Thanks to your generous donations to our Tally Tripp Community Workshop Fund during our May campaign, Collective Arts & Learning Network conducted a follow-up workshop this August for a 2024 training in Kisumu, Kenya.
Led by members from our East African Leadership Team — Nelly Adhiambo, Grace Owino and Caro Opiyo — this Phase-II workshop assembled 12 participants who work in education, health care and other community-based services. Among the assembled participants, more than 600 community members benefited over the last two years from the skills and knowledge acquired during the first workshop.
The highlight for participants in 2024 was self-care, which they benefited from personally and professionally:
- One woman used self-care practices during and after the death of her spouse.
- Another was better able to provide support for a rape survivor.
- A military veteran, who is now a teacher, learned to encourage emotional expression and to communicate with more empathy.
- One participant, a nurse, was able to get the management at her hospital to provide an open space where she started a play group for pediatric patients and their caregivers.
The workshop began with sharing how the experience of 2024 affected their community work. The team then offered refresher topics as well as new sessions on various creative arts-based therapy techniques and trauma-informed care.
The workshop included visual arts, drama, music, and dance/movement. A main component was role play, as well as real play — where participants bring actual situations to work through possible approaches together.
After the two-day workshop, participants asked for future, longer workshops. It has made a huge difference in their lives and work. It is CAALN’s goal to be able to expand the impact of creative expression for mental wellness in Kisumu and across East Africa.
