In Nicaragua, the income distribution shows an enormous imbalance, with a third of the population living below the poverty line. These people do not have enough money to send their children to school or buy them uniforms and textbooks. In fact, many of their children have to start earning money at a very early age. What is more, the absence of any social or personal perspective only worsens the situation. These children are stuck in a swamp of drugs, violence and crime, and have practically no access to education, sport or culture. Government programs are scarce and private initiatives are limited.

The School of Comedy and Mime (Escuela de la Comedia y el Mimo) transmits important values like solidarity, tolerance and respect for fellow humans and nature. It also fosters the children’s creative potential for new solutions. The instruction is multidisciplinary and practical. Training in theatre, mime, acrobatics, juggling, dance and puppetry is supplemented with special tuition in compulsory school subjects as well as in English and computer skills. A further important goal is to transmit an awareness of ecological sustainability and the responsibility for society carried by each of its members.

In 2001, the School of Comedy and Mime was the first project in Central America to combine the elements of circus- and clown-related skills with schooling for children and teenagers. It was soon evident that artistic skills and play are two ideal instruments in children’s learning, as they foster their mental and physical development as well as their creative abilities.

The equal education fund (EEF) realised the enormous potential of this approach and supported the School of Comedy and Mime both financially and philosophically from 2003 onwards. Since then the school has gone through various stages of professionalization. In 2007, a piece of land was acquired in the name of the association that was founded by parents and friends of the school. From 2008, the instructors constructed the central school building, using PET-bottles as building blocks. In 2010, a so-called "palapa" was started, a palm-roofed structure that offers enough room for training and performances. The purchase of a school bus enabled a daily taxi service for the children through Granada’s dangerous districts and to their many performance venues in and around the city. Compost toilets, showers and biological sewage treatment make up the rest of the infrastructure.nach oben

Several of the children have themselves developed into instructors who lead the centre’s training sessions in acrobatics, mime, juggling, handicrafts and acting. With daily training, the younger generation of children achieves a level of skill that allows them to perform before an audience. Thanks to positive experiences onstage, the children take pleasure in learning and in their own progress. Thus, the School of Comedy and Mime strengthens their self-esteem and gives them the chance for personality development.

In total, more than 500 performances for more than 90'000 people in cities, towns, villages and scattered settlements have taken place. A delegation of the circus artists has also travelled to Europe several times and appeared successfully in various countries. In the meantime, these European tours have developed into a fixed part of the project. In 2010, the School of Comedy and Mime initiated the street artist festival "El Berrinche Ambiental", which now has a permanent place on Granada’s calendar of events.

During the 13-year cooperation between the equal education fund (EEF) and the School of Comedy and Mime, those in charge of the project made great strides in bookkeeping and reporting. Through founding an association, purchasing land and constructing a project centre, the school achieved a certain stability. The range of activities and instruction for the children was increased and the project organization was professionalized.

The project was able to achieve a high degree of networking that paid off not only in the form of invitations to perform or to tour but also in donations from former volunteers and their families. In addition, the organisers were able to improve their skills in writing appeals to contributors. These aspects, plus the investments in infrastructure, set the stage for the present financial independence of the School of Comedy and Mime from the EEF.

This fits in with the EEF’s philosophy of supporting projects over a certain time period, during which ways and means are introduced with the cooperation of the organisers so that the project can continue to exist independently of the EEF’s support. The EEF is very happy to have helped the School of Comedy and Mime to establish a worthwhile and innovative project and to have seen it through to independence.