No Strings teach about the dangers of landmines in Afghanistan
No Strings
Foreign aid detractors say that charity is for muppets. One Irish NGO has set out to prove those people right. Markham Nolan talks to No Strings, a touring puppet company dealing with some powerful issues.
Outside the tent it's unseasonably hot from the early morning sun. A crowd of children sit with their parents taking turns to peer inside. Inside the tent it's dark and cool. On the tent's back wall, a screen shows an Afghan man with a long, grey beard lecturing two puppets; a felt camel and a boy made of carpet, about landmine safety. He's telling them not to take risky shortcuts, to look for signs warning about landmines, and gives them tips on what other telltale signs lie around a minefield.
And in the corner of the tent, a real man sits chatting to the same Afghan carpet boy puppet that is being taught a serious lesson on the screen.
The children roar back at the man on the screen:
And in the corner of the tent, a real man sits chatting to the same Afghan carpet boy puppet that is being taught a serious lesson on the screen.
The children roar back at the man on the screen:
'IF IN DOUBT – STAY OUT!' the golden rule of how to avoid landmines
These children will probably never come within a thousand miles of a landmine, and most probably have no idea what a landmine is, but it's clear the message is still getting through. This is no warzone, this is Dublin, and the children are watching the show as part of Dun Laoghaire's Annual Festival of World Cultures.
But when No Strings really takes its show on the road, it visits the most inhospitable parts of war-torn countries like Afghanistan, a country where three decades of war have left one hidden land mine for every two people. It is a country where a child who strays from the path to school risks having a leg blown off, or worse.
There, using puppets crafted by Henson studios, creators of the Muppets, the No Strings charity uses specially-designed mobile cinema motorbikes to bring their life-saving show alive for children.
But when No Strings really takes its show on the road, it visits the most inhospitable parts of war-torn countries like Afghanistan, a country where three decades of war have left one hidden land mine for every two people. It is a country where a child who strays from the path to school risks having a leg blown off, or worse.
There, using puppets crafted by Henson studios, creators of the Muppets, the No Strings charity uses specially-designed mobile cinema motorbikes to bring their life-saving show alive for children.
Seamus to the rescue
The concept for No Strings started with an Irish puppet called Seamus, owned by No Strings founder, Johnie McGlade.
While travelling as a development worker, Johnie started to bring Seamus with him to emergency zones.
'I would say: 'Oh I must bring Seamus just in case I can do something with him,' said McGlade, 'whether it was Kosovo or East Timor.'
'Then I brought him to Sudan with Goal (an Irish humanitarian agency) because I knew there wasn't going to be very much entertainment at night, and I brought it in that 'around the campfire' sort of lark, you know, with a romantic view of it.'
'And then of course we brought it into some of the feeding centres and we realised there was this instant impact with the kids.'
Thousands of children gathered to watch Seamus and Johnie at play, making obvious the massive potential of using puppets to connect with children.
However, it wasn't until a friend introduced Johnie to Muppet creators Michael Frith and Kathy Mullen that things really got underway. The muppeteers loved the idea of a puppetry-based NGO, and in the post 9-11 atmosphere, the innocent people of Afghanistan became the obvious focus of their combined energies.
While travelling as a development worker, Johnie started to bring Seamus with him to emergency zones.
'I would say: 'Oh I must bring Seamus just in case I can do something with him,' said McGlade, 'whether it was Kosovo or East Timor.'
'Then I brought him to Sudan with Goal (an Irish humanitarian agency) because I knew there wasn't going to be very much entertainment at night, and I brought it in that 'around the campfire' sort of lark, you know, with a romantic view of it.'
'And then of course we brought it into some of the feeding centres and we realised there was this instant impact with the kids.'
Thousands of children gathered to watch Seamus and Johnie at play, making obvious the massive potential of using puppets to connect with children.
However, it wasn't until a friend introduced Johnie to Muppet creators Michael Frith and Kathy Mullen that things really got underway. The muppeteers loved the idea of a puppetry-based NGO, and in the post 9-11 atmosphere, the innocent people of Afghanistan became the obvious focus of their combined energies.
All of a sudden, Johnie found himself in the middle of a massive Henson studio, surrounded by Muppets, cameras and the highest calibre of animation talent
'We did it in the Henson studios in the centre of Connecticut,' says McGlade, 'and it was a full cast of people, they (Michael and Kathy) called in all their friends from the Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock, 37 people on set, it was a proper movie.'
Taking the message to Afghanistan
The result was a high-class puppet movie, translated into Afghan languages like Dari and Pashto that No Strings and their partners now show in outlying villages in Afghanistan using their mobile cinemas.
'What we do is we bring two of the puppets with us, two of the main characters, and they'll be in the film,' Johnie explains.
'Then they do a Q & A at the end of the film, so that instead of people talking to the kids, they're talking through the puppets.'
The combination of film and live puppets holds the kids spellbound. 'You wouldn't hear a pin drop through the film, they're just absorbing it, the whole thing,' he said.
'Then afterwards how you really judge how well it's gone is when you bring out the two puppets and ask questions.'
'Of course they're just eyes wide open when they see the live puppets, they think they've just come out of the screen.'
Although the characters are make-believe, they don't shy away from the real issues, which are, for their audience, matters of life and death.
'This character Chuchi Qhalin the little carpet boy, he has at first one leg blown off, then the second leg blown off, and then gets an arm blown off,' says McGlade.
'Because it's puppetry you can get away with that because he's not a real boy as such, but you have to show it quite graphically.'
The land-mine film has been such a success that No Strings is looking at creating programmes to help children survive natural disasters like the Asian tsunami, and will soon move into HIV/AIDS awareness programmes in Africa.
'It's about giving life-saving messages to adults and children in developing countries,' says McGlade.
No strings attached.
'What we do is we bring two of the puppets with us, two of the main characters, and they'll be in the film,' Johnie explains.
'Then they do a Q & A at the end of the film, so that instead of people talking to the kids, they're talking through the puppets.'
The combination of film and live puppets holds the kids spellbound. 'You wouldn't hear a pin drop through the film, they're just absorbing it, the whole thing,' he said.
'Then afterwards how you really judge how well it's gone is when you bring out the two puppets and ask questions.'
'Of course they're just eyes wide open when they see the live puppets, they think they've just come out of the screen.'
Although the characters are make-believe, they don't shy away from the real issues, which are, for their audience, matters of life and death.
'This character Chuchi Qhalin the little carpet boy, he has at first one leg blown off, then the second leg blown off, and then gets an arm blown off,' says McGlade.
'Because it's puppetry you can get away with that because he's not a real boy as such, but you have to show it quite graphically.'
The land-mine film has been such a success that No Strings is looking at creating programmes to help children survive natural disasters like the Asian tsunami, and will soon move into HIV/AIDS awareness programmes in Africa.
'It's about giving life-saving messages to adults and children in developing countries,' says McGlade.
No strings attached.
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