Puppets carved from local trees are attached to long bamboo poles. The puppeteers stand in the water, hidden by foliage, and work the puppets through strings that run inside the poles. Today the water puppets tell tales from ancient and modern times, delight local people and tourists, and provide jobs - while keeping alive a national treasure. Creating a puppet show requires a wide rage of people and skills. Opportunities abound for individuals to make and manipulate puppets, write scripts and stage shows.
Puppets create teamwork even as they entertain and inform the audience.
This gives a golden opportunity for forming alliances between creative artists and those involved in development work. Puppetry can provide an entry point for contact with talented entertainers, who then learn how their art can spread information. Just as the puppet show can help the audience understand things in a different way, so can a workshop on making puppets and performing become a focal point for young epople who want to bring positive change to their communities. Puppets are effective When officials of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the United States wanted to create a new television programme to tackle difficult issues for children and their caregivers, research convinced them that the show should use puppet characters. They came up with The Puzzle Place , whose stories celebrate diversity and advocate tolerance and understanding.