8/5/20, positiveexperience.org/blog
With public health measures surrounding Covid-19, many are feeling isolated from friends and family. The social isolation of the pandemic, as well as the recent resurgence in calls to dismantle all forms of racism, has emphasized the importance of civic and social engagement. Engagement, developing a sense of connectedness and “mattering,” is one of the 4 Building Blocks of HOPE.
Illustrating the importance of engaging youth and empowering them to make change in their own communities, this post is based on an interview with Anna Hadingham, an educator and theater artist working with the Apollinaire theater company, the Chelsea Collaborative, and Peronia Adolescente. Anna works primarily in Chelsea, MA, home to many other organizations which also center around the Building Block of engagement–including Healthy Chelsea, a citywide collaboration “focused on improving the overall health of Chelsea residents.”
Can you introduce yourself and your work?
My name is Anna Hadingham. I’m an educator and theater artist. I’m originally from Boston, but I spent ten years working in a community called Ciudad Peronia on the outskirts of Guatemala City. I worked there with an organization called Peronia Adolescente, and I’m still involved with the organization now.
Can you talk about how you empower youth in Guatemala to be community leaders?
I went to Guatemala originally as a volunteer in a big NGO that was founded by someone from the U.S. I had the incredible fortune of meeting [a] group of young artists [in Guatemala] that had started this grassroots movement in the late 90’s to empower themselves [and] their peers. This project is run completely by local people. I joined them initially as a volunteer, and we started writing grants to get more young women involved.
Peronia Adolescente grew out of that human need for connection and self expression. [Cuidad Peronia] was a community where young people were denied the right to self expression [and] opportunities to assemble and generate ideas together. That was the mission of the project in its early days, and since then, it’s developed to speak more to that vision of systemic work rather than a top down type of organization. The project has expanded to not just empower young people but to work with their parents, teachers, and community leaders to empower youth [and give them] the right to have a voice in their community.
This project has continued to be run by local people. I hope anyone with the opportunity of going to a different place [has] self-awareness and makes sure they’re not coming with this posture of White saviorism (if they’re White), that they’re recognizing how they can be a conduit for empowering people.
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