15 students attended the training (mainly boys from 15 to 22 years old).  Most of them discovered Microsoft Office software.  They were really enthousiastic and expecting tests on previous lessons to be sure that they understood  them well.

The main tasks were:

- to create/save a text document on Microsoft Word, containing a table of contents, paragraphs,  images, tables.

- to realise a Powerpoint presentation with pictures animation on their favorite  subjects.

- to use Excel to manage data and create related charts.  We illustrated the course with statistics on India environment and social problems.

The main difficulty was the communication in English but some of the students translated for us and for them. Another difficulty was the daily electrical shutdowns but we all manage to work in good condition.

We spent a great time sharing our daily meal with the students and the association staff. The students were motivated to learn and were really implicated.

For us this mission in Kootukkural was a great human experience and we thank Perumal and Lalida for their kindness and time. They make a great job in a great country.

  

David Chiron & Nadia Bouazza

Our work focused on theatre games and exercises for children. The main objectives we wanted to reach were:

• developping concentration and attention
• sharing experiences and expectations
• working by team and inside a group
• improving their own creativity
• helping each other and listening
• make them think on how they can improve their work

Everyday after a short but intense warm up, the lesson started with an exercise proposed by one of the students; followed by 4 or 5 new games (physical or cerebral games, psychological tools and advice).

The group was very enthousiastic and dynamic. They welcomed us with large smiles every day.

Thanks a lot to Perumal, Lalida, and Adecom, Kootukkural staff.

Fiona and Emilie

Mr.Pradeepkumar was given welcome speech to all.

Mr. Ezhumalai was talked about KKK’s Aim and Children’s program. And also he spoke to the Village Adolescents about to start a night Educational center.

Hope that every one are fine with good health. Here myself and Perumal are fine and our work is going on well. Already we informed you that we are planning to visit France in the month of April 2011. According to that we are planning our schedule to visit your place.

Our main objective is to raise funding sources for ADECOM’s development activities for the year 2011. In this aspect we are willing to share our experiences with your friends, companies for supporting for our future activities for the women and children capacity skill development and their empowerment.

We would be happy that to arrange for our sleep, food and meet the friends is really helpful. For your response only we will make our plan more meaningfully and spend our time with you. Hope that this is right time to talk with you for all the arrangements. If you need any clarity kindly write to us for our preparation.

Thanking you,

In solidarity,

P.LALIDA & S.PERUMAL
ADECOM Network
Mobile: +9442525273 & 9486947940

The main objective of my Planete Urgence mission was to give a 2 weeks computer training Class. The level 1 training is dedicated to Kootu K Kural team members and other young trainees to increase their basics skills using a computer

• how to start it and stop a computer without been afraid of making a mistake
• how to use Windows operating system to save, order file and folders
• how to write letters, report, notices using MSWord but we also saw a fews things on MS-Excel.

Apart from computer skill transfer, it has been a great opportunity to share very nice times with 8 young dalits who spoke only a few words of English. Trainees but also Kootu K Kural staff were so nice that we had many opportunities (trip to Villanur, lunch time, …)   to have funny conversations which I would rather call non verbal exchanges. I learned so many things about Dalit People and life in Tamil Nadu from them !

I also was very lucky to have 2 opportunities to see Kootu K Kural performances :

one  in Villanur training center                 during a festival in Rameseram

Finally, my warmest thanks to Perumal and Lalida for their warm and friendly welcome, they really changed my stay in India to a wonderful and unforgettable personal experience.

Olivier PAREJA
France

Children Festival 2010

Cultural Programme

In the festival, they organized the children cultural performance. Dance, Pariyattam, song, speeches and play were performed by the children in the festival. Children Diary was released by the Mr. Ravichandiran, A member of science Forum and received by children club member Meenachi. The Festival presided over by Ms. Lalida, Managing Trustee, and ADECOM Network. Teacher Mr. Dhandapani, Mr. Nagasundharam were also participated in the festival.

Master. Ajith Kumar has given the welcome address and Master. Ezhilarasan has given the key notes of the Festival. 300 students were participated in the Children Festival.

During  holidays children are crazy and this constitutes a big task for the parents. Villages Children play in Lake side, pond and River side, it is dangerous for the children. This kinds of Holidays Training Camp aims at improving Children Protection and increasing their knowledge. The training camp promotes the notion of citizenship for the nation, Mr. A. Elumalai added.

Kootukkural President Mr. Perumal said that  this camp had been organized in a difficult context. This was the first year the camp took place, because of the success of this event it has been decided to renew every year. Theatre, Yoga, Kathe, Dance, Song, Drawing, story telling, Puppet show and Music are the core activities of the camp whose organizers are the kootukkural team and its volunteers.

This kind of Holidays Training camp intends to improve the value of New Human Resources for the Nation. Benefits are also the Country and Personal Development, added Mr Perumal.

Mr. S. Perumal and his team members will be organized this camp. They will invite the special couch for this camp. The special trainers should involve the process to develop the creativity of the children. Kootukkural planning to invite nearly 30 children for this 20 days camp

The actual theatre genders:

Actually there are four actual forms of theatre witch are traditional’ ones or « Folk », the scene theatre or « placement’s theatre », the most recently « oppressed people theatre » and the « Dalit theatre ».

Traditional forms are presents above all in South India and for Tamil Nadu are about Therukkoothu.

Therukkoothu is a street theatre, said for « education and pastime » mainly presented in a context of social and religious celebrations like death or puberty celebration. It mix songs and traditional dance, begins with a Ganesh and Sarasvati invocation and is able to finish early the next morning. Roles, even if female ones are played only by men costumed and maked up. The Komali comments played situations directing spectators’ trough a moral bias socially or religiously correct. Controlled by superior’s castes, elite’s and directing ones, this traditional theatre stay a way to proclaim and perpetuate Brahman ideology about castes hierarchy, witch is a planed transmission of negatives values like Karma and Dharma’s theory (fatalism), superior’s castes submission, women’s secondary status… using sacred and profanes notions to paralyse reflex ion of oppressed people like Dalit*, tribal and earth less ».

The scene’s theatre

Teaches by English to Indians then reprised by against-colonisation movements, today many movie’s actors uses it to treat about problems like water lack, pollution or health…

If that form of theatre applies to sensibylize and proposes some issues, as well it’s not a « popular » theatre. Only played in big cities by professional and paid actors, with important and modern means, it is aimed at middle class only witch isn’t principally concerned by problems posed. On the one hand. It isn’t an exchange or interactive theatre as spectators aren’t invited to participate.

The Indian « oppressed people theatre»’s birth.

In the 60’s, traditional forms are used by Dravidian’s organisations to demystify dominant culture based on « inferior’s and superior’s castes » ideology. This theatre was attempting to act against fatality, superstitions and women’s inferiority to create into those Dravidians populations respect about their own and pride to be issued from the first people who were living the country at least giving them a possibility to participate on manifestations, meeting and protestation’s walking, and in this way to bring up their voices against dominator’s forces.

In the 70’s many NGOs, socials and secular’s actions, activist’s groups are emerging in Tamil Nadu using culture’s medias to focus looks on socials inequalities problems, gender and caste’s discriminations, industrialisation’s stupidities and their economic development’s justifications.

Since the 80’s, the popular theatre is defined like a « for people and by people theatre » is more and more used by NGOs to « arouse people ». This « oppressed people theatre » is diversified in several ways like « Women theatre », «  Black theatre », «  psychological theatre », « Dalit theatre »… each one changing with its own vision on theatre and communitarian’s potential for action.

« Dalit theatre »

Dalit theatre joins « popular education and Dalit community’s development » activities leaded by NGOs as non formal educating tool.

TO CALL OUT TO, SHOW, WAKE UP – TO BECOME AWARE OF, LUCIDITY

This « immutable, establish and incontestable order under the name of religion or traditions » perpetuated by generations and generations anesthetized consciences, critic mind and revolt. Proposing current life situations of the villagers, oppressing and all sort of unjust ones, or means order problems, theatre aims at make them conscientious of the oppressive, unjust, abnormal or illegal character they undergo. A critic analysis about the situations played is presented to the villagers to propose them to step back from their own life.

MESSENGER – TO SENSIBILISE, INFORM and EDUCATE – TO USE LAWS – RIGHTS…

NGOs informs spectators about Humans Rights and existing laws witch are able to protect them , do some prevent environment’s questions always proposing a critic analysis.

TO GUIDE, PROPOSE WITHOUT OBLIGE – AUTONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND COLLECTIVE MOVEMENT – FIGHT, LIBERATION

NGOs want Dalit villagers to form an active movement, strong and stand by and the most of possible autonomic for their own rights fighting’s respect, personal and collective development with-in society, for Liberation. Dalit theatre gives directions and alternatives but any solutions as they want villagers to become actors of their own development.

Dalit Theatre’s Ethic as concerned NGOs wrote it :

- “Since Nazis is reflected in Dalit oppression, Dalit need a platform or a forum to promote struggle ideologies for true democracy and liberation just like the struggle against Nazism.

- Dalit theatre should be a counteracting force wherever there is Hindu influence since it has perpetuated marginalisation on the basis of Varnashrama Dharma.

- Dalit theatre is political theatre, as also rebellion theatre in appropriate situations.

- Dalit theatre should be based on the real life situation and the concrete experiences of Dalit. Abstraction is taboo, for it can only be like the grease paint which camouflages actuality.

- The dialect, body movement, story line, the message and the vision will be just as in the actual Dalit’s life situations. There will be no make up and costumes.

- Dalit theatre will question the dominant culture and value systems.

- Gender justice will be focused upon in the presentations.

- Dalit theatre is aggressive in nature and will express strong feelings and emotions.”

Topics and texts

Texts are usually written by the NGO’s members as dialogs including sometimes discourses. The language is a familiar’s one to be understand by everyone. When the « text » isn’t written, actors first choose the topics and make some theatrics’ improvisations, according them about the story line.

The performance propose to the public an installed code’s « destruction » work and a « rebuild » work with « their » own world according their own codes in all fields. Topics are many and varied: Human Rights – Policy – Economy – Religion – Environment- Education –health- Social Life – Industrialisation – Agriculture…

A few examples respecting child: life’s right for the girls, free expression and participation’s life rights, education‘s right, child labour and child exploitation’s refusal.

…respecting women: men’s violence, male’s domination in current life and sexual abuses, lack society status for the women, and all other’s discriminations.

NGOs generally « specialises » their action in favour of one cause like Women respect, child or agriculture’s questions…

Modest means:

Respecting materials means, actors are just using simple’s distinct signs like a scarf as a waist or turban, borrowed from the village’s people. When there’s some light, it’s just to demarcate the playing place and sometimes with fire witch is a subject of fascination and an emotions’ support. Music is used to make a link with the millenarian Indian music culture and played by actors using traditional and local’s instruments.

Actors are very often NGO’s members all amateurs but sometimes child and women of the village are playing and they’ll happen in near by villages to proclaim ideas of their own fighting.

Actor’s game and taking place performance

Dalit Theatre wants to be an emotion theatre where the actor seeks to touch earth’s spectator before his intellect even if the opposite’s technique is usually used. It’s an interactive game; villagers are invited to react and also to become actors themselves in the hope that « fiction » becomes « reality » to permit the beginning of themselves working in, explore their own emotions and make birth a new look for their personality and world.

Play is in the evening on the main place’s village introduced by actors without any information and playing music to attract villagers. The public settles around actors and the performance begins with Dalit’s songs liberation’s ones inspired from traditional ones,

Then actors announce the topic calling out to the public with their finger. Play is composed by several short’s scenes separated by songs dances and discourses, action’s appealing, revolt and liberation’s one.

At the end the company normally propose a debate to the villagers offering them a platform to exchange about treated topics, to motive and feeder action groups.

Conclusion

Dalit Theatre became a fighting symbol witch is quickly with-in NGOs but for witch the ethic is staying vague. A similar practise should give to Dalit Theatre more force and echo in the messages. Because it’s a « become aware of » tool but also a joy and emotion driver as well for spectators as actors, Dalit Theatre should be a personal and collective structure’s tool, as much as for revolutionary actions.

(*) dalit means oppressed people and designs untouchables.
Theatre Full Text

The objective of my mission is to help this group of 11 persons in their work off acting. Indeed i have 3 working axis:

- How to positionnate their voices

- moving in an area

- expression off differents feelings

For it, i make them making several exercises everyday to make them progress step by step, according to the needs of each.

I evalue this 3 elements by making them working in some small improvisations. Indeed i give them a subject and they have to create a scene .Alone, a group of 2, 4 or

all together.

Exercises:

Examples

· The group make a circle and they pronunciation clearly and precisely the « a e i o u » with the good way

· Space’s movements: working by crying, by laughing, like an old person

· Exercises of the mirror: work on their concentration and the

· Mime by making some faces for example

Different Improvisation’s scene:

• A political speech
• Scene in a hospital
• Scene in a bus
• Seller and buyer of different things: magic soap, a pen, a cell
• phone, magic shoes, and after the seller become the buyer
• Tell a story, love story, by singing and dancing
• The phone exercises 2 persons discuss on the phone:

One wants to hang up and the other one has to continue to talk

because she doesn’t t want to hang up

Working of two scenes of the the play on Moliere “The little Wife’s School”

I have asked them to tell me the story of this scene, to definite exactly their characters, the emotions and also to associate this characters with an animal.

It s really interesting to see the result off their job! How they progress, the cohesion of the Group and how every person takes their place in this group.