Justine works for the development agency Action Aid in Burundi, but in her spare time runs Intashikirwa. It uses dance as a tool for peace and reconciliation between Burundians (mainly Tutsi and Hutu) and as a way of bringing people together for long-term development.
Intashikirwa does a considerable range of things not usually expected of community dance organisations in the UK:
- it trains young people in dance as a means of transmitting cultural traditions and values and developing shared identity, and to keep them away from bad influences - drugs, smoking and, interestingly, politicians
- it raises money for emergency assistance to help those struck by famine in the refugee camps in the region following the Rwandan crisis
- it promotes the use of dance and song as a tool for trauma recovery and healing among communities who have lost loved ones
- it uses the process of community gathering to create sustainable micro-enterprise projects which affect gender, social justice and agriculture
- it works to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS
- it produces CDs, videos and audiotapes containing songs and music - messages of peace and reconciliation, which they hope to use to influence policy-makers.
Intashikirwa was started by a group of women who refused to keep quiet about social injustice, war, famine, disease, poverty, human rights and they have chosen dance and music to make their voices heard, to campaign, to educate, to fight the AIDS pandemic, to work for minority rights, to earning a living, to help others.
Justine and Intashikirwa, like many people and organisations which are Creative Exchange partners, are not prepared to see arts and culture confined to a marginal role in society, just a titillating and trendy distraction from the real business of running this planet, but as a driving force behind survival, social change and sustainable development.
Many people in the development and economic sectors do not take this seriously. Sadly, nor do some people in the arts sector either. At Creative Exchange we take it extremely seriously, because we have seen some - not enough - hard evidence that it has an impact. Take for example the UNICEF programme in Nepal which managed to more than halve the death rate of children under five over 12 years by promoting a recipe for homemade oral rehydration solution through arts, media, poetry, song, fabric design, football and TV.
The outcomes may be more dramatic in developing countries, because they often involve life and death situations, but the impacts are just as impressive when they are adequately captured in this country - a recent children's literacy project by one of our partners, Real Time Video, in Manchester enabled participants to improve their literacy skills by one level, on average, in a week.
Lots of people are engaged in this field, not everybody knows why, some know what they achieve, some do not. International development agencies, local authorities, voluntary sector and trusts are probably the biggest investors. There are few guidelines on standards. There are probably fewer than five relevant higher education courses in the UK, and very few elsewhere. There are probably around 20 networks worldwide, which have relevant information resources and materials about it.
The strength and lifeblood of Creative Exchange and all networking activities in Culture and Development internationally are people like Justine. There are several thousand people, in many different sectors (development and culture), who need to contribute their experience and knowledge to a communal learning process so that practice and policy can evolve. Knowledge, expertise and lessons learned need to be shared equitably across geographical boundaries - there is a great deal of expertise in developing countries which could assist with social inclusion in the UK.
'Creative Exchange is dedicated to connecting up the global jigsaw of knowledge, data and learning resources so we can better understand the global impact of arts and culture on human development, make a sound case to policy makers for realistic recognition of its social as well as aesthetic role, and find ways of helping practitioners and delivery agencies create better projects which will improve the lives of poor are marginalised people in measurable ways.'
When societies break down into war and genocide, as they did in Rwanda, when conventional trade and economies wither, where do you go next? Look at Argentina, where another of our partners Fundacion Crear Vale La Pena has set up youth cultural centers in the barrios of Buenos Aires to try and stimulate social capital and the development of skills and new forms of income generation in an otherwise desperate situation.
One of the principle human resources for survival, recovery, regeneration and innovation is creativity. In a planet of around six billion people, around 80 per cent of whom live in developing countries, that is a vast untapped, entirely sustainable and renewable resource. If only it was oil, it might be more highly prized.
Creative Exchange
Creative Exchange is an international network for Culture and Development. It is a registered charity. Its charitable objective is promoting education about the role of arts and culture for the relief of need. It has 152 partners in 24 countries and has a list of 1,000 specialists worldwide to which it distributes information via its email bulletin services. Its strategic objectives are information development, policy and practice development and network development. It distributes a newsletter to partners and produces ad-hoc reports on arts and culture in relation to key development themes - including children's rights, gender and conflict. It is currently developing A Sense of Belonging exploring the role of arts addressing the needs of refugees and asylum seekers, and Routemapping Culture and Development, a pilot study funded by the department for international development within UK aid agencies. It is also developing INTERCOM, a networking coalition between eleven regional networks for culture and development internationally.
For further information on how to join please contact Helen Gould, Coordinator, Creative Exchange, 18 Percy Road, London E11 1AJ, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 208 532 8870. Email: hotline@creativeexchange.org Web: www.creativexchange.org