Talitha Arts helps young girls to heal through art

Glittery bits, portable white clay, coloured fabric, simple musical instruments, pens, pencils, paints, glue, paper, card, coloured foam, treasure boxes, beads, journals... these are some of the things you'll find in the box of healing that has been travelling to India with Talitha Arts, a non-profit group of professional artists and arts therapists, for the past three years. Talitha Arts has been working with girls aged 12-18, who have been rescued from trafficking and violence, through the International Justice Mission (IJM).

They have done two training programmes in Mumbai and one in Kolkata; their trips differ between eight days and two weeks, depending on how many programmes they are doing. Involved with aftercare homes in South and North Mumbai, this time they have spent two weeks in Mumbai. “We tend to work in threes and every team that comes down from the UK is unique”, Cathy Sara, British actor and Head of Overseas Development, Talitha Arts, tells us. With every trip, they try and have at least one therapist on the team. “Sometimes we have a singer or an artist with us. The idea is that creatives come together with arts therapists to amalgamate our skills, working together to bring something unique,” says Amanda Root, British actor and founder of Talitha Arts.

Amanda has always had a passion for the arts as being healing and therapeutic, “but when I heard the facts about children who were being trafficked and sexually exploited, something in my heart stirred and I believed that the arts would be really useful to bring back a sense of worth and dignity, giving the girls a voice again and a sense of restoration. Talitha uses the arts–dance, music, acting, visual arts, clay...–to engage the girls in a different way. "We try to integrate the arts so that a picture may develop from a story, movement may arise from the picture, a character may evolve from movement. Activities support and inform one another and therefore, provide various alternative pathways in which to connect to the imagination.". The girls respond very quickly,”" shares Amanda, who has acted in several films and TV series including The Iron Lady (2011), The Robinsons (2005), Daniel Deronda (2002), Anna Karenina (2000), Jane Eyre (1996) and Persuasion(1995) . She started Talitha after hearing Gary Haugen, lawyer and founder of IJM, speak about young girls rescued from trafficking and abuse.  "We started with a trial run in 2011, but the response from the children has been so extraordinary that the aftercare homes want us back and so we're here regularly," she says.

Kate Snowden, who works at St George's College and is also a Dance Movement Therapist in London, believes that the girls may be more open to drama or artwork than verbal communication. "Sometimes, because of the level of trauma and their ages, it's safer and easier for them to project what they're thinking onto a piece of paper or clay rather than talk through it. Girls who have been sexually abused often find it hard to stand up straight and have a broken relationship with their bodies. Rather than just telling them to stand up and be confident, we use dance or movement activities like pushing the lid off a box that's too small for them, so they can experience expanding and stretching their bodies in a positive way. Thinking it's just 'fun' and using music they like makes it safe and they still benefit from the experience physically and therapeutically," explains Kate.

And the girls themselves are recognizing that. “We've had girls say, 'When I stopped creating with my head and started creating with my heart, it worked,' while other girls have told us, 'I feel like I did when I was a child'. It's about allowing the girls to be themselves in that safe environment with very structured creative activities and nobody should feel anxious and uneasy. "The girls can choose not to do anything they don't want to; it's a place for them to rediscover a sense of self-esteem," according to Amanda. Cathy believes that these small, but powerful tools could help the girls find a voice for the courtroom. If they are able to testify in court, there is always that memory to fall back on. Some of our exercises are also about relaxation, breathing, awareness and reconnecting with your body.” Kate adds that Talitha celebrates the value of the individual. The girls need to feel that they're valuable and it's a very powerful experience for them to be given that opportunity to feel like someone's actually noticing them and they've got that respect and worth."Lack of trust is a big issue with young girls. We're trying to help them regain a sense of community and friendship they can rely on," confides Amanda.

With childhoods that have been robbed, through these experiences the girls have a chance to play and laugh together. Very often the girls are keen on sharing their experiences and teaching other girls. "Trauma inhibits the imagination, creativity encourages it. So, play and fun are very much part of our process. Many of them have had their childhoods stolen, it's important to give space to the little girl 'inside the traumatized young woman. Through the creative mediums, the girls have a chance to choose to 'go back' to their early childhoods, ground themselves in the present and also think about their futures. We give them a chance to explore and express themselves freely through the different creative activities. During the sessions this time, we did some work with clay moulding and shaping and also projecting feelings into the clay, transforming it into different things. Many of the girls found themselves reflecting on childhood games and creating sculptures representing these." says Kate.

t's not just the girls that Talitha Arts works with; they also train the heads, aftercare workers, therapists and counsellors at the aftercare homes. The girls have revealed insights to their counsellors; this is Talitha's dream—to leave behind resources and help the girls to open up. “We carry all that we need for the workshops as sourcing materials once we're in India is difficult to do in the time frame of our visit. We try to keep our materials simple, for then useful exercises can be repeated in the homes, in the future. However we also balance the practical with a desire to give the girls resources that they won't have easy access to as well, for that engenders a sense of the 'special' and marks the time together as different. We leave some of the materials that are useful to the home and the girls keep their clay sculptures and any artwork they produce, but much of what we bring gets used again to benefit other groups in the future,” expresses Cathy

When it comes to funding, Talitha Arts raise their own funds. “We've had people who have given us larger donations and we've raised funds ourselves. All that we do is on a volunteer basis. We're just here to help these homes, counsellors and girls as much as we can,” Amanda mentions to us. “But if anyone would like to help, they can get in touch with us on our website http://www.talitha.org.uk. We're always looking for creative people and financial help. Translation is always a challenge within the home as there are a several different languages–Hindi, Marathi, Bangla, so that's a skill we really need. If people have an understanding of the Arts, it really helps because it's a different language and a different kind of thing you're trying to express and trying to communicate,” Kate adds.

"I didn't know what courage and strength was, but now I do!" says a Talitha Arts workshop participant, on their website. Talitha was a name that popped into Amanda's head when they were name hunting. "Talitha koum" meaning "Little girl, I tell you to get up!" was a phrase used to bring a little girl back to life. Amanda believes, "We're the 'get up' bit; it's the restoration and renewal of life that seems so appropriate to our work".