Ruwwad Project

Last Saturday a group of about twelve kids from Ruwwad, a conservative and impoverished local area, came to King's to participate in art projects organized by several King's students. The organizers of this project are hoping to have it culminate in a talent show where the kids demonstrate what they have been working on over the course of several trips to King's. I assisted with the hip-hop dance section along with King's students Fadi and Farah. Fadi spear-headed the workshop, teaching popping, locking, and even a bit of breaking.

I was unsure what to expect at first. I had been told that the children would only speak Arabic and this was indeed true. Fadi and Farah started by giving a history of hip-hop and asking the kids what their style is. This entire conversation took place in Arabic and while it might have made sense for me to be unnerved by my lack of stake in the conversation, I instead strained to recognize words I knew and imagined what they could be saying. Rather than feeling overwhelmed, I felt the urge to take on more Arabic classes and to push myself to learn more quickly. I even practiced my Arabic by asking one of them “adeish omrach?" - "how old are you?"

Even though I couldn’t communicate with them through words I still managed to connect with them. I started doing some silly dance moves that a Lebanese girl had taught me and one of the kids joined in. He started doing his own silly dance moves and I joined in. It was proof that dance and laughter are languages too.