Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) and the community of Kauai welcomed Pure Praxis, an internationally recognized performance group to the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Theater in Lihue, April 13.

Sailors, Coast Guardsmen, DoD civilians, students and residents of Kauai took part in interactive Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) training put on by the group.

The theater group is contracted by the Department of Navy, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (DON SAPRO) and utilizes improvisational theater as a method to encourage involvement and intervention in real life social situations. The shows are guided by audience participation, which makes every show unique and special.

The show on Kauai was unique in another way. DON SAPRO training is typically held for service members and DoD civilian audiences at military installations around the world; however, this performance opened its doors to the Kauai community and shared the experience with the public through the help of PMRF and the Kauai Community College (KCC.) Students, residents, Sailors, guardsmen and civilians from PMRF took center stage alongside members of Pure Praxis and navigated their way through challenging real life scenarios acted out during the show.

"I was not aware that the U.S. Navy conducted training like this. I think it's wonderful, and incredible, and honestly, I feel so much more respect and pride in the Navy for doing that because it affects everybody, not just the Navy but civilians as well. I felt a greater sense of community sitting next to the Sailors and taking this training. Loyalty from a different perspective, a sense of Ohana (family,) not just numbers and ranks but everybody united to fight for a common cause," said Polina Goudkova, a native of Canada and volunteer with the YWCA and PAU Violence on Kauai.

"I thought that this was one of the most incredible ways to bring the message across on an issue that is so prevalent everywhere in the United Sates, in Canada and all over the world about sexual harassment. I would really like to see shows like this in Canada. It something that needs to be talked about more. I'm very grateful that I was able to participate," added Goudkova.

"The hands-on training really helps to make a big difference because we give the participants a sense of accountability," said Benji Kaufman, Pure Praxis facilitator. "Anybody can really say, oh this is what I would do, but since we bring them up on stage, we get to see them do it, we get to see them try it and see their strategies, how they work. This really gives them that good sense of accountability, and for the Sailors in the audience, they can see their shipmates succeeding on stage, it really boosts moral. The sailors from PMRF did great, everyone was loving it, they were very effective, very assertive."

"The training was awesome. It wasn't your standard classroom lecture or slideshow presentation. It kept everyone involved. The subject was very relevant to military work life and the responses from the participants were very creative and effective," said Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Omar Powell.


For more information on Pacific Missile Range Facility, visit https://cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnrh/installations/pacific_missile_range_facility_barking_sands.html or visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PacificMissileRangeFacility/.

For more information on DON SAPRO visit: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/sapro/pages/default.aspx

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.