Summer Program Provides 'Drama Therapy' for Youth of Katrina

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Summer Program Provides 'Drama Therapy' for Youth of Katrina

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uploaded by Kati Garner

Marvin Wamble, Hurricane Recovery Program, American Red Cross

Tuesday, August 14, 2007 — The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
played out largely on our television screens, with images that seared
the nation's collective conscience. Scenes of flooded homes and
streets, ravaged buildings and families in peril or in exile inundated
viewers and left an indelible impression on many.

Two years later, on a stage inside a Baptist church in Mobile,
Ala., teenagers are holding out their hands to lift others from the
floor as somber music creates an eerily tragic atmosphere. The youth,
including many who were forced from their homes by the wrath and fury
of the storm, are using their powers of artistic expression to depict
the events and emotions that defined the hurricane for them.

This, too, is part of the aftermath of Katrina—a production titled
"Water: When Katrina Came." More than just entertainment for the
audience, the play provides an opportunity for the children to learn
from each other.

"I call it 'drama therapy,'" says writer and director Diane Cameron.
"It allows the children to tell their own story through their own
creative expressions."

The production is part of the Youth Enrichment Summer Program at
Truevine Baptist Church. It is being made possible, in part, by a grant
from the American Red Cross to help children work through the lingering
effects of Katrina.

Through its Hurricane Recovery Program, the American Red Cross has
sent more than 15,000 young adults to summer camps throughout the Gulf
Coast Region. The camps allow participants to experience therapeutic
and enrichment activities during the summer months.

"As adults, just watching the news reports and reading the
newspapers, it was frightening enough for us," Cameron says. "You can
imagine how a child might internalize all of that pain and anger and
concern and worry."

Nine-year-old Elizabeth Carey of Prichard, Ala., who lends her
amazing singing voice to the show, understands the emotional roller
coaster that many children rode during and after Katrina.

"In the beginning, it was an ordinary day," she says. "But when
Katrina hit, there was the Red Cross and everyone trying to help people
who were suffering and things. And when (Katrina) went through,
everyone was happy because it was gone and it wouldn't come back again."

Related Links:

• Katrina-Inspired Play Funded by Red Cross Youth Program

Related Content:

• HRP Picking up the Pieces
• Go to other stories posted by Kati Garner:
  http://members.nowpublic.com/kati_garner