Mission
MeWe uses arts and education to show young people the value of themselves and their community as a resource to navigate life.

Beneficiaries
MeWe's principle beneficiaries are children and young people (5 - 18) from disadvantaged communities, however we welcome young people from all backgrounds. In this way we gain all the benefits of a diverse group.

Service
MeWe involves young people in performing arts by creating opportunities for them to particpate in productions, performances and workshops. The young people gain experience of all aspects of theatre and music production including planning, performing, and recording. All productions are based on themes drawn from the rich African and Afro-Caribbean cultures.

Performing arts are used as a means to educate and uplift our target group and their community, as well as providing a means to celebrate and enjoy African and Caribbean art for its own sake.

Aims & Objectives
To involve young people in the performing arts, including theatre, music, dance and multi-media productions.

To raise the dignity and self-esteem of young people, especially those from the African and Afro-Caribbean Communities.

To create opportunities for young people to learn about and celebrate their own culture and to respect the culture of others.

To reinforce a sense of identity in the young people we work with.

To address disaffection and social exclusion.

To raise the educational attainment of young people, most notably those from the African and Afro-Caribbean Communities.

To increase a sense of social responsibility in the young people we work with.

The work that resulted in MeWe began in 1999 in Cape Town, South Africa. Ann-Marie Olufuwa and Werner van Staden were volunteering as youth workers for SHAWCO, The Students Health and Welfare Centres Organisation. Their first placement was in Manenberg. While leading the community theatre project which addressed the drugs, gang-violence and crime which afflicted that community, Ann-Marie and Werner witnessed a notable change in the attitudes of the township's young people. The change was confirmed by the feedback from the young people themselves, their parents and the hosting organisation.

By exploring the issues affecting Manenberg through drama and music, its young people gained better understanding of the forces that affect their neighbourhood. They also discovered how decisions on the individual level affect the community for better or worse. With the insight gained, they were motivated to propose solutions for Manenberg in a play that was staged at the Parliament of World Religions that was held in Cape Town that year.

Inspired by the success of the production, Ann-Marie and Werner consolidated a methodology and founded the organisation MeWe. In 2001 they set-up base in Kingston, South West London. In July 2003 MeWe was registered as a charitable organisation.

 

 

Drama provides young people with a physical and concrete resource for examining issues that might otherwise remain abstract & inaccessible (1). In this way drama-based education allows young people to safely role-play life and explore the issues that they actually deal with. The strategies & solutions they discover are creative and practicable (as opposed to those prescribed by adults who think they have the answers for the young).

In contrast to the traditional classroom-based method, drama-based education serves as a multi-purpose tool with benefits in the following areas:

• Communication skills
• Confidence building
• Group responsibility
• Physical exercise
• Peer interaction

Music is a powerful means of communication. It is also a popular form of entertainment that is central to youth culture and from which they draw much of their values and their worldview. Watch how M-TV stars influence young people's clothing, hair-styles & attitudes: They are able to effortlessly re-enact what they have seen in music-videos and can seamlessly recite the lyrics of most current hits. These feats of memory & imitation are displayed even by those young people who have been labelled to have so-called learning difficulties or behavioural problems!

Music creation & performance are activities that young people engage in keenly and once they begin singing or playing instruments, their ability to learn is enhanced, because they are eager and because of the informal environment of the music studio. For this reason MeWe uses music to engage young people in creation & discovery. The young people's own songs serve to communicate their experiences and opinions to their peers and their communities. Learning about subtle personal & social issues becomes possible and young people also gain practical musical skills that boost their confidence and career prospects.

Rather than settling for a Black History month that happens once a year, we have created a year round curriculum called 'Identity Studies'. One of its aims is to give young people the experience of being part of a production whilst increasing the understanding of young people about their community and its heritage. Another aim is to celebrate Black culture.

Some of the outcomes are that young people feel positive about who they are, that they develop a healthy self-concept and that social responsibility is enhanced.

Our research has helped us identify that low esteem, social exclusion and low attainment are underlying issues which have a bearing on the welfare of the Black community. Our particular formula of using performing arts with identity studies addresses these issues in a unique and effective way.

In order to provide young people with role-models and mentors, MeWe uses teachers and artists from the BME community.

This section includes samples of a variety of our past projects as well as details of our most important current and future activities.

Updates of current projects are provided here, as well as links to the most up-to-date project pages in the MeWe Youth Zone.

More details about any of these projects are available on request.

manenberg youth theatre

black & british

poetry of african origin

beats, rhymes & freedom

kensington heritage

Samba-Capoeira
Brazil enjoys vibrant culture thanks to the African slaves that worked for the Portuguese since the 16th century. The Brazilian samba, for example, has its rhythmical origin in Angolan 'sembe' as does the capoeira dance that is practised widely in Brazil today - it was devised by the field-slaves who practiced self-defence even wile shakled round their ankles & wrists

Capoeira combines dance and martial art in fluid and athletic movements, often with individuals acting both as dance partners and opponents in a ritualised 'fight'. The emphasis of the dance is co-operation rather than competition and this makes this activity ideal for developing peer interaction as well as physical health.

MeWe is lucky to have on its staff an experienced Capoeira instructor that first worked with us in South Africa. With his help we have created the 'Samba-Capoeira' project which will satisfy various Sport Action Zone requirements in South London.

This project will engage young people in the Capoeira dance, performed to Afro-Latin Samba rhythms. Whilst learning capoeira they will also learn to perform Samba music on African & Brazilian instruments. This will produce a fusion of cultures that not only provides all the benefits of physical activity, but that will give the participants experience of diverse art forms. In addition to this, the students will acquire the foundations of a new skill that MeWe will continue to support in partnership with established Capoeira groups.

UK Partners:

Borough of Kingston
Kingston College
Kingston Voluntary Action
Globalgrooving Radio station

Africa Partners:

Artscape
SHAWCO

Inspiration:

Nelson Mandela
Muhammad Ali

 

UK		020 8391 2214
international		+44 20 8391 2214
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