No Strings Intl.- Aswan/Sudan Puppetry Workshop-Nov 23-Dec 03
Supporting Sudanese Refugee Children Through Puppetry in Aswan
What’s Happening in Sudan
Sudan is currently facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Since April 2023, the country has been torn apart by violent conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, public services have collapsed, and millions have been forced to flee. Today, over 30 million people inside Sudan—about two-thirds of the population—need humanitarian aid just to survive.
Egypt has received a massive influx of families escaping the violence. Since the conflict began, more than 1.2 million Sudanese people have crossed the border. About 40% of registered refugees are children—around 250,000–300,000 kids now trying to navigate life in Egypt after experiencing trauma, loss, and disruption to their schooling and stability.
Our Work in Aswan: Training Teachers to Support Traumatized Children
From November 23 to December 3, No Strings International, with support from Catholic Relief Services (CRS), has been working in Aswan, Egypt, leading a training program for local teachers who are supporting Sudanese refugee children.
The workshop focuses on using puppetry as a trauma-informed tool. By learning simple, playful techniques, teachers can help children express difficult emotions, process their experiences safely, and gradually rebuild a sense of trust and security. Puppets give children a bit of emotional distance—letting them “speak through” a character when direct expression feels overwhelming.
The No Strings Intl. training centered around three Key component:
A training manual created specifically for this workshop and the issues that educators in Egypt will be dealing with specifically with working with Sudanese children and issues of trauma. The manual is the backbone of the training and provided educators the lesson plans they can use with their students.
The No Strings Film: Out of the Shadows. A puppet film depicting about a boy and girl who have lost their parents to war and how they find a way to cope through storytelling and puppetry.
Puppetry Skills training. To increase the comfort level of using puppets and to build a foundation of useful performance skills, I am leading the training on how to use puppets using training puppets that I have used in previous workshops.
The children will get to see the film and use it as a launching point for discussions and an introduction to puppetry.
Educators will use puppets in class for a variety of excercises that coincice with trauma-based therapies such as breathing, awareness of one’s body, safely expressing emotions, etc.
The Manual also outlines other activities and discussion points that cross reference both the film, the in-class puppetry and physical activities that can work to restore calm, peace and feeling of control.
The Donkey Puppet-
In addition to performance training I am also a puppet designer and fabricator. For each project, I design a puppet that can be easily fabricated locally, using accessible materials and patterns I bring with me. CRS supports the production and distribution so that every teacher leaves the training with a puppet they can use immediately—and replicate in the future. For Aswan, I designed a friendly donkey puppet, simple to build yet expressive enough for storytelling and emotional work with children.
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My Role and Why This Work Matters to Me
I’ve been a puppet artist my entire adult life, starting at the Center for Puppetry Arts and continuing through decades of work in theater, television, and film. I’m grateful that these skills can be used in ways that directly support children and communities in need.
With No Strings International, I’ve performed in films like the Tales of Disasters series and the HIV/AIDS education film, and I’ve trained facilitators in Kenya, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. I’ve also led puppetry workshops for GOAL in Uganda and Kenya, and worked with Peripheral Visions International doing puppetry for the Ugandan show Chicken and Chips with a puppet host and special puppet segments called Katwe Corners . Focusing on issues of public health, social behavior change, and community development for Uganda
Being here in Aswan feels like a natural continuation of that journey. Sharing these skills with teachers who are supporting Sudanese children—children who have lived through unimaginable circumstances—is deeply meaningful to me. Puppetry opens doors. It gives kids a safe space to express themselves, reconnect with joy, and rebuild their sense of safety. I’m proud to be part of a project where creativity can make an impact.
