ARROWSA Bechet team off to Indra Congress Bethlehem

ARROWSA Bechet Co-ordinator Bhekithemba Dlamini and ARROWSA participant Nonhle Ndwalane flew off to Bethelehem on the 18th July for the week long Indra Congress.  At the congress Bheki will present at the symposium of practitioners and academics and he and Nonhle will perform at the Indra Group presentation afternoon.  They will also share South African culture at the Intercultural sharing evening.  Everyday workshops will be presented on drama, dance, music or visual arts.  The workshops will culminate in a festival at the end of the week. Their attendance is partially funded by the British Council.

The Indra Congress Bethlehem's schedule below:

Date	Morning 1 10.00 – 11.15	Morning 2 11.30 – 1.00 pm	Lunch Break at University 1.00-2.00	Afternoon 1 2.00 – 3.30	Afternoon 2 3.30 – 5.00	Evening 7.00
Sunday 17th of July	Free activities	Free activities	Lunch			Opening & Welcome Music Concert or Dance performance
Monday 18th July	-          Welcome -          Workshops Dance –Circus –Theater – Puppetry & Street Parades Core symp/Co-ordinators	-          Workshops Dance –Circus –Theater – Puppetry & Street Parades	Lunch	Symposium	Indra Groups Presentations 4 groups	Theater Performance by Al-Harah
Tuesday 19th July	-          Workshops Dance –Circus –Theater – Puppetry & Street Parades Co-ordinators	-          Workshops Dance –Circus –Theater – Puppetry & Street Parades Symposium core group	Lunch	Symposium	Visit to Hebron All	Social Cultural sharing
Wednesday 20th July	-          Workshops Dance –Circus –Theater – Puppetry & Street Parades Symposium core group	-          Workshops Dance –Circus –Theater – Puppetry & Street Parades	Lunch	Symposium	Indra Groups Presentations 4 groups	Tour in Bethlehem Area Dinner at Ein Restaurant in Makhrour Music evening
Thursday 21st  July	-          Workshops Dance –Circus –Theater – Puppetry & Street Parades Symposium core group	-          Workshops Dance –Circus –Theater – Puppetry & Street Parades	Lunch	Trip to Dead Sea & Jericho or  Jerusalem	Dead Sea & Jericho or  Jerusalem	Dead Sea & Jericho or  Jerusalem
Friday 22nd  July	All Day rehearsal Symposium 6	All Day rehearsal Symposium 6	Lunch	All Day rehearsal Symposium 6	All Day rehearsal Symposium 6	Presentations
Saturday 23rd July	Local Visits	Presentations from Local Civil Society Organisations	Lunch	Free Exchange visits between young people	Evaluation
Sunday 24th of July	Local Visits	Free time	Lunch	Evaluation	Good Bye	Celebrations
Monday 25th of July	Departure

Bechet High ARROWSA

shine at  the finals of 

Ethekwini Abasha Bash Passbook Competition 2016

Led by Bechet High educator Bhekithemba Dlamini the group performed their devised programme on the theme 'Freedom is not for Free' at the Westville Civic Centre in June 2016.  The participants said it was an unforgettable exciting experience to be able to perform on such a big stage in front of a large audience.

In the July school holidays the Bechet Abasha Bash learners visited Ethekwini Local History Museums: Cato Manor; Old House and Bergtheil.  At the museums they had their 'passbooks' stamped as part of their participation in the Ethekwini Abasha Bash Passbook Competition.  They wait with great anticipation to hear the results of the competition at the Prize Giving in September 2016.

PALMIET NATURE RESERVE 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL COMMUNITY WALK 2016

ARROWSA once more led a community educational activity at the Palmiet Nature Reserve thanks to  an invitation from Warren Friedman and Jean Senogles of the Palmiet Nature Reserve Committee. Thanks to Palmiet Nature Reserve staff Sandile for facilitating the use of the well kept hall and premises at the reserve.

Mary Lange, ARROWSA Chair and facilitator, once more led a community walk in the Palmiet Nature Reserve to the iGwalagwala Cliff archaeological dig in March 2016.  Mary started the morning with a brief introduction to the physical evidence found in the area before the group went on a walk to the site.  Due to a massive storm in Durban prior to the walk the dig had a large amount of soil washed into it despite the tarpaulin cover. After the walk interest was shown by other tourist sites for Mary to take their guides on the walk as part of their training in the use of experiential and interactive tour guiding.

Palmiet Nature Reserve and Bergtheil Museum partnership with eThekwini Local History Museums' Passbook Competition continues-

March-April school visits 

Yellowwood Primary School grade 5’s visited the Palmiet Nature Reserve and the Bergtheil Museum in March 2016. Over 130 learners and the teachers attended and their visit was part of the Local History Museum's Passbook Competition.

Nature walks were led by Palmiet Nature Reserve Committee members Jean Senogles and Warren Friedman. ARROWSA chair and facilitator,  Mary Lange, introduced the learners to physical evidence of the cross cultural occupation of the iGwalagwala shelter and surrounding areas in prehistory and recent history.

Big thanks to the Palmiet Nature Reserve field rangers Jeremiah Sihlangu, Philip Mnembe and Sandile Duma for their great help.

The learners picnicked at the Palmiet Nature Reserve before going on to the Bergtheil Museum. At the Bergtheil Museum historian Alvine Calboutin facilitated the learners tour of the museum.  Gogo Aslina Madikizela and Mary entertained and educated the learners in the Bergtheil Museum's teaching room with oral narratives.

In April 2016 Reservoir Hills Primary School visited the Palmiet Nature Reserve, Bergtheil Museum and Pinetown Museums as part of the eThekwini Local History Museums' Passbook Competition. 

Resmount Primary School's Grade 6 (88 learners)  and Grade 5 (92 learners) classes attended the Palmiet Nature Reserve on the 13th and 14th April 2016 respectively. Their experiential environmental awareness  and cultural usage of the natural heritage by inhabitants of the PNR's past  was facilitated by Mary (ARROWSA) , Jean (PNR Committee), Johannes, Phillip and Sandile (PNR field rangers). Nick Evans also presented on both days an experiential interactive educational talk on snakes and  myths and reality related to them . 

The school's attendance was part of the eThekwini Passbook Competition and they therefore went on to the Bergtheil Museum after the Palmiet Nature Reserve in order to view the exhibition on the Palmiet Nature Reserve and other cultural artefacts linked to the area's heritage. At the Bergtheil Mary and Alvine facilitated the museum tours. Before the learners visited the exhibition at the Bergtheil Alvine linked the museum to the Palmiet by showing the learners large photographs of early settlers holding rock pythons that were hunted in the Palmiet area.  

She also told them a story of the Koningkramer boy who had an encounter with a Rock Python in the Palmiet area. She emphasised that these reptiles are now protected in the Palmiet Nature Reserve.

Below is the latest newsletter from ARROWSA international affiliate Indra CEO David Oddie regarding the upcoming global youth intercultural exchange congress in Bethlehem.  If anyone would like to support the South African team's attendance please contact ARROWSA chair Mary Lange at marylange@telkomsa.net Indra Congress  2016 Bethlehem APPEAL

Dear friends of Indra During the week of the 17th July we are holding the 2016 Indra Congress in Bethlehem.  We are the guests of Marina Barham of Al Harah Theatre in collaboration with Dr Hala Yamani at Bethlehem University.  This is a significant event which, over several years, Marina and I have worked towards.   The current level of tension in the West Bank has led to the decision that the Congress would only be open to people over 18 years old.  Sadly this excludes a large percentage of our usual participants for these live events.  We do, however, plan to link up the Indra hubs digitally to enable wider virtual participation. It is also unfortunate that professional colleagues and friends of Marina in the Arab world will also be excluded as the Israeli authorities will not grant them access to the West Bank.  Despite this, we are gathering from the Indra hubs a group of young practitioners, educators and activists who are keen to show solidarity with our friends in Beit Jala and are determined to attend.  For some of these young participants raising the resources to travel is a major obstacle. I am therefore making an appeal to help build a travel fund to help in getting participants to Bethlehem.  It will be a major life experience for them and an opportunity to share practice, ideas and experience with arts workers from Al Harah and the Palestinian Arts Organisation Network. Small contributions are welcomed and appreciated: small amounts quickly add up towards an air fare.  If you would like to contribute or you can recommend sources of sponsorship and support, do please get in touch with me. Best wishes David David Oddie indracongress@hotmail.co.uk

For all educators in the Durban area - 
please spread the word.

ARROWSA is affiliated internationally to The Indra Congress. Below is their latest newsletter.  ARROWSA is very excited about the intercultural exchange project, 'Checkpoints', that is going to happen between ARROWSA Bechet Indra group and teenagers in Cyprus, Plymouth, UK and Derry/Londonderry, N. Ireland (see the section below on South Africa and Checkpoints).  Dear Friends The 2016 Indra Congress will take place in Bethlehem during the week of the17th July.  We are guests of our dear friend Marina Barham of Al Harah Theatre and Dr Hala Yamani of Bethlehem University. We were due to hold this event in 2015 but felt we had to postpone it due to the uncertain political situation in the region.  The ongoing situation is still very volatile and is unpredictable for the foreseeable future.  However, we thought it was very important to demonstrate our solidarity with our friends and colleagues in Beit Jala, so the Congress will go ahead. The Congress, Palestine through the Eyes of Indra, will be an opportunity for practitioners from around the world, in existing and potential Indra Congress centres, to come together and share their practice, ideas and experience, especially in relation to the role of theatre and the arts in settings of protracted conflict.  There will be a wide range of workshop activities, training opportunities, sharing of performances/presentations, speakers, discussion groups and social activities.  The training will be led by members of Al Harah Theatre and members of the Palestinian Arts Organisations network.  Due to the uncertain political situation in the West Bank at this time, the invitation is open only to participants over the age of 18 years. The practitioner Congress will also include a parallel academic symposium, What’s it got to do with HE? attended by Indra group co-ordinators, academics and practitioners, and generously hosted by the University of Bethlehem.  The Symposium will discuss the role of Higher Education institutions in supporting grassroots community arts initiatives in settings of occupation and conflict. During the week of the Congress we plan to promote a series of small-scale events in each of the Indra hubs around the world, which will focus on raising awareness about Palestine.  These events will range from workshops and performances to open meetings: the plan is to explore ways of linking all these activities through digital technology.

Other News

The Indra web-site Indra has a new web-site, which has been designed by our colleagues at Study Hall Education Foundation, Lucknow in India.  We are grateful to Urvashi Sahni for hosting this development and for the technical skills of Anand Chitravanshi who has designed and built the site. The web-site (www.theindracongress.com)  sets out Indra’s Mission, provides details about the core Indra groups and wider partners in the network and promotes recent and upcoming events.  We are hoping to create a content rich site with regularly updated information and news of activities.  We are therefore encouraging participants, partners and wider friends to contribute observations, thoughts and comments to stimulate ongoing discussion and debate. Start contributing NOW!

The University of Plymouth Indra now has a formal Memorandum of Agreement with the University of Plymouth to work in partnership for mutual benefit. Indra will look to facilitate opportunities for University students and staff to engage with its international network of practitioners, theatres, universities and schools, for placements, teaching or research purposes. The University will provide opportunities for Indra to engage with staff and students and will offer some administrative and infrastructural support. Both parties will promote each other’s activities through their web-sites, newsletters and other channels. The partnership was launched in the summer of 2015 when the University generously offered us the use of The House theatre space for the whole week, free of charge.

South Africa Following the summer Congress, Alix Harris from Plymouth was invited by Mary Lange and ARROWSA to visit Durban and lead a series of physical theatre workshops for Indra participants and students at UKZN (University of KwaZulu-Natal).  A party of young people from Durban also visited Plymouth to take part in further shared, applied theatre training.

Checkpoints During the 2015 Congress co-ordinators from South Africa, Cyprus, N.Ireland and Plymouth discussed the idea of an intercultural exchange project, which would lead up to the Bethlehem Congress.  The project was initiated by Mary Lange in South Africa, who, reflecting on recent developments in her country, commented: ‘With the raising of racism's ugly head once more in South Africa, intercultural programmes locally and internationally that address negative stereotypes are essential.’ The theme of the project will be Checkpoints  and  it will ask participants to research, identify, explore, represent and discuss physical,  geographical and political checkpoints past and present in their own societies, towns  cities and countries, and how they can be challenged and overcome.  They will then share their experiences through social media and the web-site

Projects in the pipeline Bethlehem Indra Congress July 2016 An EU and EU partner country based Youth Mobility project July 2017 Athens (application to Erasmus +). An Indra UK project building a network of safe, creative spaces for marginalised young people facing growing discrimination and abuse in our towns and cities; challenging the alarming level of bigotry and prejudice emerging across the UK and Europe. Durban Indra Congress, South Africa 2018.

Bethleham awaits Indra, Namaste, David with Tim and Dawn

Images: Marina Barham (right) pictured at the 2013 Indra Congress in Derry with participants from Al Harah Theatre’s Indra group with Urvashi Sahni (centre). Young people from Beit Jala, The West Bank, in digital communication with participants at the 2015 Plymouth Congress Members of ARROWSA leading workshops and assemblies at Stoke Damerel School, Plymouth, UK. Copyright © 2016 The Indra Congress, All rights reserved. You have received this email as your details are held on the Indra mailing list . If you no longer wish to receive updates and news you can unsubscribe by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page. Our mailing address is: The Indra Congress The Old Woollen Mill 77 West Street Plymouth, Ply PL4 6 United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list