Implementation
IMPLEMENTATION
MENTAL HEALTH UNDER CRISIS PERIOD took place in Pissouri Village in Cyprus from 18 to 26 of September 2021 and was implemented by ACPELIA organisation. The project manager was Nicolas Nikolaou and the trainers were Erma Georgiou and Kiriacos Stouppas. The activities where implemented were the below:
SUNDAY 19/09
-GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER:
Activity to encourage the getting known of all the participants.We were walking in the room with a paper with our name and a circle (face) and as we were walking we change all the times our papers and when the trainer says "stop"is suggesting to draw each time a specific part of the face for example eyebrows,eyes,lips and we continue until we make all the face and with this way,we have our portraits that they have drawn by almost all the participants.After, we put them at the wall with an envelope underneath and we could put some beautiful "presents'' to each person.
-PRESENTATION OF PROJECT,AIMS,GOALS & YOUTHPASS:
We did a presentation of the program and we talked about the project,the theatre of the Oppressed that was one of our main tools, but also we created our roules together and after they wrote their expectations, fears and contribution regarding the project.
-BIOGRAPHICAL THEATRE
The task was to write five minutes without stopping about a chosen topic.Later on these fragments were used as a base for text/monoloques/dialoque etc. The topic was what Oppression means to me.Afterwards we created an association map that was related to Oppression.In this exercise two participants were sitting in the middle of a sitting circle and were writing down what the group said. There was a big flip chart in the middle where they wrote down the topic of the mind map and the participants should tell their associations they had with this topic.
-BIOGRAPHICAL THEATRE II
We divided in 5 groups:
The first group had to choose 3 expressions for the mind map and each person to write a fragment individually and after they had to combine their texts in one and puzzle it together.They read the text out and reflected about it.The second group was in pairs of two. Every person chooses one expression from the mind map and every person finds an introduction question for an interview.One person got interviewed by the other person.The interviewed wrote down key notes during the interview and after they switch roles and when both people had been interviewed,they took notes and they put them in a text in first person perspective.The third group was also in pairs of two.One person got now in the role of the artist that had to put the statue in a specific position that represented for him the Oppression.After,the artist wrote a fragment of a story which he/she saw.At the same time,the person who had the role of the stature wrote from his/her perspective.At the end they shared their texts and gave feedback.The fourth group had to read a poem and share their thoughts and they wrote a monologue or a dialogue.The last group had to choose one postcard and to invent a character from the postcard to tell his/her/their stories.At the end,we made a debriefing and they shared their feelings and their thoughts about these activities.
MONDAY 20/9/2021
We started our session with Hatha yoga and breathing activities.At that time in Cyprus, we had the European Week of Sports (#Be active) and we participated through some of our sessions. Hatha classes provide an opportunity to stretch, unwind, and release tension, providing a good counterpoint to both busy lifestyles and cardio workouts.
While each class varies depending on the instructor, most classes last between 45 minutes and 90 minutes. Classes typically start with a gentle warm-up, advance to more physical poses, and end with a short period of meditation.
-ART THERAPY SESSION-DRAW YOUR BODY
All the participants lie on the floor and think about their body as a totality, and also about each of its constituent parts: fingers, head, mouth, tongue, legs, sex, eyes, hair, belly button, neck, elbows, shoulders, vertebrae, etc. They try to move the part of the body they are thinking about, whenever possible.
After a few minutes of concentration, the trainer gives each person a sheet of paper (the sheets of paper must all be the same size) and a pencil or felt pen (all of the same colour if possible, or else don't let the participants see what colour it is). The trainer asks each participant to draw their own body on the paper, with eyes firmly closed. Once this is done, the trainer asks the participants to write their names on the back of their drawings, still with their eyes closed. She then collects up the drawings, arranges them on the floor in any order, and tells everyone to open
their eyes and come and look at this impromptu exhibition. She asks them what strikes them most about the drawings - are the bodies naked or clothed, lying down or standing up, resting or working, in a relationship with objects or on their own, do they contain important details, such as the eyes or the sex organs or only general outlines?
Finally, the trainer invites them to try to identify their own drawing. This exercise can greatly sensitise the group: first, when everyone is thinking about their own body, about each individual part of their body; then, when
everyone is trying to reproduce by hand what they felt; lastly, after the exercise, when they pay much greater attention to themselves, to their movements, their way of sitting, their way of approaching other people, etc. The exercise makes the participants extremely conscious that we each of us are, first and foremost, a body. We may be capable of constructing the most profound abstract ideas and devising the most extraordinary inventions, but it is only because we have, before all else, a body - before we have a name, we inhabit a body! And we rarely think of our body as the fundamental source of all pleasures and all pains, of all knowledge and all research, of everything!
-TUESDAY 21/09/2021
- Participatory games of Image Theatre: In Image Theatre, still images are used to explore abstract concepts such as relationships and emotions, as well as realistic situations.In a circle, students create physical images in response to a given theme, for example,happiness,sadness,sorrow etc. They should do this quickly, without pre-thought. They are then invited to step into the centre of the circle and remake their image. Other participants can now add in their own still images. This could lead to an abstract group image or a tableau that is "dynamised" or brought alive through thought tracking or by adding sound or movement.
Pairs or small groups can also create their own images, where they take it in turns to "sculpt" each other into a shape and then find a way to put these shapes together. This is most effective if done without talking.
- IMPROVISATION: Improvisation, or improv, is a form of live theatre in which the plot, characters and dialogue of a game, scene or story are made up in the moment. Often improvisers will take a suggestion from the audience, or draw on some other source of inspiration to get started.Improvised shows can differ between different improv troupes, depending on their training, their goals, and their style. Sometimes improv is purely comedy-based, while other times it can be a mix of both comedy and drama, or just drama. Like scripted theatre - without the script, with the actors acting, directing themselves, writing the plot, and interacting with each other all at the same time without previous planning.
IMPRO ON A BENCH:
On the stage are 3 chairs put together next to each other like a bench.This is a game without spoken words.One actor comes on stage and sits down on a bench.A second character will enter.The task here is to drive away the person sitting on a bench only by acting without spoken words. This means that the person entering can try to find a character which might be disliked by the character which is currently on the stage.
WEDNESDAY 22/09
AQUA AEROBICS:
At the morning, participants had the chance to participate if they wanted in aqua aerobics fitness activity from the instructor Xenia Nicolaou,that also was one of our actions at the European Week #Be Active.
FORUM THEATRE: A technique pioneered by Brazilian radical Augusto Boal. A play or scene, usually indicating some kind of oppression, is shown twice. During the replay, any member of the audience ('spect-actor') is allowed to shout 'Stop!', step forward and take the place of one of the oppressed characters, showing how they could change the situation to enable a different outcome. Several alternatives may be explored by different spect-actors. The other actors remain in character, improvising their responses. A facilitator (Joker) is necessary to enable communication between the players and the audience.The strategy breaks through the barrier between performers and audience, putting them on an equal footing. It enables participants to try out courses of action which could be applicable to their everyday lives. Originally the technique was developed by Boal as a political tool for change (part of the Theatre of the Oppressed), but has been widely adapted for use in educational contexts.
Participants divided in four groups and they had to share personal stories with their group and at the end they choose a story and they had to represent it at the scene.The person,which had share his/her story,decided how to share the roles to the group and he could only watch the scene as a member of the audience and also had the opportunity to stop the scene at any point and change the flow of the scene.
CREATE YOUR OWN MASK: Participants created in couples their own masks and after,we asked them to decorate the mask,representing how they think others or the outside world sees them and also to decorate the inside of the mask,representing how they see themselves.Creating this mask help us to express what we haven't been able to express before.It let us think deeply about who we are, what is the "mask" that we wear on the outside and how that is similar to different from who we are inside.This activity assumes that we all have masks we wear, different aspects of ourselves that are seen or not seen on the outside.It's ok to have these things,and this process just helps us understand ourselves more,accept our different aspects more.We simply bring more awareness to this and practice embracing all of who we are.
THURSDAY 23/09
-PRESENTATION OF THE IDEAL IMAGE: One of the main activities that we used was "Image Theatre" and we started to deepen in it. Each participant created a character that had a struggle in his life and step by step, we connected their stories and made a small performance with characters in a struggle that are trying in each hand clap to create an ideal image. Afterwards,we discussed how it could be transferred in real life and what it symbolizes.
VISIT THE ANCIENT THEATRE OF KOURION:
In the evening, we visited Ancient Theatre Kourion at Episkopi and we talked about it's history and after we visited the center of Limassol, where participants had free time to get to know better the city that they were hosted in.
FRIDAY 24/09:
HIKING-PISSOURI:
Hiking route activity in Pissouri (Melanta route) to get known with the place of being and to get closer as teams.It was also,one of our actions as form of participation at #Beactive European Sport Week.
In the evening, we discussed how Covid era affected our lives,about the restrictions each country had to deal with and how it changed our lives,with negative and positive impact and how we can use these new tools in our daily lives from now and on.The participants did a presentation and it followed a discussion at the end.
SATURDAY 25/09
REFLECTION,EVALUATION &YOUTHPASSES:
-Reflection, evaluation of the program through a questionnaire, summing up and giving of youthpasses.
Our last "activity" was a way to say goodbye to our project and our participants. We created "stations" like a station to write something, a station to observe, a painting station etc.Enter your text here...