A twenty one member delegation from Ireland has attended an international social theatre festival in Valencia, Spain under the auspices of the Association of Ghanaian Professionals in Ireland (AGPI). The delegation which was led by Mrs Belinda Agyapong, Director of Programmes of AGPI and Coordinator of the project in Ireland, included Dr Vincent Agyapong, Chairperson of AGPI, Mrs Christina Asiedu-Appiah, Organising Secretary of AGPI and Mr Torsby Attipoe, a member of AGPI. Other members of the delegation included Irish and migrant women from Ghana, Nigeria, Eritrea, Kenya and Bermuda.

The five day festival which climaxed the project ‘Where the rivers meet’ was attended by delegates from four other European countries including Austria, Spain, Italy and Romania. The project which was co-funded by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship programme of the European Commission aimed to help combat racism and xenophobia against migrant women living in Europe. The festival began on Wednesday with an opening ceremony, addressed by the Regional Vice-Minister for Family and Solidarity of the autonomous region of Valencia, Enrique Navarro Alejandro, as well as a representative from the European Commission.

The women participants from Ireland staged the play titled, ‘I am thinking about your dream’ written by Ms. Mary Kelly, and directed by Mr. Vincent O’Reilly and Mrs Belinda Agyapong on the Thursday evening in the Rialto Theatre in the centre of the city. The theatre was filled to capacity and the crowed was entertained to the story of an immigrant from Africa who travelled to Ireland to escape tribal war but was faced with racist abuse when she arrived in Ireland. The applause from the audience was deafening after the show with many commending the AGPI team for a splendid performance.

On the Saturday, the AGPI team was joined by a Valencia based Ghanaian cultural troupe led by Kobena Richard and Baba to entertain the residents of Valencia to Ghanaian and other African traditional songs, dancing and drumming at the Antiguo cauce del rio Zona Palau de la Musica close to the city centre. This event was witnessed by hundreds of people most of who joined in to dance as the music played. The Regional Vice Minister for Family and Solidarity also witnessed the event and he was presented with a piece of Kente cloth by the Dr Agyapong on behalf of the AGPI.

The festival ended with a dinner dance attended by over hundred delegates from all five countries on Saturday night. The AGPI delegation has since returned back to Ireland. Representatives of all partner organisations would present the results of the project to the European Commission at a special conference in Brussels on the 25th of June 2012. The AGPI would be represented at this conference by Mrs Belinda Agyapong, Project Coordinator for Ireland.

For pictures of this event please visit our face book page https://www.facebook.com/#!/AssociationOfGhanaianProfessionalsInIrelandagpi or our website www.agpireland.org