KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Think back to that time when you seemed to have so much on your mind about becoming an adult and how unprepared you were to deal with so many issues, especially those involving sex.
That time is fraught with challenges, uncertainties, unfounded fears, internal conflicts and being confronted with a new you, in a new body, with new feelings -- and often with little help. This is adolescence.
Worse, instead of getting constructive help through reliable information and supportive comments from others, you may receive just the opposite -- incorrect information and discouraging comments that only promote unfounded fears. This only deepens your confusion.
Now, try to imagine yourself in a dark room with so many pent-up emotions, frustrations and ignorance. Someone comes inside and turns on the light, and fears dissipate with correct information. That is the Ashe experience.
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Michael Holgate of Ashe. |
Ashe is a performing arts company whose mission is peer education and personal development. "Ashe" is an African word that means many things, but fundamentally refers to one's inner strength and self-respect.
As an Ashe performer since my teenage years, I know that we operate on two levels. As actors, performing is vital to our own personal growth, just as we hope our performances and interactive workshops help participants with their personal development.
I have been privileged to understand my own sexual development so much better by performing theater through Ashe, and I believe our performances inform and inspire the many people who come to watch -- other youth, parents and adults who work with youth among them.
I am a product of this personal development experience, which uses a model built upon three ideas described in the letters "EIC:"
- "E" stands for "excite the youth," which Ashe does very well, as one of the most prominent and popular performing arts companies in Jamaica.
- "I" stands for "involve the youth." This idea refers to the training Ashe conducts in singing, dancing and acting, as well as its performances and workshops.
- "C" stands for the "commitment" youth make.
As young people explore sexuality and develop into young adults, it is not enough for teachers, parents and others to let them fend for themselves, especially in a world with AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) running freely like mad dogs.
Cultural taboos against open discussion, repressive beliefs and any number of personal insecurities can place a muzzle upon the mouths of parents and teachers, even when they would like to help young adults protect themselves from disease or unplanned pregnancy. Risky sexual behavior is so much more likely within the dark room of ignorance where so many young people find themselves as they begin their passage into sexual maturity.
When the light is turned on through the Ashe experience, there is freedom to share ideas, information and truths about the sexual world. Ashe helped me accept my sexuality and accept myself as a sexual being. It made me aware of the importance of protection against STDs before I became sexually active with another person. Ashe empowered me as an individual, helping me understand that the love and appreciation of myself are necessary parts of my decision to protect myself.
Building self-esteem
Building self-esteem is an important part of the Ashe experience. Self-esteem can become a binding thread in the fabric of everyday life, interwoven into so many activities and attitudes. In the performing arts, your body and mind shape the patterns that become the fabric of your craft, but it is self-esteem that must run throughout this pattern to make it strong. Personal development is needed in order to excel because the craft of performing is YOU.
A good way to learn something is to teach it. That is how I gained my own self-esteem. I learned the language of self-esteem on stage. I learned what it takes to express self-esteem in my own life. At Ashe, the love and appreciation of self is integrated into how we function as a unit. It is like a child learning to speak, learning language in order to understand other people better. If I had not learned the language of self-esteem, I would not have become the performer I wanted to be.
Sex education through the performing arts easily communicates with the core of a person's being. I played the role of "Uncontrollable Urge" in our musical called Vibes in a World of Sexuality. Even in playing a negative character or role, important feelings and information can sink down deep into your core. What sinks down is "look at the havoc I am wreaking as Uncontrollable Urge -- is this really how uncontrollable urges affect my peers, my friends me?"
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An Ashe performance in Jamaica involves many young actors. |
This kind of performance leads to self-analysis, which in turn leads to action. At this stage of my life, I can say I have avoided certain consequences associated with unsafe sexual practices. But what of all the many young people told about the dangers of the sexual world? Why do some still take risks and suffer the consequences? Well, that is just it -- they have been "told."
There is a stark difference between being told something is so and knowing it. Young adults are preached to about any number of things. We learn to deal with this early -- we simply tune out. But I never have the option of tuning out from something I must perform. In order to present it to the best of my ability, I must pay attention.
An important aspect of the Ashe approach is discussion sessions with the audiences, usually our peers, after we perform. This allows performers and audience members to communicate one-on-one about reproductive health. It offers an opportunity to think about all the things we are learning, because we can hear how these issues affect other lives.
It also allows us to break many barriers, to be more comfortable with our own sexuality. For example, the whole issue of masturbation can be an embarrassing thing to talk about, perhaps because there is only one person involved in this activity and hence, one person to take responsibility.
In Ashe discussions, we change the word associated with this activity to make it easier to discuss. All teenagers want to drive a car and get their license, so "masturbation" can be described as "driving." And so young adults can more freely discuss driving, and their concerns about driving, yet know that we are really talking about masturbation.
As a performer and facilitator during discussion sessions and workshops, I am keenly aware that my own levels of comfort and self-respect are important. Any insecurity participants sense from me as a facilitator will only make them less willing to share their experiences and concerns, and will limit their ability to benefit from the experience.
The most beautiful thing about the Ashe experience is that it is so transferable -- those of us who perform build a level of comfort and understanding, and we share this with our peers. Young adults who attend our performances and workshops build upon their own self-respect and expand their knowledge about a range of reproductive health matters.
Ashe performer Michael Holgate, 27, has been a member of the Jamaican theater group since he was a teenager. The troupe addresses reproductive health issues through performances, audience discussions and workshops.
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