Project Bantu: refugee youth finding their way through Capoeira Angola

We enter the room where the Capoeira Angola session is about to begin at The NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS).  The class is comprised of mainly young Sudanese Refugees, victims of brutal conflicts, many of them born into protracted refugee camp situations in East Africa. So their perception of the world is shaped by the tragedy of their circumstances.

Edielson Miranda, aka Master Roxinho, begins the class talking about time management as most of the kids came late to the lesson. Discipline plays a very important role in each class. Unruliness is not tolerated.  Anybody who comes late to class must repeat Negativa, a Capoeira Angola movement, 50 times. In this way, Master Roxinho demands his students to be accountable for their actions. He is a leader, someone to look up to; he demands respect in a peaceful and loving way.

He presses play on his Ipod and Ladainha, traditional songs of Capoeira Angola, begin to emanate from the speakers. The sound of the Berimbau (a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil), African drums and old Afro-Brazilian singers, envelops the room. Master Roxinho explains that the game of Capoeira Angola has to be played with strength and confidence, as it is the only way to communicate during a ‘game.’

Integration of Refugee Children into Australian Society:

“Refugee children have problems not just with education, but also with socialization,” says, Elizabeth Pickering, School Councillor of the Intensive English Centre at Cabramatta High School (CHS).

These young people have often experienced high levels of trauma. Many have witnessed violence directly or indirectly through the experience of dispossession, conflict, living in refugee camps or coming from dismantled families and fragmented communities.

Mrs Pickering notes that the Australian Government’s Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has “a focus on quality teaching and learning, and so good funding is put into the teaching of English as a second language.” However, Mrs Pickering, who has worked with new arrivals for over forty years, doesn’t “think there is near enough given to a holistic approach,” to resettling refugee youths.

“We neglect the holistic approach at our peril,” she says. “Because if someone has been highly traumatised they are going to be affected in ways that will impact upon their ability to sit in the classroom, and learn, and benefit from the quality teaching and learning, if their other dimensions are not being addressed.”

Mrs Pickering believes that there needs to be “many more programs that are creative, and we need to really look outside the box,” when it comes to helping refugee youths fully integrate in Australian society.

Project Bantu:

Capoeira Angola Cultural Centre Australia is a not-for-profit association founded in 2007 by Master Roxinho. The association aims to introduce, preserve and develop Capoeira Angola and Afro-Brazilian culture in its entire traditional, ritualistic and contextual form in Australia. Master Roxinho says, “Project Bantu is a movement through the mind to understand who you are.”

Project Bantu is a socio-cultural program delivered to young people aged 6-20 either from Aboriginal, refugee or Australian backgrounds. The program originated in Brazil for homeless youth and young people in Juvenile Justice Centres and has been adapted to fit the needs of the young people at risk living in Australia.

The project combines the healing potential of musical and physical expression to produce a range of social and learning outcomes, Master Roxinho believes that his program “helps the kids to understand themselves, their lives, where they come from, to have an opportunity to put their heads up and face the challenge of day to day life.”

The NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors:

STARTTS, is a government organization that works with refugees suffering from torture and trauma. Richard Walker, Public Affairs Co-ordinator explains, “together with other resettlement services, STARTTS provides interventions to help refugees overcome their trauma and also integrate in Australian life.”

STARTTS grants $700 a week of funding to Project Bantu, provides them with office space and allows them to conduct Capoeira Angola classes on site. The majority of the funding received by STARTTS, comes from both the NSW Department of Health and Department of Immigration and Citizenship. However, this money is only for core programs, such as, counselling. 

Furthermore, STARTTS also focuses on community development work.  A whole range of professionals work closely with those affected by violence and trauma, rebuilding trust and good social relationships. Usually community development programs (i.e.; Project Bantu) have to apply for funding on a rotating basis, from different Federal, State and Local Government Departments.

Mental Health Issues Associated with Refugees:

According to UNHCR, as of June 2009, “the number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide stands at more than 42 million, including 16 million refugees outside their countries and 26 million others displaced internally.”

Mariano Coello, a Clinical Psychologist with a speciality in torture and trauma at STARTTS, suggests that the “most common problems are related to people who go through traumatic events, or they themselves or their relatives and loved ones are witness to such atrocities.” According to Dr Coello, “this brings Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and reactions and symptoms.”

Dr Coello suggests that PTSD is “similar to depression, high anxiety and other problems like phobic reactions.” Depression is very common as are issues associated with loss.  “People lose not only their country and culture but also their friends and relatives, possessions and jobs and ability to function in a normal situation,” says Dr Coello,

Dr Coello points out that the experience of living in refugee camps is extremely traumatic and can have a devastating effect on childhood development. “They end up in protracted refugee camp situations, where they are deprived of food, medical attention and proper accommodation.”

Project Bantu: How It Helps These Youth:

Project Bantu has been involved with CHS for four years and Mrs Pickering suggests that, “when it comes to dramatic and long-term results, project Bantu has been by far the best that I've been involved with.”

At lunchtime at CHS, the Sudanese kids gathered in a classroom with Master Roxinho and Mrs. Pickering. The Capoeira class began with a power point presentation made by Evelyn Agripa and Charity Bosco. Both have been involved with Project Bantu for 4 years. The presentation was about the Capoeira Angola conference they attended in New Zealand.

Evelyn Agripa,16, from Sudan, was born in Kakuma Refugee Camp. She has excelled at Capoeira and has really identified with Afro-Brazilian culture. “I did not know it was going to be so good, I just started as a student then it got better and better, ” says Evelyn. “My traveling recently was something very good and I could never imagine to be traveling because of Capoeira Angola.”

Charity Bosco, 14, is Sudanese and was also born in Kakuma Refugee Camp. She joined Project Bantu when she was in year seven. “There was this new dance that came up called Capoeira Angola, then everyone started joining in.” She has become very close to the other students and feels a real sense of camaraderie.

The concept behind Project Bantu is to help these teenagers continue to connect with their cultural identity, which “is really important for kids who have so much dislocation and upheaval and are now in living in a different country, says Mrs Pickering.

Dr Coello believes that “for the kids the program is very successful. It gives them a sense of connection, it gives them self discipline, the ability to start controlling themselves, confidence and body control and the ability to perceive themselves in a different way.”

When the students are playing in the “game,” they have to make sure that they don’t kick the other person in the head; the other person has to trust them. “It’s a two way concept of developing trust and developing responsibility. Those concepts have been really damaged by the experiences of many refugees,” suggests Mrs Pickering.

The students come from multicultural backgrounds:  African, Asian and Middle Eastern upbringings. According to Dr Coello some came with prejudice as a result of the ignorance that emanates from their parents and communities. Project Bantu “has broken down these myths. The kids get to know each other. When they play “the game” they must embrace their opponents.

Main Obstacles with Running Project Bantu:

Chiara Ridolfi wears many hats at project Bantu. She is a social worker, a grant writer and she deals with the administration and organises events.

The biggest obstacle that Project Bantu faces is lack of funding. Project Bantu applies for all sorts of funding including private and public, however, the private sphere will not support an organisation that is not a charity. Currently, Project Bantu is an incorporated association, but they are in the process of applying to be recognized as a charity.

Project Bantu has applied for funding from the Federal Government, NSW Government and local councils. Only 3 out of 55 applications have been successful. The council applications were the successful ones. Auburn Council funded two projects and Holroyd City Council supported one project.

Chiara has found it difficult to explain to possible donors what Capoeira Angola is and the goals and outcomes of the project. As Chiara notes, “the medical one to one format is considered more important than group work.”

Chiara believes that Project Bantu has problems gaining funding from the Federal and State Government because “they are just square.” Chiara notes that “if you propose a soccer program, or help to find housing for refugees, then you will get government support. But if you propose that you are going to do group work, that requires music and knowledge of Afro-Brazilian culture, I don’t even think they read it (laughs).”

Mrs Pickering echo’s Chiara’s words: “There is just an appalling lack of funding for different ways to support new arrivals in a way that helps to really get successful settlement.” Mrs Pickering suggests that “it is all very short term and it doesn’t do a lot to address social connections and rebuilding of so much that has been damaged in the past.” Project Bantu is well placed to redefine this.

Chiara struggles with how to prove the success of Project Bantu’s outcomes. Chiara observes, “The Federal Government wants numbers. How many kids are you approaching? How are you helping them?”

Dr Coello supports Chiara’s claims: An application for funding “must prove results. It relates to issues of accountability.” Project Bantu must prove that it is “a fantastic program with hard data, it must prove that this works,” says Dr Coello. At present, Dr Coello is trying to help Chiara and Master Roxinho develop suitable and effective measures to properly evaluate the project, to access more funds.

Master Roxinho believes that “the kids that I have been working with over these past four years understand the principles and essence of Capoeira Angola . . . because we spend time together, we share life experience. This is something very hard to explain to those who fund projects like that.”

Government Response:

We sought a response from The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) as it is the main funding provider for STTARTS. Based on the information we had from Mrs. Pickering and STARTTS, we wanted to know why there wasn’t more government support for a Holistic approach applied to community projects like Project Bantu for resettling refugees.

DIAC responded that “they did not have enough resources to provide such answers.” After several email interactions, we are still waiting to hear back from the NSW Department of Health regarding the same issue, who initially responded that they were not equipped to respond to such an issue.

Mrs. Pickering believes early intervention is the key to successful resettlement, however she observes, “there is only a pittance for any support to do something really beneficial, so we should be doing so much more and we would get better outcomes.”

An example of this is Mandela Mark, 16, from the Sudan, who was told by a friend about Project Bantu. He believes Project Bantu has helped to develop his “understanding about people from other cultures.” As a result of past trauma Mandela has had problems with self-control and anger.

He still feels discriminated against in wider Australian society and targeted, particularly by the police. Nevertheless, Project Bantu has impacted greatly on his life: “It has helped me to be a new person in Australia and also helped with my anger management.”