Doing capoeira at Petra in Jordan (Photo: Emily O'Dell)
When capoeira came to the camp, life started to be beautiful.
When I was helping to teach yoga in one of the refugee camps here in Beirut, I inquired about the possibility of teaching capoeira there too–and ever since then I’ve been thinking about how to share this beautiful Afro-Brazilian martial art with refugees in Lebanon. While I’ve taught capoeira workshops in Egypt before for adults, teaching children in a refugee camp comes with a host of specific challenges. It wouldn’t be impossible though, since capoeira is currently being taught in refugee camps in Jordan, Iraq and Turkey–as you can see in the UNICEF award winning video below.
From first-hand experience, I can say–without a doubt–that capoeira is one of the most effective practices for cultivating empowerment, self-confidence, creativity, community, and peace of mind–and it’s wonderful to see capoeira being used to help so many refugee children who are in desperate need of psychosocial support–as well as fun…
Capoeira é pra homem, menina, e mulher (Capoeira is for men, children, and women)
— Mestre Pastinha
In the video below, Mark Brasilford, a Senior Protection Officer at UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) explains the psychosocial benefits of capoeira…
