The Świętochłowice community is heavily socially affected by mass unemployment caused by restructuring in the local coal mining and steel manufacturing. Children and youth live in an environment which is not conducive to personal development and social marginalisation is an imminent threat. Existing welfare provision is not sufficient and additional programmes must be implemented.
Most of our children and youth have been experiencing violence both at home and in the community. Stigmatisation is very strong and leads to low self-esteem and confidence. The lack of positive role models and the low self-esteem prevent children from believing they themselves could make a difference in their community.
The goal of the project was encourage socially marginalised children to engage with their community and build the sense of citizenship by using drama techniques.
The project has trained 15 young people to engage actively in drama projects in their community. An established method of 'Black Theatre' was used to inspire youth with knowledge gaps or learning difficulties. The project offered a drama, finance management and theatre production workshops and the pupils produced 6 shows for an audience of 480 people. Young people were involved in planning the budget for props and sets and they themselves produced environmentally-friendly props.
The project targeted socially marginalised children aged 10-13 in Świętochłowice.