Cirque du Soleil and Oxfam

Cirque du Soleil began more than 20 years ago, with a group of talented young street performers in Quebec, Canada. Today, their spectacular shows thrill audiences in some of the most famous venues around the world, but they've not forgotten their street roots.

In 1997, Cirque du Soleil and Oxfam established a long-term partnership to help youth at risk around the world. Every year since, 75 per cent of the ticket money from the annual benefit performance has gone to support Oxfam’s work around the world, and 25 per cent to a special, jointly-supported project, chosen by Cirque du Soleil themselves.

In 2008, 75 per cent of the money went to support a special Oxfam project in Kenya:

In northern districts of Kenya, people rely on their animals for their living. Nomadic herders, or ‘pastoralists’ travel with their livestock, following traditional grazing routes.  In recent years, global warming has had a terrible impact – making traditional and environmentally-sensitive lifestyles difficult to maintain. Drought has always been a problem in this area, but it’s now more frequent. The changing rainfall patterns are also beginning to result in floods. Many families no longer have sufficient livestock to maintain their way of life.

Opportunities for young people are limited. A big risk is that they will become ‘warriors’ and become involved in disruptive banditry and cattle rustling, or add to the growing band of disaffected youth descending on urban areas. Many of these young people risk ending up in gangs, with little option but to turn to crime. Oxfam is working hard to help them stay in their communities and to lead productive lives.

Oxfam is helping young people to acquire new skills so they can cope better with the new environment and find other ways of making a living, so they are not wholly reliant on their herds. We provide loans to young people’s groups and support them to start up small businesses such as carpentry, fishing, bead-making, growing aloe vera and herbs, and small trading activities.

Related links

• Visit the official UK Cirque du Soleil website