‘Av avri’* is a group of volunteers who organize summer camps and weekend activities for Romani children from excluded localities -- we mainly work with several families in the Janov housing estate in Litvínov and a few individuals from Cejl, part of Brno. The organisation and exact form of her activities developed and evolves organically, depending on the needs and wishes of ‘our’ children, who are united above all by the desire to experience adventures beyond the boarders of their social exclusion. Our shared time and specially summer camps have a creative focus, and although we alternate between different art forms, what we enjoy most is putting on theatre, circus, fairground or cabaret-like performances.

Theater is great for our purposes for many reasons. First - it`s live. It will draw you in a present moment and that is were the fulfillment can happen. It is a shared work, there is the necessity of collaboration but also a relatively high level of freedom for individual self-expressione. Moreover, through creating the performance, which we always do together, children have an opportunity not only to articulate their dreams and feel appreciated for what they enjoy and what makes them unique, but also they can share something they may not even realize is troubling them or is otherwise difficult for them to process.

Spending time together is enriching for us all; we learn to resolve conflicts and complexities that are often based in cultural differences and are a normal part of life outside the safety of our own bubbles. Thanks to all these experiences – and even the occasional arguments – we are all slowly realizing, that one truth is not more valid than another, and that to except one another, we do not need to always agree with each other or look up to one another. We can put our ideas side by side, join hands, and step out.

*Step out