Malta Principal, Alan Montanaro, a former recipient of the Helen O'Grady National Director's Award, has recently returned from a life changing summer teaching drama classes, based on the Helen O'Grady Programme to children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Alan, pictured third from right below on the SS Great Britain at a dinner following the summer Seminar in Bristol in July, share his experiences on his Facebook page through a daily blog.
Visit:
https://www.facebook.com/dramaoutreachproject for full details
The 'Times Of Malta' were right behind the cause and published the blog each day. Following is part of an article published before the mammoth trip.
"Alan
Montanaro is a synonymous in Malta with drama; he’s beloved of what must now be
a good generation or two for his eponymous dames in Malta’s festive season
pantomimes. In the past decade or so, Alan has grown his love of drama
and performance to run a successful private drama school, as the Malta branch
of Helen O’Grady Academy. You’d think he and his team would have enough
on their plate, working flat out all academic year and running summer schools
to take the month of August off, rest a little and prepare for the next year. But,
that’s not how Alan and a group of close friends and colleagues are spending
this summer. Alan, together with Chiara Hyzler, has set up an NGO
- ’Drama
Outreach Project‘, or ‘DO’ – which seeks to bring a unique
developmental programme using drama and music to teach English and self
development to children in underprivileged communities. This summer, the
NGO’s first live project sees Alan and a group of eight head to Phnom Penh
to run the programme in an orphanage and a drop-in day centre for street
children. It’s pioneering work and yet he is determined to make a difference
beyond Malta with the skills he and the team have developed here.
We caught up with Alan at home a couple of weeks ago to find
out how the project came to be, why Cambodia, and why now. Here’s what Alan
told us…
“I
turned 50 a year or so back and it was a sort of turning point also in what I
wanted to focus on in life, and where my new ambitions lie. Gaby [Alan's
wife] and I have always wanted to go overseas and volunteer in a meaningful
way. ‘Voluntourism’ is now a word that’s entered people’s vocab, and it best
describes our DO Cambodia project. “The
actual work on the ground will be a version of our Fun Factory summer schools
here in Malta. We’ll be working with the children to create props and then use
them in drama, so they ease themselves into this rather unfamiliar environment
in a very hands-on way and get to know us as they do so.
“Cambodia may seem a distant choice as our
first DO Project; it’s not a country that’s been focused on by any Malta-based
charity or NGO as far as we know. I have always wanted to learn more about this
part of Asia; a region that was in the news as I grew up, but felt outside our
sphere of knowledge all the same. The aftermath of the Pol Pot regime has a
very long reach; in those years of atrocity under his rule, an entire educated
generation was all but wiped out so you have a country still affected by the
repercussions of the genocide, yet one with energy and a thirst to be part of
an international community.
“The
children we are going to be working are in two centres; one an orphanage; the
other a day centre run by an NGO which takes in children who may have parents
but who are sent out to work on the streets. These children find comfort, food,
shelter and friends and some education at this centre – ‘Le
Restaurant des Enfants‘ – which acts as second home for them,
providing them with some stability and safe haven as it were. Its Facebook
page gives you the background on how it operates.
“Of
course, it will be unknown territory for us. Until we arrive, we won’t know
exactly what we’ll face and we’ll need to be very adaptable and go with the
flow. These are children who won’t have much English, if any, but who probably
come across English-speaking tourists on the streets. We hope to get them to
develop self-confidence through drama and learn a little more English on the
way; skills that will help their daily survival now and hopefully inspire them
to continue their education, as best they can.
Our
key aim is to ensure a legacy and develop a structure on the ground to ensure
the DO project summer ’13 is carried on locally. Helen O’Grady does operate
across the world and has looked closely at our work in Malta developing English
skills through drama, which is something it’s keen to develop. But, the
Drama Outreach Project is very much a product of our work in Malta and our
personal aims as a group to do voluntary work overseas.
Read the full blog at
https://www.facebook.com/dramaoutreachproject
This was part of Alan's closing contribution to the blog:
ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END...
The day started on a surprisingly upbeat note as we
prepared a poster with caricatures that didn’t really look anything like us,
pocketed our sparklers, blew up balloons on our tuk-tuks (almost causing a
massive traffic pile-up in the process as a couple inevitably flew away) and
headed off to LRDE for the farewell party we
were throwing... but Mr Chiu and his amazing team, in true Cambodian fashion,
beat us to it.
We arrived blowing whistles, waving balloons like
idiots and generally making a lot of noise to find all the children sitting
down in neat rows in absolute silence. We were quickly asked to sit down and,
as on our first day, were treated to a show of traditional Khmer dances by the
children we have been working with. They were absolutely BRILLIANT!
After the show it was party time and while everybody danced
and ate from their bag of goodies, we took as many pictures as possible. We
don't want to forget the friends we've made and if we do find support for the
children we want to be able to show the sponsors who they are, what their story
is, etc.....................
 |
| Meet the boys. That deckchair is wedged between a boundary wall and a swimming pool. It's their "home". |
..........................As we prepared to say our
goodbyes, once again, Cambodia slapped us in the face with its inherent
contradictions: there is sadness and there is happiness, there is poverty and
there is love, there is misery...and most importantly there is hope. And it is
this intense sense of hope that fills you up from within, drives and motivates
you to help, and makes you fall in love with this beautiful South East Asian
country.
I am honestly afraid that on my return home, I
might sock the first person who complains about their petty day-to-day
problems. They have no idea how good they have it."
Spare ten minutes to read the full blog - there is so much to be done - if you would like to help, contact DO Outreach through their Facebook page:
On behalf of the children - thank you.
