culpa por terem sido eles a sobreviver. A escola já não é um lugar alegre para se estar.

UTSA é uma pequena ONG (Organização Não Governamental) em Chittagong que tem pegado em vários projectos para ajudar pessoas em dificuldades, incluindo teatro para consciência pessoal, educação em favelas, puclicações em Braille da língua Bengla e trabalho com deficientes físicos e com aqueles que sofrem de doenças mentais.

O Projecto Coração Dinâmico é um projecto que leva o Teatro Dinâmico e outras artes e terapias criativas até outras partes do mundo onde este tipo de trabalho não está normalmente disponível. No ano passado uma equipa formada por quatro pessoas esteve no Nepal a trabalhar com crianças que tinham sido envolvidas na guerra civil ou simplesmente tinham sido abandonadas nas ruas. Foi uma experiência muito profunda. O Coração Dinâmico surge de um sonho em levar o Teatro Dinâmico às crianças. Por favor clique em 2010 *blog archive* para ver a reportagem completa do nosso última projecto no Nepal.

Agora o chamamento surgiu de novo para que desta vez vamos trabalhar com crianças que perderam os seus amigos da escola, professores que perderam os seus pequeninos, e uma comunidade que chora a perda de parte da próxima geração.

Nós viajaremos para o Bangladesh onde, durante 12 dias, trabalharemos com crianças, funcionários e comunidade local.

O Projecto Coração Dinâmico é um projecto auto-sustentado que precisa de apoio de pessoas caridosas da comunidade em cada missão. Nós precisamos de criar fundos para a viagem e também para fazer uma doação à escola para que consiga continuar o trabalho depois de termos voltado. www.dynamicheartproject.com

Nós precisamos criar £2000 (cerca de 2400€) para cobrir o “Coração Dinâmico Bangladesh”. Para vos dar uma ideia de como acreditamos ser possível, basta que 100 pessoas doem £20 (25 euros ou 35 dolares).

Não estabelecemos qualquer valor mínimo. Cada pessoa oferece aquilo que entender ser o melhor.

Pode fazer a sua doação através de PayPal, clicando no botão “Donate” no final desta página.

Esta é uma forma de todos nós fazermos a diferença. Nós seremos a extensão dos vossos braços e das vossas intenções. Através de nós, todos podem ser parte deste projecto.

Obrigado por serem parte deste sonho.

Com profunda gratidão,

Filipe e Mark

“Uma ideia que é desenvolvida e posta em prática

é mais importante do que uma ideia que existe apenas como uma ideia”

Buda

www.dynamicheartproject.com

Chittagong, Bangaldesh

DYNAMIC HEART BANGLADESH

A Call to Action!

30th September - 12th October

Chittagong District, Bangladesh

On 11th July a school bus packed with happy school children, celebrating a win at a football match with another local school, tragically crashed down a hillside into a river, killing at least 42 students.

http://tv.ibtimes.com/bangladesh-bus-crash-kills-at-least-53-school-boys/1197.html

Mostafa Kamal Jatra from Unite Theatre for Social Action (UTSA) wrote asking for therapeutic help  for the staff and students of Abu Torab Bahumukhi High School who are suffering with grief and trauma. One of the great things about Mostafa is that he knows that theatre and drama are a great way to help these children and adults to work with their grief. He writes that in one class alone they lost 12 students, the children who did survive do not know how to cope with the depth of feeling of loss and survivor's guilt, they feel school is no longer a joyful place to be.


UTSA is a small local NGO in Chittagong that has undertaken various projects to help disadvantaged people, including theatre for social consciousness, slum education, braille publishing in Bengla and work with the physically disabled and those suffering from mental illness.


Mostafa who is the founder and director of UTSA has reached out to seek help for the school in Misarai. 

Dynamic Heart Project was created by myself (Mark Wentworth) and Filipe De Moura, it is a project to take Dynamic Theatre ( www.dynamictheatre.com ) and other creative arts and therapies out into parts of the world where this kind of work is not normally available. Last year four of us worked in Nepal working with abandoned children and those children who had been caught up in the civil war. See further down on this site for a report of our work there. Dynamic Heart was created from a dream where I was clearly told that children knew about and were waiting for Dynamic Theatre. Through Dynamic Heart Project we made that dream a reality.


Now the call has come again for us this time to go and work with the children who have lost school friends, teachers who have lost bright young students, and a local community that mourns the loss of the next generation.


On 30th September myself and Filipe will travel to Bangladesh for 12 days to work with the children, the staff, and the local community.


As our project is a community project we need to create the funds for the trip and also to be able to make a donation to the school to be able to continue the work after we have gone.


We need to create £2000 to cover "Dynamic Heart Bangladesh" to give you an idea of how easy we believe it will be, all we need is 100 people to each donate £20 (25 euros or 35 US dollars).


You can donate via PayPal by sending it to mark@colourforlife.com or click on the "Donate" button at the bottom of this page. 


Bank transfer: €'s or UK £'s please email me for bank transfer details - mark@colourforlife.com


Thank you for being part of our dream.


With deepest gratitude


Mark & Filipe

"An idea that is developed and put into action 
is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea"

Buddha

Time to fly

On our way to Nepal

On 27th March 2010, Aarti, Filipe and Mark left London Heathrow heading for Kathmandu via Delhi. In the early hours of 28th March, Katarina left Kuala Lumpa en route to Nepal. All heading for an adventure, a new experience, a place near the top of the world.

In the following posts you will find the story of our trip to Nepal. We have posted photos which we feel best express the work and the people we met in Kathmandu and the surrounding area.

This trip would not have been possible without your help. Thank you, Thank you.

We were able to make a donation to Ghar Sita Mutu close to £3000, which Beverly, the owner of the home will put to very good use in updating books in the classroom as well as much needed security for the home. If you would like to continue to donate directly to Ghar Sita Mutu please go to www.gharsitamutu.com

We hope you enjoy the photos and our stories and feel part of the experience of Dynamic Heart Project Nepal.

Again thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Aarti, Filipe, Katarina, Mark

Dynamic Heart Team Nepal