Fundraising for Breakdancing classes in Riverkids

Tiny Toones is a group in Cambodia that teaches kids and teenagers break dancing. KK and Tango came by the Riverkids Foundation (Cambodia) office 2 weeks back when I was still in Cambodia and we talked about firming up our plans for collaboration. (They were the ones who did the graffiti mural for the Family House as well)

We're now planning to have once a week lessons for the grade schoolers from 4.30 to 6pm every Thursdays and if it's popular with the kids, we'll extend lessons to twice a week, so more can have fun.

Through the discussions, I was half wondering if we should be spending more money on such programmes instead of just focusing on our current programmes. But a part of me was quite excited about how the kids will turn out after the classes - better self-esteem, much better fitness and an alternative form of play.

Here's a write up by Tango one of the founders of Tiny Toones about Break Dancing:

Benefits
Learning to Break dance brings many positive changes to the children. Not only does it strengthen their physical side it also assists in teaching them discipline and will power. Being able to do something that they never thought they would be able to do is great for building a strong and enquiring sense of confidence in a child.
 
A number of the children that are at River kids will have experienced severe neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and will have very low self esteems. Break dancing is great at teaching children that their bodies are strong and able to do amazing things. It allows a child to have pride in their bodies and hopefully themselves as a whole in the future.
 
The program is run by Khmers for Khmers. It is constructed in such a way as to make every child feel like 'they can' and 'they want to'. Our coaches fully understand the environments that your children are currently living in and will have strong connections with these children.

I feel it's exciting stuff and am really looking forward to the kids break dancing. We're hoping to have the classes start sometime in Mid or End March so in the mean time, we're going to raise funds!

Here's the break down of the start up costs:

1. Elbow Pads - $3 for one elbow pad. Each child only needs one and we would recommend that you purchase about 40
2. Beanies (Woolen Hats) - About 2000 riel each. Due to Lice we don’t recommend that you share beanies around so you would need to purchase about 100.
3. Stereo - A stereo that would satisfy our needs should cost no more than about $30
4. Gloves - $3 a pair. Again we recommend that you buy about 40 pairs of gloves that can be shared between the children and groups.
5. Matting for practice - The best matting we can recommend is not cheap but does work. It is about $25 for a square meter and we would recommend 8 sq meters.

 All in all, it adds up to about US$500 The items (gloves, beanies, elbow pads) also need replacement every 3 months due to the extensive wear and tear during practise. 

I'll be putting these up on What to Give with a special list just for BREAK DANCERS once I get pictures from Tango - that should be up by next Tues latest.

Coaching fees are at US$15 per hour per coach. There will be 2 coaches, one male one female and with once a week, 1 1/2 hour sessions, that'll be US$45 a week.

So to everyone who's interested in helping Riverkids set up breakdancing classes for the grade schoolers do visit the what to give site (next week!). We'll be sending invites to all as well once the what to give site is ready!