How capoeira can be used to counsel on successful interaction

Here is a little video I made with the capoeiristas of our Academy that worked with children from Mavambo, one of our partners.  This module details how capoeira classes may be combined with group counselling on successfully interacting with people in life within the realms of social work.

It provides guidelines for those in charge of capoeira and counselling classes.  

The methodology is meant to be used with a specific group of participants over a number of capoeira classes – ideally over a period of at least a few months, involving at least 10 classes organised at regular intervals.  Capoeira classes will help build confidence and self esteem of participants.  The counselling methodology is designed to capitalise on learning points capoeira classes provide concerning successfully interacting with people, i.e. to the advantage of individuals and their environments. The capoeira instructor teaches participants on how to interact in a positive way during capoeira classes.  He/she continues to coach participants on putting positive interaction behaviour into capoeira practice. The central counselling tool consists of a chart on which positive behaviour of individual participants as practised in the classes is recorded - as defined by the participants themselves. Progressive filling of the chart over a series of classes measures, visualises and reinforces progress on positive behaviour put into practice.  A number of strategic questions asked when filling out the chart provides learning points on the advantages of positive interacting. These learning points are capitalised on by a counsellor in group discussions on how to positively interact in life and its advantages.

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Little presentation about our work and programme

Currently we have been illustrating and explaining a lot of our programme and the tools we have been developing. To this purposes, we made a powerpoint presentation which shows the trainings we have facilitated, some of the tools we have developed or are promoting, the feedback we have received through evaluations etc.

We got a lot of nice comments on the presentation, so we hung it on the walls of our offices (which were in need of some cheering up). It really helps to explain our programme to visitors...

So, if you want to watch it:

HipHop as a counseling tool - tried out at Chiedza

Volens, the Belgian organisation that sends me out, builds capacities of local Zimbabwe partner organisations to enhance and diversify their counselling of orphans and vulnerable children, using amongst others creative arts. 

Here, at Chiedza Child Care Centre, based in Waterfalls, Harare (Zimbabwe), they tried out urban dance and hiphop as a tool to have children express themselves and discuss issues like confidence, appearing sexy, trust etc. Enjoy!

Friend of ours gets evicted from her Zim farm

It is always a funny feeling when somebody you know is portrayed in the press. And this one is on the BBC. 

Catherine, a French friend of ours, had bought a farm in Zim just before the invasions began, and since it was protected under a bilateral agreement France-Zimbabwe, one of the last farmers to still have her farm. Until in February she's been kicked off. Here is a bit of her story as on the BBC website:

On February 6, a crowd of 30 men showed up on our land. Most of them were young, many of them wearing [President Mugabe's] Zanu-PF T-shirts.

I was away in South Africa visiting my son at university but my husband had stayed behind. We had a feeling that something could happen so we decided one of us should stay.

They told my husband that our farm was now being taken over by a local businessman. Their manner was boastful and arrogant. When I came back from South Africa a few days later, I was advised by the French embassy not to return to the farm (I'm originally from France). This is because in 2008 there were similar invasions of white-owned farms and it got quite violent. Back then, there were people threatening to kill us and we had to leave our farm for some time. This time, there was less violence, but I was in touch with my staff on the mobile from Harare. They told me the invaders had been menacing towards them and stopped them from working. This made my staff very angry, but they were under strict instructions from me not to lose it.

'Rent-a-crowd'

After a week, my husband and I returned to the farm. In the meantime we had obtained a court order in Harare saying the squatters had no right to our land...

Read the rest on the BBC website.

Bruno's Birthday Braai

Only the second time, but it felt a bit like a tradition. This Saturday, 13th of June, I turned 31, and that was the excuse to throw a little barbecue for our friends in Zim. I really like the vibe of our place at that time, we put up sofas in the garden, fabrics on the grass, people hang about and chat, smoke the waterpipe, play a bit of music. It's not a party atmosphere but chilled, with little groups colliding and separating...

It felt a bit funny, since last year's braai marked sort of our arrival, the beginning of our social life and networking. Compared to last year, there were maybe half the same people, but also a lot of missing ones, that have left the country, and lots of new ones. 

Capoeiristas, colleagues, neighbours, folks with kids, black, Indian, from Belgium and other expats, it's nice to see the mixture of people we hang out with.    

Several people asked me that eternal question: so, not sad that you're getting older. At first at a loss for an answer, I finally actually started saying that no, it was the opposite. It was another year of my life that was full and interesting, with learning and growing opportunities, new faces in different places, families expanding...  If I would like at my life and go: damn, already 31 and what have I accomplished, then I would feel sad. But now, no, I'm pretty content with what has happened and where I am currently... And isn't that the best birthday gift I can wish for myself?

Analysing my horoscope

One of our CouchSurfers this weekend (we again had like 5 people staying at the house), Catherine worked on a book with an astrologist and she helped me analyse my chart (conveniently done for free by this cool German website).  Can't say that I believe to much in this stuff, but it is always fun to use a tool to auto-analyse or discuss whether or not you have this personality. And with a bit of loose interpretation, you can actually make a lot of it stick...

So what came out of mine? I'm actually a triple Gemini, having it as a Zodiac sign, but also Mercury, the planet of Gemini, is in my First house, which is the House of Identity, and my sun is there  as well (ascendant), pretty rare feature, but that really enhances the Gemini characteristics.  And Gemini is the communicator, sharing and distributing information. Often teachers or journalists, they are represented by Mercury, who was the Messenger of the gods. Pretty cool huh. That First House should be read relating to the opposite seventh house, which has to do with my interaction with others. There I have Neptune, which is about exposure, travelling, getting to know other cultures and ways of thinking.

Then, next interesting feature was my fifth house, the House of Games, Sexual pleasure and relations to children. Well, I got a strong dose of that one. That is where my Moon is, another dominant influence and which symbolizes the motherly, caring side of me, which I would show through games and exciting things. Also, my True Node is there, an astoroide, which is supposedly my purpose, my meaning in this life. Mars it here too, the Warrior, which means that I would fight for the right to play and have fun (very true ;-)... 

Other things seemed less relevant, the Wounded Healer, Chiron, in my twelfth House, which has to do with the subconscious, and maybe would have indicated childhood trauma that is afterwards used to heal others or creativity. Can't really see what that is about. Anyway, it was interesting and fun, though I won't stop to check my daily horoscope from now on to see what I should do...

Waterviews...

Volens has crosscutting issues, themes that should run throughout all the programmes worldwide:
1. Gender
2. People with disabilities
3. Ecology/environment

In Southern Africa, we also added HIV/AIDS as an important issue that should be included in our approach, as well as child participation specifically for the programme I'm facilitating. 

Crosscutting means that though we have different activities, we always try to keep these themes in the back of our head and be sensitive about it. For example, if you organise 5 day workshops in Harare around food processing, it will be difficult to have women participate because they can hardly stay away from home so long. When you know that women are primarily involved with food processing, you have to adjust your programme to have more trainings closer to their homes and for less time. This is an example of how you can gender sensitive.

Sometimes it does mean sensitising our partners or their beneficiaries regarding these themes, which can be quite a task. Our programmes already ask a lot of time and effort, but sometimes you can work around these issues by simply building on other initiatives and benefit from those.  

Like here, when several embassies were organising a photo competition for children 10-14 year to illustrate the importance of water for 5th of June World Environment Day. 

Any tool such as photography or video can be used as an artistic self expression tool, and when we can have it focus on ecology, it's like killing two birds with one stone (hum, that doesn't sound very environment-friendly ;-).

In total, over 32 children from our Harare partners participated, sending in disposable camerasof each 15 pictures they had been given. The above picture, my personal favourite, was made by 14 year old Tinotenda from Chiedza Child Care Centre. 

He didn't win though, coming in a deserved fourth from over 600 pictures.

The winner was this picture: