Franciscan Social Theatre’s Facilitators’ Training Program
Over the past fifteen months, our Franciscan Social Theatre Team delivered more than one hundred hours of social theatre training for ten young, local social workers sent to us by our four stakeholders–partners on the ground in Syria. Our team included Friar Stefano LUCA, OFM Cap., Friar Michael LASKY, OFM Conv., Barbara GHIRINGHELLI, Friar Elias SAOUD, OFM Cap., and Grazia ISOARDI.
From Aleppo, three young adults were sent to us by the Salesian Sisters (Daughters of Mary Help of Christians), three by the Provincial Custody of the Orient and the Holy Land, and one by Jesuit Refugee Service. From Damascus the remaining three young adults were sent by the Sisters of Charity.
In May of 2023 we had more than eighty hours of in-person training. For security reasons, we brought the students into Lebanon and with the logistic help of the Capuchin friars of Lebanon, Jesuit Refugee Service of Lebanon and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, we covered the fundamentals of our Franciscan Social Theatre methodology. One very intensive training session provided topics for the important games and activities that are part of a social theatre program. Together we covered the basics for conducting Franciscan Social Theatre workshops, including:
- different leadership styles for guiding workshops;
- how to design a social theatre project;
- how to build social theatre community events;
- how to develop a dynamic relationship with children and youth based on trust and respect, fostering self-confidence. How to develop metacognitive and symbolic knowledge as sources of learning and developing intelligence;
- the importance of caring for oneself as a social theatre facilitator;
- how to use Franciscan Social Theatre methodology to work on life skills with children and youth who have experienced traumatic events, such as war and earthquakes. Implementing awareness of body language;
- how to work with other social theatre facilitators (as a team) on a social theatre project.
Starting in June of 2023, our students in Syria had ten months to write and deliver their first projects. They developed and completed a total of five projects, working with more than five hundred people.
Four Aleppo Projects:
- Nadin, Sally, and Hiba S. worked at the Franciscan parish in Aleppo, conducting a month-long project with twelve teenagers who were strongly affected by the violence of the civil war. Their project was aimed at reestablishing non-violent communication.
- Firas, Edwar, and Hiba B. developed a project with fifteen vulnerable teenagers at a summer school belonging to the Salesian Sisters. These youth are routinely rejected by society because of their special needs. They also live under greatly disadvantaged economic conditions. The goal of the project was to decrease discrimination and integrate these marginalized youth into the larger local community.
- The same facilitator’s team conducted a second project for thirty Salesian University students. For two months, they worked on increasing the students’ ability to cope with fear caused by war and the “never ending” situation of social instability.
- George and Hiba B. conducted a massive, eight-month project for Jesuit Refugee Service. A total of four hundred and fifty kids between eight and fourteen years old were involved. Multiple groups of thirty Muslim children benefited from this activity by tackling crucial topics like trust, respect, forgiveness, emotions and non-violent communication. Parents also got involved as they benefited from a heightened awareness of the problems and daily difficulties their children face as a result of multiple traumas.
In Damascus, Naya, Aline and Katreen started a project that is still ongoing. They are working with five young women, around twenty-five years old, who are struggling with severe issues of self-esteem, trust, and psychological self-harm. These issues stem from the traumatic experiences they endured over the past thirteen years.
In August of 2024, we had planned to conduct an in-person, final follow-up and assessment for all five projects. However, due to the unstable situation in the region and safety concerns for both the students and our training team, we conducted a final formation course online. Over twenty hours of training were delivered, which not only assessed the projects completed by the students but also taught them the remaining content from our facilitators’ training program syllabus. The classes included topics on soft skills, fundraising and reporting, social media storytelling, effective language and writing for project presentations and reports, as well as the deeper spiritual reasons for why Franciscan Social Theatre is very much part of our Christian DNA.
Testimonials:
“This course has given us many important ideas for life and for the soul. It was the best experience we have ever had. We have received important content to relate to people who have had a psychological trauma, using social theatre [to assist them]. They taught us how to be guides and helpers” (Hiba).
“I lived a truly beautiful experience. The social theatre moved something inside me and gave me so much for my life and for my work. Now we know what it is, how it works, and how we can help others overcome trauma” (Edwar).
“I felt full of communication skills in relating to people. I am now able to distinguish the role of the guide and the helper, and how vital everyone involved in the theatre is. I learned the importance of using social theatre with weak and fragile people. With the theatre, we learned to look at people differently and to welcome them as Jesus welcomed them; to see the other in truth and to recognize their goodness. It was a strong and rich experience, which continues in practice with children and adolescents in our realities and in the Church” (Firas).
Friar Michael LASKY
