A drama teacher from Plymouth has taken his career one step further, and is using it to promote peace across communities. David Oddie, director of drama at the College of St Mark and St John, is behind the Arrow project (Art: A resource for reconciliation over the world), which uses the language of the arts to break down cross-cultural barriers. The programme holds summer schools in Plymouth and abroad where groups of young people from contrasting cultural backgrounds work creatively together on practical arts projects. The young people are selected from areas where there is tension on the grounds of race or other related issues.
 | | Youngsters on The Arrow Project |
"The idea came to me about three years ago following incidents like 9-11 and the build up to war in Iraq, which led to racial tensions up and down the country. "I found myself saying what can I do and I put together the fact that I teach drama." Through the power of story telling and shared experiences, Arrow summer schools have helped unite youngsters in some of the most conflict ridden areas including Sierra Leone in West Africa, Ethiopia and the Middle East. In his latest project David has been using drama workshops to bring together Israeli and Palestinian children. "Children in the West Bank were very reluctant to engage at first, but the work has been transforming on the young people taking part in it in terms of them being able to understand each other. "Our coordinator working out there describes how the youngsters who were previously throwing stones at each other are now finding a voice. They are saying, hey we can do something together." Arrow is currently is looking to develop and extend its network globally. It is also launching the Desmond Tutu Centre in Plymouth in November which will run courses, projects and exhibitions linked to the project. For more information you can check out the Arrow website. | 
