The Drama Outreach Project will help improve the education system for vulnerable children in Cambodia.

A group of Maltese teachers and carers will be helping improve the education system for under-privileged children in Camodia through a new NGO called the Drama Outreach Project.

The project will offer these children the chance to learn drama and English for a few weeks. Due to a turbulent past and years of devastation, much of Cambodia’s population hasn’t had the opportunity to receive a formal education. This has created a vicious circle that has had a devastating effect on the more vulnerable portion of the population of this East Asian country, namely the children.

During his reign of terror in Cambodia, Khmer Rouge dictator Pol Pot imposed agrarian socialism on the country forcing urban dwellers, including doctors, lawyers and teachers, to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labour projects. This effectively and totally eradicated the educated class.

Due to the recent upturn in tourism and international trade, there is great enthusiasm to learn but not enough opportunity. And this is where a group of professionals from the arts scene in Malta hope to make a bit of difference.

Thanks to the Drama Outreach Project, a team of teachers and carers from Malta will be flying out to Phnom Penh in August to work with orphans and street children in the capital city.

The team will be working closely with the Volunteer for Children and Development Organisation, a non-profit organisation set up to support vulnerable children, and Le Restaurant des Enfants a project set up to provide a daily meal to the many street children of Phnom Penh.

The members of Drama Outreach Project are co-founders Alan Montanaro and Chiara Hyzler, and members Paula Fleri-Soler, Matthew Gatt, Anika Gatt Seretny, and Gaby Montanaro.

Alan Montanaro is primarily known for his comedy performances, including his famed Panto dame, on the Maltese theatre scene. He is also the principal of the acclaimed Helen O’Grady Academy in Malta, where, he explains, he has seen that developmental drama really works. “Over the past years we have been running several classes for local children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and who have very little motivation or opportunity to better themselves, and the results have been overwhelming.”

The Drama Outreach Project is designed to help children develop self-confidence and verbal skills. Montanaro explains that the idea to take this programme abroad started off, as most good ideas do, over a bottle of wine with Hyzler, who had just returned from voluntary work in Kenya.

“I had previously co-founded an NGO called OFD, and every year we would organise a summer camp where Maltese, migrant and refugee children would integrate through art, crafts and drama. I realised that these elements truly contribute to a child’s self development. I went to Kenya with the NGO Faces, where I introduced a similar programme for kids in an orphanage,” Hyzler says.

Once in Cambodia, the group will be sharing their experiences via their Facebook page, also publishing daily updates via a pictorial blog on www.timesofmalta.com. In this way, readers will get to know the children involved in the project, the work being carried out, as well as highlighting the beauty of the country.

Drama Outreach Cambodia is organising a fund-raising event at the Radisson Blu Resort, St Julian’s on May 31 to raise funds for this cause. Tickets cost €25 and include a buffet and entertainment. There will also be a cash bar and a raffle, as well as an auction of some works by established local artists who have generously donated a painting.

For tickets, send an e-mail to dramaoutreachproject@gmail.com. Donations are accepted electronically at HSBC on account number 006214779001.