Award-winning New Zealand-born choreographer, Parris Goebel talks about her upcoming trip to Uganda with World Vision.
Parris Goebel is used to travelling. If she's home in New Zealand for more than a couple of weeks, she says her family start to freak out. A recent stay of almost a month was the longest she'd been here since her dance and choreography talents started taking her all over the world, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Justin Bieber and Jennifer Lopez.
She danced on her latest trip too. This time though, she moved to music not made by superstars, and not alongside A-List celebrities.
There were no five-star hotels to rest her feet in at the end of a busy day. No red carpets to walk as cameras clicked.
"This trip will stay with me forever, and the people will always be in my heart," says Goebel.
Instead, after she and her new young friends danced - so many of them dreaming of making it big like she has - they talked about life. About the things they had seen, about their hopes. The stories were more than Goebel could ever imagine.
READ MORE:
* Parris Goebel to release autobiography on her rise from school dropout to stardom
* Parris Goebel 'spits' on Woman's Day over 'insensitive' cover
* Parris Goebel and sisters unite to help young women
* 6 lessons from Parris Goebel's memoir, Young Queen
"[They told me about] people being killed in front of them, at their schools. They get home and their parents aren't there. It was pretty horrible to hear that and to imagine a child seeing it. They shouldn't have to go through that," she says. "And then there were horrible stories about what happens to these kids on their trip to Uganda."
It's just hours since Goebel arrived home from a whirlwind trip to Northern Uganda. She travelled to meet the refugees from South Sudan who, because of the threat of violence, famine and economic issues, have walked for days, weeks, and sometimes months, to find safety in the settlements in Bidi Bidi, which became the world's largest refugee camp last year. The dancer's own 32-hour trip to get there - and then home again - wasn't even comparable.
Goebel earned her big break when she began choreographing for pop star Jennifer Lopez when she was just 19. Since then she's worked with some of the biggest names in the business - think Sir Elton John, Rihanna, Janet Jackson - and earlier this year, she released an autobiography about her first quarter century.
The 26-year-old's latest role is as ambassador for this year's World Vision 40 Hour Famine. The job got a lot more real after meeting the people she's campaigning for face-to-face. The experience was, she says, completely life-changing.
"I like the pressure. It makes me stronger, it challenges me - but at the end of the day, I know who I am and I know what I see when I look in the mirror."
While at Bidi Bidi, she saw the settlement's reception centre, where refugees are taken for their first hot meal when they reach the border. She learnt about the solar water pumps being installed, saving some residents a 4km walk each time they want to collect fresh water. And she spent time in the child-friendly spaces; safe, fun places for the youngest residents to play, sing and dance.
"Seeing the kids having fun and be open and be able to be kids again after some traumatic experiences...it's awe-inspiring," she says.
"Being there is a lot different to seeing it through photos and film. Seeing it for yourself is a whole other experience. From the way they live to all the challenges they go through...It was a big thing for me to hear them and be there in person to hear them explain it.
"I think it was important for me to process that for myself."
At 19, Parris Goebel got her big break working with Jennifer Lopez.
When Goebel last did the 40 Hour Famine - the youth-targeted fundraising effort that last year saw 90,000 kids and teens give up something for a weekend - she was in intermediate school.
"It was the cool thing to do. Everyone was doing it," she remembers.
Now, she's the one making it cool. To some of us, she might not be a household name, but to her devotees, those of the Instagram generation, she's a queen who has taken her "Polyswagg" style of dance to the international stage and made being a little different, a little awesome.
And while she might be honoured to be lending a hand to the cause, organisers World Vision were smart to do the asking, and canny to think global - and urban - by signing Goebel up to a role recently filled by Shortland Street actors and radio personalities. This time, the world will see their message, thanks to Goebel's global fan base and her social media posts.
Helping others is something of an ethos for the Aucklander, though.
"It goes hand in hand with what I stand for," she explains. "I have my work, but the most important thing I do with dance is to help other kids and to try and provide opportunities to help the youth - and also to try and get the youth out of their less fortunate situations. So it ties into what I'm about and what I believe in."
Goebel says being in Northern Uganda was a "whole other experience".
Goebel grew up in South Auckland, the youngest of four kids in a tight-knit Mormon family. Her brother and sisters are settled down and have kids of their own. Her dad Brett, who she's previously described as a "big white man with bright blue eyes" is also her manager and heavily involved in her work here and overseas. She jokes about the amount of time they spend on the phone together.
Brett and one of Goebel's sister joined her on the trip to Uganda. It was her family that instilled in her the importance of doing her bit for those who need a hand up, knowing they had more than enough to be able to give back.
"My dad was always big on service growing up. I remember dropping off big santa sacks to kids at christmas, any time my dad would get extra product at work, he would drop it off to families from our church.
"We would always go on the drives with him, we'd help give that stuff out, and so not only that, but my dad would also remind us to always give back and to be generous.
"My family is about being generous, thinking about others, and not thinking twice about giving something up to someone who has a lot less than you. That's always been a big thing for us. I guess it's part of my character - I'm not afraid to give up what I have, or give people a part of what I have."
Goebel says she will never be the same after spending time in the Bidi Bidi settlement in Northern Uganda.
She knows having a platform as big as she does - at last check she had more than 700,000 Instagram followers alone - brings with it so many things, both good and bad. The best is getting to do stuff like this. The biggest is the pressure.
As she poses for the photographer, she doesn't muck around. She knows what she wants, she knows how she wants to look and boy, does she know her angles. She is, and there is no other world for it, fierce. Yes, there are a couple of outfit changes - including fashioning her own "lived-in" sweater with just a pair of bog-standard scissors - but she instantly apologises for leaving a tiny mess of white fluff from the cuts.
A big focus of her trip was to spend time with the settlement's children.
"People have their expectation on what you should be, and your work has a standard that people expect from you. I really enjoy that, I enjoy having those high expectations on me. That's why I work so hard, and even as a person, I like the pressure. It makes me stronger, it challenges me - but at the end of the day, I know who I am and I know what I see when I look in the mirror.
"I have a platform to use my voice and express myself - and people will listen, which is pretty powerful. I take that into consideration with my work, with dance, and also with things like [being an ambassador], where I try to use that platform as positively as possible."
That sense of helping others has only got stronger since being in Africa.
She admits before seeing it wither her own eyes, she had very little idea of what was really going on outside of her own world. Now, she feels a lot more aware of the challenges being faced in the world, and how she can help.
"And that will stay with me for the rest of my life. That's something I can't just forget about the next day, or carry on and not think about. This trip will stay with me forever, and the people will always be in my heart."
PARRIS GOEBEL'S NORTHERN UGANDAN DIARY
During her short trip to Northern Uganda and the Bidi Bidi settlement, Goebel kept a diary. Here, she shares some extracts...
Day 1
World Vision Refugee Reception Centre – where refugees are brought once they cross the border into Uganda from South Sudan/Democratic Republic of the Congo – they're registered and given three hot meals per day, while they wait for the plot of land to be allocated (usually a wait of one or two days).
"No one can comprehend the amount of work that goes into organising this many people - the 400–500 that come across the border every day from South Sudan. It's incredible to see what World Vision are doing when refugees arrive, it's essential. They feel safe and can start a new life."
"It's heart-breaking meeting children who have come across the border alone. But what's surprising is that they still have high spirits and they still have hope, despite it all."
"They have to flee from their homes, they've seen horrible and really traumatic things. They're just trying to find somewhere safe, I can't imagine what that's like."
"Our donations are critical to giving them hope and a new life."
Day 2
Met young refugee Susan, 16, an unaccompanied minor from South Sudan – she came across the border with her sister after losing her parents and now lives with a foster family.
"Susan spent one week walking from South Sudan to cross the border into Uganda with her sister, after losing both her parents. She was at school when the war started, men were being slaughtered around them, so they had to flee. They left and spent a week walking with little food and water, they were stripped naked on the way and had their clothes stolen. When she arrived, World Vision found them a foster family, gave them money to buy clothes and helped them start a new life. It's amazing to see first-hand all the things World Vision provides."
"The way these people live is a huge contrast to how the world we know lives. I had no idea it was like this, that people were suffering like this. I want everyone to spend a few hours in the shoes of these people so they can understand what it's like."
Visiting a solar powered water pump – the solar powered water pumps give approximately 12,000 people clean water each day in the surrounding villages.
"The way people live here is so hard to comprehend, it's so different to the way we live. We just turn on the tap and there's clean water. Here they can walk up to 3 or 4km each way, three times per day, with a 20L jerry can on their heads, often with a baby on their back and often barefooted. The water pumps gives them access to clean water, makes it safe to collect at night time and allows more time for education. They're life changing."
"I can't believe how much work goes into this response, it is a beast. From the food, to the education, the water, the housing and looking after children, it's mind blowing."
Day 3
Dance group: LXD Dance Crew at World Vision Child Friendly Space – there are 31 Child Friendly Spaces across the refugee settlements, a place for children to go to learn, play and just be kids again, after all the trauma they've faced in being uprooted from their homes during wartime.
"Being able to sit down with the dance crew and hear their hopes and dreams was really special. I was in their position once, I was a young girl with a dream, but I had a lot more opportunities and resources. They're the same – young people with a dream - but they have nothing. No shoes to dance in, no music. But I saw them light-up. When I dance, all my worries go away, and to see the same in their eyes was really special. Dance sets you free, and no matter how much you have, it can take you to another place. They come together through music and dance and it helps them find happiness in such a difficult situation."
Reflections
"I've only been here a short time and it's such an eye opener. I had no idea what was going on here and how much help they need. I feel really sad because I want to do so much more and I want the world to do more. I feel blessed to have this opportunity to meet these people but I feel an obligation and responsibility to help make a change. Anyone who has any more than these people have an obligation to give, whatever they can, small or big. And I'm going to do whatever I can to help them."
"I don't think the world understands how little they have. You can see photos, but when you're here, it's heart-breaking."
"I have a feeling this will be with me forever."
- Sunday Magazine
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar