CAIRO: By exposing about 300 underprivileged children to art, workshops, field trips to museums, concerts and exchange programs, Alwan Wa Awtar, a non-profit organization, promotes visual and performing arts as a tool for social development. "Our aim is to help needy children to become more creative. We aim at breaking the cycle of poverty by broadening their mental abilities through arts and music, says Azza Kamel, president and founder of Alwan Wa Awtar. Kamel says they target inhabitants of El-Hadaba El-Wosta in El-Mokkatam. "Children at El-Hadaba El-Wosta are in need. They are still in school and don't feel the economic problems that they might face like their parents. Thus, we try to develop their skills through more exposure, and eventually they will face their harsh economic conditions after they become skillful and qualified, says Kamel. The NGO has chosen teaching children arts and crafts as one of its main activities, because it gradually leads to better school performance and can be further pursued as a profession. For example, the NGO organizes workshops for candle making, which helps children become more creative and is also an income generating skill, says Kamel. Activities are divided into two main branches: arts and music. "Beside teaching children pottery, story telling, candle making and other crafts, we also prepare music sessions, where they can learn to play piano or guitar in a professional way, says Kamel, adding that each session has no more than five children and the small class size allows the children to learn efficiently and effectively. Alwan Wa Awtar is open for children from ages seven through 18, but not all are enrolled in formal classes. Most of the children come to the NGO just to do puzzles, read a book and have fun in their leisure time. "Children do not have to participate in regular activities, they can just pass by and play. It is a place where they can come and be off the street, says Kamel, adding that only 40 or 50 children out of the 300 are engaged in regular activities. In the summer, the NGO organizes a program in June, July and August. Over these three months, the NGO receives about 20 kids a month, with the group changing every month. "Unfortunately, children come over a lot in the summer, but the NGO doesn't have the capacity for more than this number. We had to turn children away, which is very heartbreaking, says Kamel. She adds that this summer the NGO took the children on a field trip to El-Mansouriyya, where they had fun and learned many new things in an indirect way. "The farm owner took the children on a tour around the farm. She planted a banana tree and explained in detail the planting process of bananas and how the tree grows. It was a sort of a practical science class. They enjoyed it a lot and they kept in their minds all that they had heard from the owner, because they saw the process practically, says Kamel. She adds that she asked them to write a story about the trip and was amazed to find out that the children described exactly what had happened and what they had learned from the lesson of the banana tree, including all information and scientific expressions used earlier at the farm. "When children practice something with their own hands and see it physically, it fixes better in their minds, and thus they are educated in an interesting way, says Kamel. Kamel founded the NGO in December 2005, but only started the actual work last February. "Before establishing the NGO in December 2005, I researched a lot on the Internet and I discovered that art has been proven in the West to be one of the most successful tools that helps in developing the mental skills of children. So I thought: why not try this method in social development? says Kamel. The NGO is also planning its future projects, one of which is the "Theater of the Oppressed, in which children will be taught how to produce a play, design its set, learn acting, photography and play the music used in the play. "It is an experimental form of theater. We are using the theater as a platform to teach children different artistic activities. By the end of the project, children should be able to make up a whole production, says Kamel.
