“I’ve been working with this group for many years now, but it wasn’t until this weekend that I really felt that I really knew the members and the depth of the connections that we have.”
The leader of a theatre and dance troupe in a small very poor village in Karur, India, following a Playback Theatre training led by Jennie.
Why we are requesting your support:
Previously, we have self-funded most of Jennie’s work in Asia. Now we are asking you to support this important work. Without your support, these projects will simply not be sustainable.
Would you be willing to donate something to the continuation of Jennie’s projects Asia?
Every donation helps, be it $5 or $500. VSAVT has graciously offered to be our Fiscal Sponsor, enabling donors to provide funding while receiving tax benefits.
Send your donation to:
VSA Vermont, 20 West Canal Street, Winooski, Vt 05404. Please remember to designate Jennie Kristel, Expressive Arts Therapy, in a memo accompanying your donation.
You may also donate on line at www.vsavt.org. Please remember to designate Jennie Kristel, Expressive Arts Therapy, in a memo accompanying your donation.
Jennie has written this about her work in Bangladesh, India, and Java:
The people I work with are wonderful, skilled (and getting more so) and resourceful. But it takes a lot of money to fly to and from Asia, and pay for all the expenses associated with a trip of this nature. I am aware that while my colleagues in Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia wish to be able to pay for all my expenses, they cannot. They are simply unable to cover more than a tiny fraction of my expenses.
This year marks my 22nd year doing Playback Theatre. Playback and the Expressive Arts Therapies are about community building. They are about using theatre and the other arts to help people tell their stories, find comfort in knowing they are not alone, and bear witness to the lives of others around them. They support individuals and groups to learn about each other, resolve conflicts. They utilize individual and communal storytelling to strengthen communities that experience hardship, grief, or trauma.
My work is deeply valued by the people I work with, perhaps more so as they are unable to afford to come to the States or Europe for training. I am aware that the trainings are being put into very good use. Currently, I am looking to make at least 3 more trips to Bangladesh to work with the existing team. Our goal is to strengthen their skills and support them in responding to emergencies such as the recent cyclones and tsunami, and the tragedy in Mirsarai. I will also be continuing my collaboration with the East West Centre for Counseling, where I will be teaching in March. Finally, more financial assistance would also allow me to offer my teaching to people in Java, Indonesia, who also have requested more training.
As you might guess this takes resources of all kinds. I am collaborating with wonderful people, including other theatre practitioners and Arts based therapists, from all around the globe on some of these projects. I have many donations of time and knowledge, including technical support (visit my blog at jenniekristel.wordpress.com to see some of what I’ve been taught about online blogging…). Now I am reaching out to you to ask for help so I may continue these trips, and collaborations.
Thank you!
