Kyrgyzstan

Putting the Pieces Together: Common Ground Journalism

Youth theater can be a powerful instrument for change, providing a transformational experience for young performers and empowering them to lead the call for tolerance and peace. Several months after the 2010 violence, SFCG provided programmatic support to the Central Asian Alliance for Water (CAAW), through a partnership with International Resources Group (IRG) by training staff on how to use participatory puppetry performances to promote peacebuilding. Students and teachers across several conflict-affected regions were trained in conflict transformation and storytelling, and then wrote and produced puppet shows addressing some of the underlying dimensions of the conflicts. These puppet shows were then performed in public, around which community discussions were held.