KORI ARTS

KORI Arts is a dynamic organisation that was formed in 2002. Aimed especially at African; African – Caribbean; Mixed Heritage & generic children & Young people aged 8 – 17. KORI uses the arts as a vehicle to give young people practical opportunities for personal development. Mentoring; teaching; planning; presentation, volunteering; performance; production and fundraising are just some of the things that our young people learn.Our new programme ‘Youth empowering Youth’ is focussed on encouraging young people to use their skills to contribute towards the development of local and international school communities. The programme aims to engage young people in developing purposeful lives through working with others who do not have their access to opportunity. We have found that this helps them to reflect on their own lives and direct them positively.The three stage programme is as follows: • The young people organise and manage a wide range of fundraising • The young people travel to Tanzania and share their skills, teaching, coaching and mentoring at a sustainable youth project in Dar es Salaam aimed at empowering Tanzanian street children and orphans. • The young people return and through the Festival of Youth Arts (FYA) held in London each year, they will share their learning to inspire other youth. Each young person will also present their experience at their individual schools, colleges and universities.Funding support is urgently neededIn 2004 Odiri Ighamre Project Manger and African Storyteller from KORI ARTS travelled to Tanzania to run a storytelling project in partnership with Camden based charity Rise Phoenix. The aim of the project was to support young people in using storytelling and performance as a tool that would empower them with a voice in Tanzania. The project involved working with a group of street children who had just become part of Maji Matitu School, Orphans and a Refuge. The project was very successful and led to an on-going relationship with Maji Matitu Catholic School and the Inbapala Mission led by Sister Annette that established the school. (Reports attached)KORI ARTS has fundraised for families experiencing extreme poverty in Maji Matitu School and now to further this relationship a trip to the school in December 2007 is being organised. Six young people from African, Caribbean and Mixed Heritage backgrounds will lead the project. They aim to share their skills, learn from and gain insight into the lives of young Tanzanians. They will focus on teaching an interactive Arts Programme over 10 days, as the curriculum in Maji Matitu is mainly academic. The subjects are: Visual Arts, Drama, Music Production, Singing, Sports Science and Basket Ball and Football Training.The trip is being made in the year of 2007 that marks the commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade to bring home to the young people their connection to Africa and the reality of the slave trade, as well as the impact of wealth inequalities today and its impact on youth across the world. The journey will include a journey to Zanzibar a former slave island and visits to an orphanage to understand the repercussions of the spread of Aids on children in Africa. To prepare for the trip the young people are developing fundraising strategies to raise money for school uniforms for the many families that cannot afford them. They are also under going a training programme in their chosen topic, alongside Swahilli and cultural preparation. They are working together to plan their equipment needs and evaluating and documenting their own learning.The Young people will be supported on the trip by three-project leaders t KORI ARTS and documented by a mentor from the Festival of Youth Arts. All of the work will be shared widely in schools, youth projects and FYA