Tuzōbahó: a beautiful performance by street children

Credit photo: Olivier N., Le Renouveau

Thursday 7^th, 2017 at Giriyuja caring center, Umunyinya ends the first round of the workshop with a memorable show named “Tuzōbahó” (we will live on) by street children. In front of different guests and journalists, the children were able to show that they are able. The event was a success.

The workshop started on august 3^rd 2017. Three days per week, Umunyinya artists and psychologists worked with street-children from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. They started with theatre exercises and improvisations. Since all the children were accustomed to music, and theatre was like new to them, Umunyinya team decided to add dance and song in order to be able to manage them. The workshop became centered on three topics: song, music and theatre. 

The sessions were very tedious. Troublesome children with no hope; whose aim is to get what to eat for a day… It was not easy to manage them.

“It was a tiresome period but it was a great venture because it helped us to know deeply what ‘a street child’ in Burundi is, says Elysée Nimubona, one of the trainers.

The children had not yet learnt many theatre techniques. According to the Project coordinator, they needed to end the workshop before the school year starts many of the children would go school on September 11. 

Tuzōbahó : an incredible show

Beautiful voices, acrobatics, role play and group movement; these were the surprises during the street children show.  One little boy, Bertrand, astonished everybody while interpreting “acapera” a song by a Burundian contemporary rapper B-Face. A group of little girls sang gospel music with incredible performance. All the children were able to demonstrate capacity and talent during the show. People could not understand. The show ended by a song “Tuzōbahó” by Abdoul, one of the street children. All the team joined them in chorus.

Giriyuja caring center thanked Umunyinya on its new value to entertain and manage street children. Until now, the center has two main games which keep the children before they get the charity lunch: Football and drums. When other children are playing football and others are playing drums, there is another category of children who could not find where to belong especially girls.

When Umunyinya started the project Ngira nk’abandi, 40 children enrolled to the program. In not more than one week, they started to see some improvements: children who could not shake hands before started to play together and some who could not talk to social counselors started to shout while acting out different roles,… Amazing! Among the pinpointed progresses: lonely, silent, turbulent, brutal and violent children had improved at the end of the workshop.

What next?

Children have not yet leant much about theatre, song or dance. They were just at the beginning. This round was a way to get accustomed to those children. The following step is grouping them according to their talents and coaching them according to what they really like and providing them with all the necessary materials to develop themselves. The project was executed by Umunyinya volunteers. If they get a support, they will go far and change the situation of street children.