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B4YouthTheatre

Teaching literacy and math through theatre, dance and music to more than 300 children in Liberia, West Africa.

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B4YouthTheatre

B4YouthTheatre

B4YouthTheatre

B4YouthTheatre

B4YouthTheatre

Teaching literacy and math through theatre, dance and music to more than 300 children in Liberia, West Africa.

Teaching literacy and math through theatre, dance and music to more than 300 children in Liberia, West Africa.

Teaching literacy and math through theatre, dance and music to more than 300 children in Liberia, West Africa.

Teaching literacy and math through theatre, dance and music to more than 300 children in Liberia, West Africa.

Jasmine Blanks
Jasmine Blanks
Jasmine Blanks
Jasmine Blanks
2 Campaigns |
Monrovia/Mt. Barclay, Liberia
$260 USD 7 backers
0% of $45,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Highlights
Mountain Filled 2 Projects Mountain Filled 2 Projects

Short Summary

Giving Liberian youth a voice for their own issues and ownership of their art.  Working at 5 program sites across Monrovia and Mt. Barclay, with approximately 300 children, we will build on our 3 year legacy of writing an original play with music and dance that focuses on community issues and change from the youth perspective.  Many of our participants are orphans or high-risk in other ways due to 14 years of civil war.  Inconsistent education and no access to arts training has left these children with a void and a need to express their greatest concerns.  

Program Director, Jasmine Blanks, Harford County, Maryland, USA music teacher, MPP University of Minnesota, BS Music Education Florida A&M University, has run this program through small contributions and grants for two years.  This year's expanded partnership with Liberian government entities including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and University of Liberia, aims to train 20 Liberian young adults to lead 5 program sites in this tested program model that teaches literacy and math through the artistic process of play-writing using the Public Achievement model of community organizing.  

B4 (Burning Barriers, Building Bridges) Youth Theatre has received commendation from US-based organizations including Samaritan's Purse,  and the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for its impact for youth in Liberian communities.

Contributions make it possible to:

1- Train 20 young adults during a 2 week seminar

2- Run an 8 week program for 300 youth across 5 program sites

3- Write an original play on issues of importance to Liberian youth

4- Hold 5 community performances and a cumulative performance at Monrovia City Hall, the largest performance venue in Liberia

5- Produce a high-quality DVD of the performance with documentary segments

6- Hold round table discussions between program sites for youth development and community empowerment on these issues

7- Enable youth to share their concerns with Liberian government officials 

8-Become officially established as a 501c3 so that we can reach a variety of contributors

 

What We Need & What You Get

Program Budget (in US dollars)

Director and Staff provisions:
Flight                                      $2000/person
Housing                                  $1740/person [$25/day for 10 weeks]
Food                                       $1400/person [$20/day for 10 weeks]
Stipend                                   $1,000/person
Teaching Tools                         $1,000/Discipline [music, dance, theatre]
Individual Total                        $7,140/person X 5 people
Director and Staff Total              $35,700

Trainees:
Stipend                                   $100/person X 22 people
Trainee Total                                 $2200

Venues:
Fendell Campus auditorium and dormitory space
5 Local Venues for rehearsals and performances (churches, town hall buildings, etc)
Monrovia City Hall

Transportation:
5 buses for each of the following events (30 participants at 5 locations):
- Field trip
- Final performance
1 SUV daily (7 rotating team members between locations)
Fuel for SUV                                   ($600)

**Performance Budget (in US dollars)
Advertising                                $300
Program Printing                        $300
Costumes                                 $1000- higher than 2010 due to more                                                                                                                                   `                                                 participants

Sound Equipment                       $400
Fuel for Generators                     $500
Stage Set and Props                   $500
*Transportation for Audience Guests $100
PERFORMANCE TOTAL                      $3,100

       
Venue (Cost not included): Monrovia City Hall
*In 2010, more than 50 young children ages 5-10 were safely picked up for the show and escorted home.
**Budget can be decreased by in-kind donations.
PROGRAM TOTAL                        $41,000

 

Establishment as 501c3 and US advertising costs/information for sponsors

ADMINISTRATIVE TOTAL              $2000

 

OVERALL TOTAL                          $43000 (minus indiegogo fees of nearly  $2000)

 

What you get:

Sponsors $5000+

- Listed on website as a Program Sponsor (http://burningbarriersliberia.wordpress.com/)

- Listed on program and Souvenir booklet

- Mentioned during our Special Thanks at the end of the performance (included on the DVD)

- Receive a copy of the DVD including the performance and documentary segments

- Receive a copy of the 2012 original play with student actor signatures

- Receive copies of the 2011 and 2010 original plays

- Signed copy of cast photo poster

- Reserved seating and an invitation for two persons to attend the VIP reception immediately following the performance. (*if you decide to attend the cumulative performance in Liberia- not funded by our organization- we wish we could!)

Sponsors $1000+  

- Mentioned in Special Thanks article on website (http://burningbarriersliberia.wordpress.com/)

- Listed on Souvenir booklet

- Mentioned during our Special Thanks at the end of the performance (included on the DVD)

- Receive a copy of the DVD including the performance and documentary segments

- Receive a copy of the 2012 original play with student actor signatures

- Receive copies of the 2011 and 2010 original plays

- Signed copy of cast photo poster

- Reserved seating (*if you decide to attend the cumulative performance in Liberia- not funded by our organization- we wish we could!)

Sponsors $500+

- Mentioned in Special Thanks article on website (http://burningbarriersliberia.wordpress.com/)

- Mentioned during our Special Thanks at the end of the performance (included on the DVD)

- Receive a copy of the DVD including the performance and documentary segments

- Signed copy of cast photo poster

Sponsors $100+

- Mentioned in Special Thanks article on website (http://burningbarriersliberia.wordpress.com/)

- Receive a copy of the DVD including the performance

Sponsors under $100

- Mentioned in Special Thanks article on website (http://burningbarriersliberia.wordpress.com/)

- 20% off cost of DVD of performance

 

*If we do not raise the entire amount, priority goes to program implementation.  We may run fewer program sites if necessary.  Admin costs would be reduced in advertising and reaching new markets.  We may not be able to create the documentary.  We really want to raise all of the money to make all of this happen for these children!

 

The Impact 

"Ms. Jasmine has shown us how to use our talents to make a difference in our communities" Sam (2010 participant and 2011 Junior Arts Instructor, age 16)

Need
As Liberia forges ahead with its development agenda, there are many new buildings and roads. However, there is a lack of quality programs to meet the needs of high risk youth. This is particularly evident during the months of vacation from school. If we are to combat growing rates of teen pregnancy and violence and increase rates of school completion and youth civic participation, young people need an avenue for expressing themselves where they feel valued and encouraged while learning new skills. This kind of program also needs to be sustainable by the people of Liberia in order to grow and provide rich artistic and educational experiences for youth seeking guidance at a time when they normally would have limited supervision.

Secondly, the arts are absent from educational settings in Liberia, and there are few, if any opportunities for the study of music, dance and theatre. Without these opportunities for young people, any Liberian desiring to achieve a professional level of performance will have to seek training outside of Liberia.


Finally, young adults who are currently jobless due to lack of skills after years of destructive war are seeking opportunities for growth and service to their communities. Training programs designed to serve high-risk children provide a direct opportunity for service while participants are learning basic skills in youth development, recreational programming, and education provision.

Burning Barriers, Building Bridges (B4)

Program History 2009-2011

In 2009, Director Jasmine Blanks heard President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf speak about the "Education Drive for Liberian Youth" and immediately felt connected to the need of Liberia's youth.  A student at the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs, Ms. Blanks met with then Inspector General for Liberia, Marc Amblard, and Director of Liberian NGO Touching Humanity in Need of Kindness (THINK) Inc., Rosana Schaack, to create a plan for a pilot of an arts intergration program for Liberian youth.

In 2010, 40 children from the Children’s Rescue Outreach Center Orphanage Mission in Mt. Barclay, Liberia participated in the 2010 program of Burning Barriers, Building Bridges. 24 of these children wrote and performed an original play with music and dance. This process lasted seven weeks, and the final performance was held at City Hall in Monrovia during the eighth week. Among approximately 300 audience members, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and other government officials were in attendance.


This performance resulted in approximately $1500 in donations that were used to pay program costs, as well as, school fees for some of the children. Additionally, the children were invited to attend a special lunch with the President.


Since the summer 2010 program, there have been continued cross-cultural literacy efforts between the children at the Children’s Rescue Outreach Center Orphanage Mission and children in school in Covington, GA, USA and their first original play has been analyzed for its literary content by students in Harford County, Maryland. Liberian and American newspapers have covered aspects of this program. The play has been broadcast on Liberian television with advertisements on radio stations.


In 2011, we partnered with Calvary Empowerment Team’s Vacation Camp to provide arts education for an additional 60 children. Between the two program sites (Sinkor and Mt. Barclay), 120 children were served. The original site from Mt. Barclay retained and improved upon the information they learned in math, literacy and the arts from the previous year as evidenced in written pre-test scores and performance assessments during the first week. Children from both sites were excited to voice their concerns through theatre as they felt that the concerns of young people are often overlooked. Two performances were held; one at Tubman High School in Sinkor and the other in Mt. Barclay at the orphanage. Participants had combined rehearsals in the final week and performed at both locations together thus bridging these two communities and exposing the children to the collaborative spirit of performing arts.

Additionally, three previous participants from Mt. Barclay are trained as Junior Arts Instructors. Here they learned elements of program design, curriculum and instruction, and a variety of pedagogical methods in the arts.

Skills gained by youth: Increase in ability to do basic math with fractions and some algebra, improved writing skills and grammar, better command of theatrical performance, ability to compose 2 and 3 part musical selections, ability to choreograph short dance numbers with transitions for large and small groups.  

"We are becoming better people for tomorrow" Deborah (2010 and 2011 participant, age 11)

Other related projects:

Click4Life Minnesota http://www.click4life.org/page/2/ (Ms. Blanks served as the community organizing/legislative advisor)

Small Donations Make BIG CHANGE!

Other Ways You Can Help

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Choose your Perk

Eye shadow from Mary Kay

$25 USD
Your choice mineral eye shadow from http://www.marykay.com/jasmineblanks/color/eyes/viewall/default.aspx. ($7 value) + Sponsorship tier above for under $100
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June 2012
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Lip color from Mary Kay

$100 USD
Your choice lip color from http://www.marykay.com/jasmineblanks/color/lips/default.aspx. ($14 value) +Sponsorship tier above for $100+
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June 2012
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Satin Hands & Feet

$500 USD
Satin Hands and Feet pampering set from http://www.marykay.com/jasmineblanks/spabody/bodycare/10032362/10032362/default.aspx ($34 value) + Sponsorship tier for $500+ - Mentioned in Special Thanks article on website (http://burningbarriersliberia.wordpress.com/) - Mentioned during our Special Thanks at the end of the performance (included on the DVD) - Receive a copy of the DVD including the performance and documentary segments - Signed copy of cast photo poster
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June 2012
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Fragrance - perfume or cologne

$1,000 USD
One Fragrance http://www.marykay.com/jasmineblanks/fragrances/default.aspx (approx. $40 value) + Sponsorship tier for $1000+ as stated above
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Skin Care for Men or Women

$5,000 USD
Basic Skin Care package of your choice or single product of your choice from http://www.marykay.com/jasmineblanks/skincare/default.aspx (Approx. $100 value) + Sponsorship tier for $5000+ as stated above
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June 2012
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