June 16 – Theater can be an effective way to engage with children and youths worlwide. This is why the Italian Amref-affiliated NGO Scuola di Teatro di Strada is organizing for June 20 a masquerade parade and a theater blitz in the streets of Kenya’s capital. The main actors are youths who followed a rehabilitation program and will henceforth be in charge of the project to support their peers. “Theater was my way out of the streets,” says Kevin, one of the boys that benefited from the first phase of the project. Before entering the Amref program in 2002, Kevin Chege lived on the streets. Amref gave the boy, who is now 26, not only the material needs to leave the streets, but also the time to understand and make the most of his talents. “Theater – says Kevin – gave me the necessary confidence to continue living.” In Nairobi, there are 125.000 children like Kevin, left to take care of themselves, and thus vulnerable to alcohol, drugs and violence.
