Appreciation Post: "𝙑𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝘼𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙨: 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨" | Nnane Ntube

"2024 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑼𝑵𝑰𝑪𝑬𝑭'𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚." ~Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director.

Nnane Ntube with the trainees

The Anglophone crisis in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, the bombing in Gaza, and the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, etc., have all contributed to rampant killings and the displacement of children. This has left them scarred by the trauma, thereby provoking growth malfunctioning physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.

It was therefore a timely intervention for Haneen Khaled to introduce the 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩, "𝙑𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝘼𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙨: 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨."

Through the recommendation of my friend and colleague, Anestin Chi, I became actively involved in the project, closely working with Anestin as co-coordinator of the project in Cameroon. We used personal narratives and remote theatre as transformative tools to heal and equip students with technical, creative, and interpersonal skills such as creative writing, script adaptation, voice control, physical expressivity, teamwork, collaboration, empathy, positive relationships, and effective communication. We worked with students from war-torn zones such as Buea and Bamenda, remotely and physically.

From June to August 2024, we drilled the students using 4 main modules: 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒁𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒑𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌-𝒖𝒑𝒔, enabling the students to understand the cultural and social context of Palestine and Cameroon.

Through participatory learning, we boosted their confidence and enhanced their social-emotional skills.

This project enhanced my networking and collaborative skills as it provided a platform to work with teachers from Palestine, Greece, and Malaysia.

It is therefore safe to say that the Language for Resilience project equipped me with interpersonal skills to abate the damages of conflict in classroom contexts.

To corroborate Catherine Russell's words, "We cannot allow a generation of children to become collateral damage to the world's unchecked wars."

My heartfelt gratitude to the British Council Palestine for funding this project and to Open Dreams in Yaoundé and Bamenda for hosting us.

• By Nnane Ntube

WeKonnekt 

WSA Cameroon