2006 AYC Year in Review
Performances, Youth Programs and New Construction on the Way
by John McKay, AYC Coordinator

At this time last year the Awassa Youth Campus (AYC) was little more than a pipedream. We sought to establish a place for youth in Awassa to express, create and participate. Thanks to your support, one year later, AYC is a reality for youth in Awassa. It is my hope that this brief “year in review” will provide a glimpse of both what has happened in the past year and where we are going.

All AYC activities and programs promote a sense of freedom; the freedom to think, create, share, grow and learn. During the past year our efforts have been mainly focused on developing an organizational framework that is grounded in this freedom while also maintaining a safe, encouraging and productive workspace for youth in Awassa.

In addition to providing free activities, such as art, music, dance, theater, gymnastics, aikido, ping pong, basketball and library services, AYC also supports community-outreach forums. Outreach forums give youth the opportunity to participate while utilizing their talents to both give back to the community and raise awareness in regards to HIV/AIDS, ecological degradation and other harmful social issues. The foundation of AYC outreach forums is One Love HIV/AIDS Awareness Theater (formerly Debub Nigat Circus).

This year was a breakthrough year for One Love Theater, performing over 25 shows for over 10,000 people! Including a sold-out show at the Ethiopian National Theater and the “North Tour”, a 2-week tour that took One Love and their unique brand of HIV/AIDS awareness-raising across much of Ethiopia (see article “The North Tour” for more information). In December 2006, One Love will showcase the community theater extravaganza entitled “Our World”, an hour-plus theater show in Awassa incorporating original music, dance, gymnastics and theater.

In addition to One Love Theater performances, this year’s outreach forums also included children’s workshops and the first annual AYC art contest/exhibition. Children’s workshops are facilitated by AYC youth volunteers and bring music, physical education, art and tutorial education to community schools/organizations during the summer months. AYC received over 30 original artwork submissions and awarded over 1000 Ethiopian Birr in prizes for the first annual art contest/exhibition. The theme of this year’s art contest/exhibition was a “youth perspective on HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia” (artwork will be posted on the website in the near future).

AYC programs also got a boost this year from the numerous volunteers who gave their time and energy. In particular, Mark Walsh stayed with us for 3 months and laid the foundation for Ethiopia’s, and Africa’s, first aikido dojo located at AYC. Also, the Dutch performance group ISH joined us for an invaluable 4-day workshop. If you are interested in volunteering with AYC, or ACC, please visit www.awassachildrensproject.org.

Finally, in 2007 AYC plans to construct the permanent Campus. The proposed facilities include a library, music/art classrooms, a computer lab and an indoor gym/meeting hall. The permanent AYC will be a resource for youth in Awassa for generations to come, we look forward to making this dream a reality. As always thank you for your past, present and future support none of this would be possible without you. Viva la Campus!