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Notably, girls will not only sing, dance, and act, but also drum - an especially significant act of empowerment in Tanzania where, as in so many African societies - drumming is typically off-limits to females.  Following a training period of three months--twice-weekly rehearsals, brainstorms, and group discussions (including a communal meal; the project also provides transportation and pocket money), the girls will perform a final public event for their community, replete with refreshments for all.  

We also plan to integrate sewing workshops once per week, in order to train the girls to become seamstresses. This vocational training will add a practical skill to their repertoire, and also help convince their families to allow them to continue, in the hopes of contributing to family income.

This research creation project aims to develop a performing arts intervention to empower 17 female adolescents and young adults in Kigoma, Tanzania - one of the country's poorest regions (Pelizzo et al. 2018), supporting their mental health through the joy of creative expression and social connection in collective music, dance, and drama, creating deeply felt community, and helping them to flourish. 

The proposed participatory project aims to improve girls' mental health and future prospects for material and psychological wellness through an arts intervention designed to improve their physical, psychological, and social wellbeing, instilling hope and camaraderie, imparting new skills fostering a sense of self-confidence and self-esteem, and through the sheer joy of performance.

In Kigoma, on the northeast shores of Lake Tanganyika, far from the country’s centers of wealth and power, most Indigenous residents are impoverished and malnourished. As a result of war and poverty, many youth are orphaned, and their physical health has suffered as a result. Unable to afford school fees, and often responsible for other family members, most have necessarily curtailed their formal education. Some dream of university, but the sad reality is that few have continued past grade 7. Teenage girls are further adversely affected by patriarchy, a combination of factors damaging self-esteem, social connection, and morale.  Many are also single mothers. All seek dignity through decent work, the ability to earn a living wage, surrounded by supportive family, and community.