Youth Acrobata World
First workshop in Colombia
Some of the most important activities of Youth Acrobata World were the ones that directly involved the participants from Kenya and Colombia: after each training course, they returned to their countries with the aim of training other dozens young artists to spread the good practices of the project, increase social and professional inclusion and test and validate the formative path.
Axioma has been working for years with young people coming from difficult social situations and well know the potential of social circus Youth Acrobata World wants to develop.
Colombia has been affected by an armed conflict for more than 50 years and in this context young people have been recruited as soldiers, affected by landmines, killed extrajudicially, used as informers and sex workers within the urban gangs, forcefully displaced and exposed to domestic violence. In 2021 the country still faces tensions, with part of the population protesting the government, social riots often degenerated into violence and a permanent uncertainty about the future.
Youth Acrobata World intervened in this situation on two levels: selecting youth workers coming from disadvantaged areas and letting them become trainers for other young people from the poorest regions of Colombia. The first workshop in Medellín and Envigado took place from 12/10/21 to 22/10/21. These homecoming trainings were a formative experience restitution: the youth workers involved in the project gave lessons to other 70 young artists in their country, spreading the competences to face the modern live show labor market.
These activities created the condition to improve social inclusion, professional growth and opportunity for a better-quality life through training.
In this way, the project involved several participants with fewer socio-cultural and economic opportunities, including persons with educational difficulties and economic obstacles. The mobility activities (training of technical skills and workshop for professional orientation) unlocked positive attitudes in the participants, especially stimulating the perception that the unfavorable condition does not necessarily preclude growth and professional opportunities and, above all, demonstrating that the possibilities of participation into the social life it is not precluded and that their condition is taken in serious consideration not only at the assistance level but also the civil society and policy makers.