Today we finished our first week of our CMS World To Rights project which kicked off at Guildford Cathedral. This project is to commemorate 2009 as 50 years of the UN Charter for Child rights. Each day we have worked with over a hundred children from local schools exploring the rights of children through drama workshops, which culminate with a performance at the end of the day. Each day we have had a good audience of parents and cathedral visitors, with the day rounded off by showing the Dvd that we made in Manila about street children there.
The workshops explore Victorian England and travel back to life of children in a Cotton Mill, a Victorian Circus and pick pocketing on the streets of London. The play kicks off in a modern day class room, where the children have been given an assignment to look at Children’s rights in Victorian England. As each child shares their story the stage comes to life.
At the end of the play the children in the classroom are surprised by special visitors who judge which child has understood children’s rights the best. Two surprises are in store for all. The visitors reveal themselves to be children from the Mill, Circus and streets of London who had their rights taken from them and secondly the child considered the weakest in the class stuns his class mates. When asked to make his comment, he stands up and puts on an item of clothing from each of the historical visitors. He then points out that children are at the centre of this story and no right is more important than another. It is children that matter
All our costumes made by a training project in Bangladesh that trains women previously trafficked to get back into employment through tailory skills. Thanks to Anita’s Mum we have a wonderful backdrop to create our stage. Pictures from this week will be available once checked through by the schools and you can view them by going to our WTR's blog. Next week we are at Chester and Wells Cathedrals.
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