Rialto Community Drug Team launches “The Blocks 2”
This year Rialto Community Drug Team (RCDT) is celebrating its 30th year in existence within St. Andrew’s!
As part of their celebrations they presented the second part of the beautiful animation work 'The Blocks Part 2' in a packed St. Andrew's hall Thursday May 25th 2023. This work was developed by the family support group (Step by Step) which was facilitated by Joanie Whyte and the animation developed by RCDT and directed by Gary Gowran and Sadhbh Lawlor of Splitting Borders.
In exploring the medium of animation the project created one central character called Sissy and set out to follow her life. The result is a very moving short animation which bring elements of all the women's stories together to be told in an authentic and sensitive way. The group of five local women, worked emotionally and creatively on a process to explore the generational impact of addiction on family life. They invited Gary into the journey in 2018 to support them to develop a story and script that would be translated into animated film. The results are two films comprising an intimate depiction of life through the eyes and hearts of girls becoming young women in Dublin sixty years ago. The women were keen to share the complexity of happy, content childhood memories mixed with the worries, fears and addiction in adult life that are bigger than any child's ability to cope. Both films are underpinned by the RCDT’s understanding of the long term impact of adverse childhood experiences and the value in taking time to explore this in a safe setting. The animation also highlights the impact of 'Hidden Harm' which is the unseen consequences of addiction on others like children.
As part of the project, RCDT have also produced a workbook to go with the two short films (Part 1 & 2) both of which will be available on their website shortly - www.rialtocommunitydrugteam.ie .
Hard copies of the workbook are available free of charge on request and can be used for any individuals or groups wishing to use the animations in a discussion group.
As the project developed and the work progressed the group made the brave decision to have their names attached to the work which felt like a really important achievement in terms of ownership. And at the initial showing to the wider community they decided in their own words;
"If our stories can be of any help to others we would be honoured".
Acknowledgements: RCDT would also like to thank Pat Tobin for her sensitive facilitation of the launch day event and Sadhbh Lawlor for the creative planning and organising of the day. This work would also not have been possible without the support of our funders HSE, Educational Training Board and Canal Community Local Drugs and Alcohol Task Force.
Alan Cleere, Rialto Community Drug Team Manager
