84 students from seven schools will perform streetplays on child rights and right to education in various parts of Bangalore this November. Bal Jamoore, is an initiative by CRY to make children think and act as social agents of change who respect and stand up for equal rights to all.

Pic: Deepthi Sarma.

The training program for Bal Jamoore was held on 30^th and 31^st of October at the CRY office, Cox town. Each participating school has a team of 12-15 students for the street play.

The training programme is divided into two segments. The first segment helps the students understand about child rights and right to education. Second segment, teaches the essentials of street theatre. It is designed in such a way that the students in the age group of 11-18 yrs will be able to write, direct and enact their own play at the end of it.

The training module included interactive play way sessions, fun games on child rights followed by technical theatre training by Ms.Vanaja and Gopinath of Subanna intimate theatre group from Banshankari.

This workshop will be followed up with practice sessions in schools, fine tuning the storyline and technique. This kind of creative independence is essential for urban students believes Sonia Dominica, manager -youth, CRY. She reckons that the urban students have a fair idea of their rights and are creative.

On whether this module is more apt for rural children than urban, Sonia says that urban upbringing does not guarantee that all child rights are known and exercised. Also, urban children have their own idea of rights,  some may consider going to a pub as a right.

Participating children liked the idea of writing and directing their own play. Chaitanya Rai K, 12 years, Frank Anthony public school loves to act and says he enjoys the idea of learning through playing games.  "The concepts of child rights were touched upon in civics as well but this process is more detailed than what we learn in school" he says.

Aasawari Mathur, 12 years, Aarohi life school enjoyed not only participating but also interacting with other students. Aasawari found the training sessions very informative and says that she was not aware of these issues.

After the training program in CRY is completed, the creative ideas and play sessions will be fine tuned everyday in their respective schools. The street plays will be held on 20, 21, 27 and 28^th of November at various parts of Bangalore like malls and busy streets.

Sonia says this program will be extended so that the participants will perform in neighbouring schools from various parts of Bangalore, including government schools in the rural and suburban areas. The plays will also depict government’s role, facilities and the loop holes.

This is not the first time CRY has held training modules. Previously these have been held in various schools to educate children. Street theatre is a new initiative. The training modules dwell on serious issues in a fun manner which makes them so popular. The sessions were packed with students and their creative responses indicate that not only are the students aware of the problems but also know how to make a difference in their own little way. ⊕