Healing Hearts Through Theater

At some point during the rehearsals, it clicked. This was more than creative expression. It was a shared act of healing and growth, a statement to the audience and to the world that our lived experiences can be a source of strength, even the difficult parts.

At COAR, the arts are more than hobbies. They are one of the ways the girls learn to name what they’ve been through, to reframe who they are, and to visualize a bright future for themselves. Under the guidance of a theater director and with support from COAR’s psychologist, the girls wrote their own short play titled Strong Roots, Unbound Wings: A Story of Healing, Growing, and Flying.

They created the story themselves, drawing from shared experiences. A young woman arrives in a strange place. She is wounded, scared, and distrustful. But with time and support from others, she begins to flourish. She realizes that her roots, her history, and her pain do not hold her down, but instead provide the foundation from which a new version of herself can emerge; she discovers that she has wings.

The girls planned their movements, practiced their lines, and made their own costumes and props. They rehearsed on the small stage during a recent visit of ours, and later made their public debut at the World Day of Peace Celebration, hosted by the Archdiocese of San Salvador.

As with many stories, the line between art and life is blurred. Healing is rarely linear, and growth can be messy. But the girls at COAR, like the protagonist in their play, have the support they need to discover their wings — from each other, from the COAR team in Cleveland and El Salvador, and from people like you who hold them in your hearts.