Projects

1. Projects in act

The SMILE"S MEDICINE project (June 2009 until now)

The Smile's medicine project was born after our visit to Kenya in September 2008. At that time, Fekat Circus artists were invited by Sarakasi Trust Hospital project to take part in entertaining the children in the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. The experience really inspired us. During our intervenition, the atmosphere in the hospital drastically changed and we felt useful. Therefore, once back to Ethiopia, we started the procedures in order to run a similar program in the pediatric ward of the Black Lion Hospital, the largest governmental hospital of the country.
The hospital's administration shown interest for the project and Fondation Alta Mane agreed in funding it. Thanks to their support, Fekat Circus artists attended an intensive training in "Hospital clownning" and in July 2009 started to provide entertaining activities in the paediatric ward of Black Lion Hospital. Our intents are to promote the healing process of the hospitalized children by creating a more child-friendly environment. Through clowning, story telling, painting and puppetry activities, we aim to improve the emotional and psychological well being of the patients, consequently stimulating better health conditions, atmosphere and recovery.
For further information, see the project's Executive Summary

The project is funded by Fondation Alta Mane www.altamane.org

2. Past projects

The EU Road Show in Etiopia (2009)

The EU Road Show in Ethiopia has been a pilot project sponsored by the Delegation of the European Union Commission to the Ethiopia. The project intentions were to spread awareness about road risks and female education through the medium of an entertaining circus & theatre performance all over Ethiopia.
The tour was implemented during the month of October and November 2009 by ten members of Fekat Circus, a theatre expert, a sound technician, a backstage assistant, a cameraman and a tour manager who covered in total 9000 Km, all on four wheels.
In total, 21 shows were performed in many different contexts (market areas, schools and central squares) in the eastern, southern and northern parts of Ethiopia. We estimate that approximately 21,500 people were reached during the whole tour.
When necessary, generally in the most remote areas, local translators were used to make clear the theatre part of the performance. At the end of each performance, audience was asked to come on stage and participate in the theatre performance, replacing the main actors in order to convince the " patriarchal father" to send her daughter to school.

It has been an extraordinary experience. We discovered how wonderfull is our country, how people love to come on stage to speak and, moreover, the power that circus has in attracting people and passing messages!

 

School for Life Project (2007)

The School for Life project was realized by the Fekat Circus From January to October 2007, thanks to the financial support of UNICEF-Ethiopia.
The project's aim was to promote awareness on HIV and tuberculosis among school aged children and youth trough a circus-theatre performance, followed by an open-forum with the students.
In total, we performed fourteen times in governmental primary and secondary school in the outskirts of Addis Ababa.
Approximately 8.000 students have participated and profit from the performances!

 

3. Projects proposals

We have several ideas and projects that are waiting for funds to be developed.
We briefly present some of them here below.. Give it a look!

Circus trainings to children & youth living in disadvantaged area of Addis Ababa

Since 2007, we have been providing circus training to children and youth living in the neighborhood surrounding our gym.
The Fekat's gym is located in a very poor area of the capital, devoid of any educational & recreational services for children & youth. This lack of stimulus increase the risk of further marginalizing the youth.
Circus training keeps youth away from risky life styles, promoting their psycho-social wellbeing. It increases their self-confidence, their creativity and problem solving skills, giving them an important set of tools that will help them to succeed in life!
In order to continue these activities, we need circus material (mattresses and juggling materials) and we believe trainers deserve to earn an unpretentious salary. We also look forward to a small budget in order to organize performances for the community. Performances are as important as trainings for the reinforcement of the artist's personality!
Support us to let this activity carry-on!

Circus trainings for children living in orphanages

As in most large cities in Africa, Addis Ababa faces pressing challenges in addressing the increasing number of children who have lost one or both parents. According to the Welfare Monitoring Survey run in 2004, Addis Ababa accounts for 154.643 orphans and has 34 officials' Childcare Institutions (orphanages), where 2204 children live. It is clear that children living in Institutions, devoid of parental care and affection, are more vulnerable and generally suffer from emotional and behavioural problems.
A baseline survey conducted in 2008 has found that "children in the institutions are aggressive, hot tempered, and easily get irritated, angry or annoyed when compared to other non-institution children".
Fekat Circus performs every year in several orphanages and is interested to start working with the children in these institutions. We are confident that through circus trainings and group games children will release stress, improve their social skills, and further develop their potential.
Help us to realize this project!

Circus trainings in the Rehabilitation Institute for Juvenile Offenders in Addis Ababa

The Rehabilitation Institute for Child Offenders is a governmental institution for minors, eight to eighteen years old who have committed small offenses.
The institute generally hosts 80 up to 100 minors who are detained for a maximum period of one year.
The institute is aimed to rehabilitate those minors but, due to budget constraints, very few rehabilitations activities are foreseen. During the week, most of the young prisoners attend the internal school but during the week-ends minors are locked most of their time into their rooms.
The Fekat Circus Cooperative members are committed to entertain and facilitate the rehabilitation process of the detained minors through the provision of circus trainings and group games. The activity would be run inside the institution twice per week (Saturday and Sunday) and all the hosted minors would be allowed to participate.