Strategy
MMCC Mobile Mini Circus for Children A brief introduction to the structures and the methodologies of MMCC and AECC (Afghan Educational Children Circus) www.AfghanMMCC.org
MMCC Code of Conduct 1- We are Nonpolitical, nonreligious, non-profit, humanitarian child protection organization 2- We provide our services for all children and youth regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, and other differences 3- We do not affiliate, cooperate, partner, or relate with any armed forces or groups 4- We embrace the local Culture, Religion, and traditions of the children to develop integrated activities for them 5- We discover and mobilize children’s individual and collective resources to promote them by Joyful and wise social activities 6- We create joy and laughter, harmony and positive constructive communication to build a better society and environment 7- We make Positive impact on the entire society’s attitude towards children to facilitate children’s growth, progress and social status 8- We sustain our activities by integrating them, making strong structures and developing them in an organic natural self-expanding form 9- We maximize our activities results and beneficiaries by minimizing expenses and mobilizing local sources 10- We believe in power of children’s social skill and sharing the joy as the most constructive powerful tool for positive attitude change and building happy society
MMCC Child Protection Policy 1- No physical punishment, exhausting training, or exposing children to any harms of any kind at all 2- No use of children, and their resources for any benefits, or interests of adults 3- Respecting integrity of children and considering them fully equal to adults only with lack of experience and strength 4- Listening to children as listening to adults and considering their views, ideas, needs, thoughts, and consulting with them for all the activates 5- Leadership is a natural property of each child which should not be taken away but supported and qualified to be more effective 6- Collective laughter, fun, joy and entertainment is essential to a healthy childhood and a peaceful positive society 7- Children should never be implicated in any activities which is not supporting children causes 8- Adults should only provide the tools and information and children decide what to do with it and there should not be any imposing of adults ideas to children 9- No discrimination among the children for any reason at all 10Adult should be highly observant to discover, support and promote children’s ideas and interests to develop activities
Descriptions of Activities Social Circus: Fun, Art, Education: Circus activities that are taught for disadvantaged children and youths in schools, orphanages, and IDP camps. Through circus activities the children learn to work together and improve their skills while having fun Circus: High Level Circus Activities with and for children/ youth who have trained circus arts for many years and gained proficiency in practicing and performing this art form. Media: High quality Foto, Radio, Cinema, Print and Multi-Media made by Children for Children Play Media: Children get the chance to experiment with foto and video cameras, radio equipment, and other media forms to get acquainted with the medium. The goal is not a high-quality production, but to have fun Shura: Children get together to discuss social issues and to find possible solutions in either solving the problem themselves or adressing the problem through contacting responsible representatives Theatre: Children take on roles, learn scripts and develop characters, which they play in interaction with each other and on stage. Singing: Music, which was long forbidden in Afghanistan, is an essential part in AECC's methodology, which trains musicality, holding rhythms, ans singing with each other and accompanying musical instruments. School Decoration: The AECC collaborates with schools and orphanages to re-design and decorate the school together with the children. The four min colors of the MMCC are used to create a child-friendly environment, in which the children like to play and experiment. Training: Trainings are taught by the trainers from the field-center or the national center for chosen children-trainers from the Equipment Homes or Funtainers, who are trainers in their own places. The goal is to enable them to go back to their own places and teach other children. Trainings take place in the field center or national center
Descriptions of Activities Session: The chosen Taban trainers from the Equipment Homes or Funtainers, train children in their own places and enable them to play, train and interact with each other through organizing the sessions. Workshop: (Youth)Trainers from a circus base go out and make workshops for children and youth in other organizations or places outside their original circus base Performance: A trained group of children perform for other children and/or adults, mainly outside of the circus centres. Educational Shows: These shows convey important educational messages, for example about hygiene or landmines, in a fun way that is easy understandable for children. The actors use big props that visualize abstract topics, and engage the children in the show so that they enjoy learning the content. Festival: Several-day event with many different activities and shows Event: One-day events can include workshops, performances, parades or the like. They are meeting points for children, parents, media and the community at large to celebrate new shows or events like Newroz, learn from each other and to spend time together Academy: Academy is a multi-level training program for children to teach them advanced skills in circus and/or media. Academy programs are running either at the National Center or at the Regional Centers for children that are enrolled in several month long academy courses. Mobile (Children's) Cinema: Children Films are brought to places as schools, orphanages and IDP camps where people usually don't have access to watching films. The films are made by children for children and the main beneficiaries are children who watch it Children Board Meetings: The Children Board is a group of children from each place where the circus has a base (local base, Funtainer, Field-Centre). This group gets together in its place once a month to discuss issues that the children face, events and performances that they want to organize and to gain an overview of how well workshops and trainings have been running. The Children boards attend regional board meetings and some of them get elected to participate in national board meetings
Network The MMCC/AECC network is an organic and progressive system which connects children, trainers, and staff in many different locations in Afghanistan. It has main hubs like the national capacity center or regional centers, which connect with each other and even further to Funtainers and Equipment Boxes, that are situated for example in schools, IDP camps, or orphanages. The bigger centers function as capacity building and meeting points, while the outlying places disseminate the knowledge and experience, and adapt it to local environments. The network is organic, because it uses local conditions like existing buildings or the capacity of people, and works with and within the local culture. At the same time it is progressive as it continually grows and includes more places,
Regional Center and Base
Funtainer
Beneficiaries: Children
Beneficiaries: Children
Responsible:
Responsible:
1 Regional Staff
1 Mobilizer
2 Senior/Young Staff
2 Trainers
Material inside the Regional Center/Base
Material inside the Funtainer:
Start Up Package: 1000 juggling balls, 40 small mattresses, 18 big mattresses, 5 plates, 15 clubs + material for 40 make-yourself clubs, 10 pairs stilts, 2 wheelsir, stage, 10 volleyballs, 10 footballs, 2 volleyballnets, jump-ropes, paper, crayons, digital camera for reporting Every 6 months: materials topped up depending on needs
Start Up Package: 500 juggling balls, 20 small mattresses, 8 big mattresses, 2 volleyballs, 2 footballs, volleyballnet, jump-ropes, paper, crayons, digital camera for reporting; Follow Up Package: Material to make 30 clubs; Every 6 months: materials topped up depending on needs
Activities:
Activities: Normal Training (Funtainer, 3 times per week) Regional Activities (School performances, Trainings, Events) Network Activities (see below)
Shura (1 every month) Normal activities (min. 3 times a week) School performance (3 every season) Events (1-2 every season)
Network:
Network:
The Regional Center hosts the regional network activities The Funtainer is connected to a regional and a national and is connected to the national center and its activities. center and their activities. Certain numbers of children Certain numbers of children meet for trainings, exchange meet for trainings, exchange & festivals during the year. & festivals during the year. Nr 20 15 100 32 40 60 20
Network Activity Regional Training Regional Event Regional Shura Regional Girls Network National Girls Network National Shura Regional Board Meeting
Times/Yea 3 times, 4 days 1-2 per season 2 days, 1 time 4 days, 1 time 1 time 1 time 2 days, 1 time
Nr 5 4 21 9 ؟ ؟
Network Activity Workshops at Regional-Centre Regional Event (Juggling Competition) Regional Shura Regional Girls Network National Girls Network National Shura
Times/Year 3 1 1 1 1 1
Staff Category Regional Staff The Regional Staff is an adult with a focus on coordinating and organizing everything that happens at the Regional Center and in supervising the regional centres such as the Funtainers in the provinces. Technical Teacher The Technical Teacher is trained in circus/media/shura and knows how to conduct, teach and support activities. Mobilizer The Mobilizer is a local person from the community who is entrusted to travel with children and has the responsibility Trainer Trainers are local young persons with responsibilities for the activities in the Funtainers.
Educational Teacher The Educational teacher is a grown up woman with capacity for teaching schools subjects and who can build trust in the families to allow especially girls to participate in the activities. She should be able to travel with the girls between regions as a mahram. Guard The Guard looks after the house and equipment plus stays in the night in the center. He is responsible for basic cleaning of the house and for cleaning snow from the roof in the winter.
Overview of Package-Types National Center The National Center houses administration and master-mind planning of new projects and development of new methodologies. National events such as the National Children Shura and the National Juggling Championship take place.
Regional Center The Regional-Centre is a focal point, where all activities, events and festivals are organized for one region. It has circus and media equipment, and children from Funtainers in the provinces visit regularly for workshops, trainings and events. Funtainer Funtainers are redesigned containers that store circus equipment and offer a place to practice and meet for children and youth. Children/ youth run the activities by themselves and a mobilizer supports them in logistic planning. Equipment Box The Equipment Box is a metall box or storage room in a school/orphanage filled with circus and sports equipment, that is used when trainers from Regional-Centre (or Funtainer) visit regularly to organize and lead
Taban System and Taban Team The Taban system is a system of network and working structure that supports and connects some of the best and most active children and youth in practicing and organizing Social Circus activities for many more children. The Taban system supports these children to make activities with many more children in their own areas. The Taban system is a very effective way of supporting children and youngsters to start and organize social circus activities. The system is now being copied to all AECC’s regions in Afghanistan. The Taban team is a group of children and youth from 11 IDP camps in Kabul who has been trained in social circus and life skills by AECC for some time. 60-70 children come together to learn basic life skills and what is social circus, juggling, acrobatic, theatre etc. The best 2-3 of them are selected for the Taban team
The Taban team members are invited to AECC's regional center to learn more circus skills and to learn how to organize children for social circus sessions and performances and events on their own. As part of the training the Taban team make performances for their families plus in some schools organized by the regional center
After they finish the first part of the training, the Taban members start their own team in their own area (school, camp, orphanage or district etc). The new team chose a name for their team from their area or place (for example Roxana school team or Baghlan camp team). Organized by their Taban members, they continue social circus activities in their area and make school performances in their local area.
Mission We use Social Circus, Arts and Media to empower and educate children
Vision To create a world full of joyful strong wise kids
Practical Activity
Management Activity