Cafesociety.org spent 5 years working with schools and young people on several of the Native American reservations in Arizona. Here is a selection of those Films made during Cafesociety.org digital workshops with young people on the Navajo , Hopi and Gila River Indian Community reservations. [1998 - 2003].
 

Our largest project to date on the reservation was REZ02 and invloved 8 creative practitioners visiting Arizona to hold a series of new media workshops with young people.

On July 18th 2002, a crew of 8 digital artists made their way from the UK and Holland to Arizona, USA to create a series of digital stories working with a selection of native american and rurally isolated young people.

Firstly we aimed to deliver a language and culture based multimedia project, showing students how to use film making equipment, web design, photography and computer animation to tell a story. 

The project explored Language Ecology which is the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity. By using multimedia and film making projects we equipped the young people with new skills to record and preserve their own heritage and stories. 

The second goal of the project was to open up discussion with teaching staff from schools in Arizona to the possibility of future ways of collaboratively working and developing online curriculum projects and materials with schools in the Withernsea and South Holderness region of England.

We believe in the necessity for the preservation and celebration of all voices and if the youth are empowered with the skills to use modern day communications technologies, they can continue to speak out in their own voices, protecting and promoting their own cultures as they see fit.

Here is a small selection of our work with young people in our home-town of Kingston Upon Hull – UK. We love our city and these films will hopefully give you a glimpse from a young persons perspective of what they think to Kingston Upon Hull.

These films were produced by young people taking part in digital media workshops with Cafesociety and supported by or working in collaboration with :- The BBC, Creative Partnerships – Hull, British Library, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Hull City Council and many Hull Schools. We hope you enjoy…

Films made in Freetown :: Sierra Leone with young people & Cafesociety.org as part of the Digital Citizens project in collaboration with Creative Partnerships – Hull.

Following visits to Sierra Leone during 2006/7, Cafesociety.org have developed strong links with young people in the capital city Freetown. These young people have helped us to produce a large number of short films, articles and other resources focussing on the harsh and also inspiring reality of life in Sierra Leone.

Here is a collection of content produced during workshops and projects based in the Republic of Seychelles. We have been running projects and workshops since 2003 in Seychelles in collaboration with The International School and more recently with the Seychelles University Foundation.

Seychelles is an island nation, it is located in the Indian Ocean northeast of Madagascar and about 1,000 miles east of Kenya.

This programme, lead by film-maker Jon Robson was geared to further international, creative links between Hull and Ethiopian communities. This work was started through the production of a series of films which were designed to capture impressions of life and learning for young Ethiopians.

The content of these films will inform future learning in Hull schools, around film making and citizenship and is geared to enhance a creative dialogue between Ethiopian and Hull schools. These films were produced during projects and workshops held in Ethiopia. The students we worked with attended the JRDC School. Shashemene. [Jamaican Rastafarian Development Community]

Our Ethiopia – Films by young people in Ethiopia

A showreel version of the 3 safe technology films has been produced to aid teachers when showing the films in the classroom.
The 3 films will be used as a teachers learning resource for schools in Seychelles.

We’d also like to add a big thank you to all who were involved in the making of these films. Especially the kids who we felt worked very well and enjoyed the experience.

The films produced will also be used as a larger learning resource to be rolled out to schools by the Seychelles National Council for Children. The 3 adverts will also be screened twice a night on the SBC channel.

Seychelles Safe Technology Group have commissioned this series of short informercials to be screened on TV to raise young peoples awareness to some of the dangers on the internet.

Ever wondered what it is like being a teenager living in Hull today? In a new exhibition, pupils from Endeavour High School invite you to experience life from their perspective. “What’s Your Story?” uses films, photographs and personal objects to create an insight into the lives of a diverse group of young people.

The exhibition is part of the “Campaign! Make an Impact” project, an innovative project in which students are inspired by museum collections to create their own campaign about issues which affect their own lives. This project has been led by Hull Museum Education who have also been working in partnership with Cafesociety.org, the British Library and the Thackray Medical Museum.

Hull Museum Education teamed up with creative media practitioners Jon Robson and Matt Stephenson of Cafésociety.org to work with the students on their contemporary campaign inspired by museum collections.

Jane Avison, Senior Education Officer at Hull Museum Education said: “The young people have created the exhibition as part of their campaign against racism and intolerance. First they made short films about their own lives and then came to the museum to investigate the slavery collections and issues around racism. They developed a greater understanding of each other and wanted to run a campaign to promote tolerance between different cultures.”

The aim of the campaign is to break down barriers between communities, dispel some myths and promote understanding of different cultures. Jane continued: “The young people have been very courageous in putting themselves forward as the face of the campaign, giving us an insight into their lives. They would like the viewer to stop and think before making judgements, to consider the person and their story, not just nationality.”

The exhibition will be officially opened by Sir Keith Ajegbo, the Government Advisor for Citizenship. There will also be the opportunity to show case campaigns from the other partners involved in the “Campaign! Make an Impact” project.

The exhibition will be held in the Live Arts Space at the Ferens Art Gallery from Saturday 8th March to Sunday 27th April. It will then be displayed at the Artlink Centre for Community Arts from Thursday 8th May to Monday 2nd June.

More exciting work with Hull Museums Education Service

Hull Museums Education Service, together with the British Library and Museums, Libraries and Archives Yorkshire (MLA Yorkshire) havre asked us to get involved in a programme of work relating to citizenship, identity and campaigning, following on from the succesful Making an Impact Young Campaigners project we developed at Winifred Holtby School earlier in 2007.

In the first phase we’re planning on working with pupils from Hull’s inner city Endeavour Secondary School, making a series of short films focussing on the views and stories of people from other countries who have chosen to settle in Hull.

A later phase will see us working with pupils to develop documentary photographic, journalistic and campaigning skills for an exhibition and book exploring the identities and lives of the pupils themselves.

Exciting stuff and a great project to be involved with.

Hull Fair Travellers School

Another exciting project… During the two weeks of Hull Fair, the city council runs a temporary school for the children of the families who run the fairground attractions. We’re really looking forward to working closely with the school on another photography and journalism-based project which will document the lives and views of the children who travel with the fair.

It will be fascinating for us to learn more about their lives, meet their families, and – of course – we’ll all be making work which will provide a unique insight into on of Europe’s biggest and oldest fairs.

The end result will be a book (which will be available to order – details soon) and a series of short Photo Story films.

Restorative Practice

Before summer we began work documenting the pioneering Restorative Practice work being developed by Estelle MacDonald, head of Hull’s Collingwood Primary School.

We’re currently editing interviews with pupils and expect to be back in school soon to finish the job and we’ll post the film on the site when it’s complete.

Keep an eye on the site for details of how work progresses and new jobs as they come up…

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Back to work… been a busy summer though…

Our good friend Barmmy Boy returned to Freetown on August 10 so he could be back in time to vote in the elections. Barmmy had a great time here in the UK, worked really hard, made loads of friends, learned a lot. He now intends to work closely with the British Council to help Cafesociety.org develop school partnerships and media training work in Freetown.

Another Salonian friend of ours, Tony Gblah, also returned to Freetown recently after spending a year in Hull as a volunteer with various church social projects. Tony’s having a bit of a tough time at the moment – no money, no job, no fixed abode – we’ll be trying to help him get back on his feet.

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Lansana Mansaray, aka Barmmy Boy, a rapper from Freetown in Sierra Leone, has been in Hull working with Cafesociety.org for the last four weeks. He has worked with secondary pupils in exploring their creativity through music.

Please click here to listen to the BBC Radio Humberside interview

Article appears in The Hull Daily Mail – 21/07/07

The Hull Daily Mail’s website has been inundated with messages of praise from teenagers for a rapping star from Sierra Leone.

Earlier this week, the Mail ran a story about 19-year-old Lansana Mansaray, known as Barmmy Boy, who has been visiting schools in the city.

As well as teaching youngsters how to rap, he has also been sharing his experiences of growing up in the war-torn country.

Over two months, he will work with children from St Mary’s College in west Hull, Winifred Holtby in Bransholme and Wilberforce College in east Hull.

Among the issues Barmmy Boy raps about are growing up in the country’s capital Freetown, HIV/Aids and the aftermath of the civil war that ravaged the country for a decade.

When the story appeared on the Mail’s website on Wednesday, it initially attracted criticism from one reader calling himself Barmmy Man, claiming rappers encourage young people to join gangs and use guns.

That drew a huge response from teenagers who defended Barmmy Boy and praised his work to educate Hull youngsters about life in Sierra Leone.

A web user called Gerry, from St Mary’s College in north Hull, was among more than 40 youngsters who posted a comment on www.thisishull.co.uk

He said: “I think you lot are talking about him in the wrong way. He isn’t into the shooting and that lot, I know because I have met him.

“His rapping is about peace and stuff like HIV, which is a bad disease in his country. He is not like a kind of gangster rapper, he is great.”

Jordan, from east Hull, said: “He’s ace and shouldn’t be taken as if he’s a gangster shooting people, because his raps are about peace.”

The rapper was brought to the UK by Hull organisation Cafe Society and funded by the British Council and Government arts scheme Creative Partnerships.

Cafe Society organiser Jon Robson said: “Barmmy Boy is an excellent ambassador for Sierra Leone and has made a lasting impression on the young people he has met in Hull.”

Barmmy Boy said: “It’s been great working with young people here.”

08:00 – 18 July 2007 – Hull Dail Mail

A Young rapper from Sierra Leone has been inspiring children across Hull to exchange stories about their lives through music.

Nineteen-year-old Lansana Mansaray, known as Barmmy Boy, is in Hull as part of a project to connect schools here and in Hull’s twin townFreetown, the capital of the west African country.

Over two months, he will work with children from St Mary’s College in west Hull, Winifred Holtby in Bransholme and Wilberforce College in east Hull.

He said: “It’s my first time out of Freetown and it’s really different.

“Everything is more organised, and the schools are all provided by the Government.

“It’s strange, but I am enjoying it.”

Among the issues Barmmy Boy raps about are growing up in Freetown, HIV/Aids and the aftermath of the civil war that ravaged the country for a decade.

He was brought to the UK by Hull-based organisation Cafe Society and funded by the British Council and Government arts programme Creative Partnerships.

Cafe Society organiser Jon Robson said: “We met Barmmy Boy when we went to Sierra Leone.

“He had so much energy and creativity, we thought he’d be fantastic with children here and they could really learn from each other. We got him some funding to buy him a laptop so he could start producing music and videos in Freetown and he could learn the skills to pass on to other youngsters there.”

Yesterday, Barmmy Boy took part in a performance at St Mary’s College, Cranbrook Avenue, with teenagers participating in a special week to coincide with Hull’s Wilberforce year.

This year is the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, which followed a campaign against slavery led by Hull MP William Wilberforce.

Barmmy Boy said: “It’s been great working with people here.

“They have made up their own lyrics about the issues that affect them, and we’ve been editing videos to accompany them.

“I want to take the skills I’ve learned here back to Sierra Leone.

“Many teenagers in Freetown are disillusioned. They move out of Sierra Leone and never bring the skills they have learned back to their country. I believe there is a lot more to do in Freetown. It doesn’t help the country when the youth leave and never come back.”

Barbara Veloso, 13, of Massey Close, west Hull, who has been working with Barmmy Boy, described the experience as “amazing”.

She said: “I’ve never rapped before, but I have been this week.

“Some of the stories Barmmy Boy told us about through his music are surprising.

“I had no idea many of the soldiers in Sierra Leone during the war were children.”

Andy Rendell, 14, of Malpas Close, in north Hull, said: “I was really shy about singing and it’s been great doing it as a group.

“All of us who took part have discovered hidden talents.”