RE: That Red Light District

2014-FEB-06-2225Hrs

I was really touched by the responses of the people who commented on my piece, and Anna Maria's about th red light district. Merle Howe, with whom I lunch once a month said she laughed a lot t how I tied in the Jean and Dinad part.

I live for good writing, and compliments get me going.

Now when I worked in Antigua with the Caribbean Family Planning Association, I not only designed training programs for nurses in the field but did workshops for teens, using socio-drama. What would have been long lonely evenings in a hotel room became filled with good works.

Socio-drama: Take an issue and design a skit around it, that the students get to enact, sometimes in mime. Then use the skit as a discussion piece.

I had done one featuring a school sports meet, where the students of a particular school are in the stands cheering their runner to victory. Sitting among them, out of uniform, is a very pregnant girl whose uniform could no longer fit. As she watches the winner breast the tape, she turns to her friend and says tearfully "You know, in practice meets, I use to clock a better time than hers." The other girl say "Oh yeah". The preganant girl says "Yes, really. I guess I threw all that away now." This led to a discussion of how an untimely pregnancy leaves you stuck in poverty.

Those who want to help can design these to fit many situations. The critical thing is the discussion that follows.

At Arima Girls Government School, in 2007,(I was astudent there for one term in 1955) I did a story reading for the pre-exam class, in that time while the school year is ending, exams are done and they are sort of in  limbo.It's a story I created called" "Monsters In The High Grass"

A simple story about chickens that did not listen to their mother, until a mongoose almost got them. Then we dicussed other kinds of monsters. I remember one girl of ten or so asking a very pertinent question."Miss, what do you do if you have to take taxi home, and there may be a monster in the taxi" So we talked of Never getting into one where there were alreadya two men. Waiting next to an older female who could be your mother, and taking a four seater, in the front seat, so you could control the door. We taked about NOT following messages your mother sent by someone, unless your mother trusts that person, and NEVER opening the house door to strangers unless the houe is on fire.

Those children wanted that information. We went well beyond the hour that I had asked for, and other students, ending their class, came and joined the group. That was seven years ago.

We need to stop wringing our hands and start writing skits for children that will address the problems.

I used socio-drama at Telco also, to train and retrain staff.

I think its the best way. Go for it!

Linda E.Edwards