Matatiele, Matatiele

An update from our follow-up residency in sweet Matatiele, Eastern Cape. Sibongile and I returned to work with the same guardians and children that we did the Najbulo residency programme with in September. We were joined by Katie Chalcraft, who came to observe the way we work for her research (see Wasafiri Consulting)

She wrote this piece about her experience:

'It was fascinating to witness the shift from the shy quiet children on day 1 to the animated excited faces that emerged later in the week. The clowns were very skilled at creating a safe atmosphere for the children to play in and to explore who they are as individuals and what their aspirations are in life. They encouraged creativity and playfulness and as each day passed the children became more and more free with each other, with us and on the end day with the guardians.

When the guardians shared how they had been since the residency they said they were tired and stressed, they were honest in their admission that they hadn’t been playing the games or singing the songs the clowns taught them during the 10 day residency, though some had used the body relaxation technique. This raised the question of sustainability. How to make a project like this sustainable? However, that said, while most admitted not practicing the games and songs a number of them did talk about the shift in the relationship they had with their child as a result of CWBSA and how their child was engaging more in schoolwork. This is surely what the project is all about.

The three Petals staff members who were trained on the initial residency seemed to have had forgotten most of what they had been taught. The clowns challenged them to run short sessions with their fellow staff using their manuals. For the other staff members to fully benefit from this kind of intervention the 3 staff members would need to be trained separately to a higher level especially if they are to hold the space for support groups. Perhaps video clips of the songs and games could be shared via flash drive along with the manual to help the staff remember the exercises.

On a personal level I learned a lot from the clowns about holding a space for sharing, asking powerful questions, about the art of playfulness and about developing relationships with the group and between group members. I am very grateful for the time I spent with Clowns Without Borders SA'.