To those who have been asking about the Amelia Movement/Show,- I am sorry that I haven’t had time to answer all questions until now..
When I got back from Australia in March I started working to save money for my next trip overseas. I was getting bored and I wanted people to know more about Human Trafficking and what I had seen and learned in Africa. That is when I started the Amelia Movement which has become Norway’s first non-profit organization against Human Trafficking. I contacted Nina Ørbech, an old friend of mine (she is the sweetest, kindest, most genuine and down to earth girl ever) and I asked her if she wanted to help me raise some awareness and possibly make some money that I could take with me to orphanages on my next trip.
Nina was ALL IN and that’s when the madness began! We invited all of our friends to join in a show filled with music, acting, singing, dancing and more. To begin with we had 60 participants and from there we worked our way down to 30 amazing and gifted people aged 14-23.
By the end of March my partner Nina and I made our way down to the city hall and told them that we wanted to set up a show in the “Grand Auditorium” about Human Trafficking and the problems and difficulties that youth in our country face today. They told us that they would help us out, but that it would still cost us $2500. I must admit that it looked pretty bad there for a while. We refused to give up, applied for different sponsors and ended up raising that money in no time. They also told us that we had VERY high expectations and that no one had ever before set up a show in the short amount of time that we had.
We had exactly 6 weeks to write the script, find actors and rehearse, get a band together, find a dance team, choose and rehearse the songs, buy equipment etc and organize all the millions of other things. We met and worked hard several times a week next to regular jobs, school, sports, exams, graduations and what not. A few weeks before the premiere the most known newspaper in the country called and wanted to talk to us. We got a whole page about the Amelia show and Human Trafficking which was sweet!
At the night of the premiere we were all so nervous that people wouldn’t show and that things would go wrong, but luckily it was a huge success. Another journalist showed up and is writing a story on us. Politicians were there and wanted to cooperate on a demonstration I am planning. It was just sick!
The show was called Amelia’s secret. It was the story of 3 different people and their struggles in life. Amelia’s name was replaced with a number until the end of the play and the secret was who she was, how she’d been sold into prostitution at the age of 8 and that she died at the end. It was pretty dramatic, but people were moved and they understood what an important cause it is that we are fighting.
Never in my life have I been more satisfied about accomplishing something so huge and I am so very proud of what we were able to do together. These 30 people giving up their time to stand up for something so important was truly amazing. We could have never done it without each other!
I THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
≈ Claudia Maniscalco
Lee som Amelia
Skuespillerene mine!
If You´re Out There – Bare hør på den, vær så snill!
