Save the Rhino Mural Painting

On October 11th Save the Rhino/Friends of Kenya painted our mural. We had two panels set out, and I'd done a brief design for the group:

We met at school at around 10:30, and there was already a local artist there waiting for us. He had actually already started on the painting - he'd done a line of animals and a background for us. We decided to put on the target marks and do some writing on the panel. However, our other mural was completely blank, and since there was no rhino on the one that had been painted on we decided to put it on there. We did a plain green background during our time, and managed to get the silhouette of the rhino up. Of course there is still more to add, but we wanted to maybe do a collaboration of sorts with the elementary schoolers to finish it off.

When we arrived I decided to go and help with work on the rhino mural, since a great deal of people had decided to finish off the larger animal one. We pulled over a table and worked for the majority of the time on the green background. There were two others with me at first, but as time passed by more and more came and joined us. After the green had dried the local artist got a long string and showed us how to draw a perfect circle using it. Wout, the Friends of Kenya president, then proceeded to sketch out the rhino for us.
I think that we got a lot done this day - we've finished one mural, and the other is pretty close to completion. This was the first activity that the club has done outside of school times, and I really did sense that we came together more. I enjoyed being able to connect ARTSCO and Friends of Kenya in this project, and express myself creatively. I think that these murals are a great way to spread awareness, as one sees them every single day when walking around campus. I hope that we're able to work with the elementary to finish this project!

Swim Meet

On October 26th I helped to officiate a swim meet here at ISK. There was a small meet at school for the elementary students, and the high schoolers on the team were enlisted to help in the planning and execution of the event. We went down to the pool straight after school finished, and were split into timers (one per lane), runners (those who run up and down the pool giving the timers the marshalling cards so that they can record times), stroke watchers (checking to see if anyone is disqualified) and those announcing events on the speakers. I was a timer, and I was assigned to lane 1.

I received a clipboard, timer, pen and piece of paper with all the events written out and the names of all swimmers in my lane recorded. I sat at the end of the lane and recorded their times, and the whole team cheered on the swimmers. It was a really lovely afternoon, I felt like the team came together (both the high school and elementary). I also gained a new perspective on galas, I'd always been so terrified when at them, and hadn't really understood how everything worked. I feel like I now have a clearer view of all that is being carried out during these meets.

 I also really admired the determination and positivity in the elementary swimmers. They put 100% into what they did, and urged each other on in all races. I understood the strength of the ISK community, and truly felt a part of it all during this meet. I really hope that we get the chance to do this again - supporting the younger members of our team is a great way to grow as individuals and as a group.

HeArts Trip 2

On Wednesday, October 15th, I had my second HeArts trip. Emilia was away on this trip so Hally and a couple of others took charge. The kids were already there when we arrived, and they all sat outside while we prepared. We didn't have the materials to do friendship bracelet making this time, but we set up for origami, mosaic making, painting and dance.

We started out the day with another cinnamon bun hug activity, which I think they all enjoyed. However, I'm not sure all of them really understood what we were doing, and I was a little concerned by the fact that we forgot to ask them to introduce themselves. After these initial activities were done we split into groups and moved inside for the games. I decided to be a part of the origami team to start of with, which was a nice change. There were two other ISK students there with me, and we taught the kids how to make snowflakes with us. It was a bit tricky, but they got the hang of it and were able to decorate them and hang them up. We also introduced some other origami tricks as the day progressed. However, after a while I moved to the painting group.

In the painting group we decided to introduce a halloween theme. They had printed out a few pictures of jack-o-lanterns, cats and witches and had them on the table for the kids to look at. I thought that this was a nice idea, but I was a little worried because, as a result, none of the children created anything unique. I noticed that all the art pieces that were created were based on the images that we'd printed out for them. I think this kind of goes against the entire aim of HeArts; its goal. We're meant to be pushing these kids to be expressive, not to be mundane and restricted in what they create. I did painting for the majority of the time, and was able to talk to the kids while I worked.

We ended the day as before, with a dance performance. The kids were performing Thriller, and they were all extremely enthusiastic about what they were doing. It was really quite wonderful to watch. We did a dancing game again, in which we stood in a circle and nominated people to come into it and share their moves, and then we finished. We gave all the kids their paintings and said goodbye.

I thought this was a very fun day, and I liked the focus on Halloween that we had. However, it was a new group of kids that had come (the ones from our first trip stayed behind) and so it was a lot harder to speak to them. We had to try and develop completely new relationships, and it was really difficult to make connections. I feel that it would be a lot better if the same group of people came everytime - that way, we'll be able to make more of a difference for these kids.

I had a few more ideas for games we could play in HeArts:
- face painting
- the folding game
- charades

HeArts Trip

Last Wednesday I went on my first ever HeArts trip. I was expecting to be working with sick kids, in hospitals and suchlike, and I was surprised when I arrived and found a group of school kids instead. However, I understood that it is extremely difficult to work with children in hospitals (it's an emotional experience, and at times they find it hard to participate in activities). I was very excited to be starting with HeArts because I love the arts, and feel that it is a critical for the wellbeing of the children (as well as ourselves).
The HeArts group was split into a number of groups, including the dance group, a painting group, a mosaic group, origami group, and friendship bracelet making group. We agreed that small groups of kids would rotate to each station throughout the time we had - these groups were very small, including 5 or less students. I was in the painting group with two other members of the group, and we set up paints, paper and pencils in our station. We decided amongst ourselves that we were going to ask them to draw their favourite animals. I think that it was a good idea to set a task because it gave the kids something solid to work on, and allowed us to get to know them individually.

Our first group was a little uncertain at first, a few of the girls saying that they couldn't draw, but we walked them through a simple drawing of a cat and they seemed a lot more comfortable afterwards. I decided to draw a dragon myself, in order to let the group get a feeling for the kind of thing that they could do. A lot of the students really liked my dragon, and I ended up doing linearts for them to colour in! I think this was a really cool way to get them to be creative, because some were not confident enough to do their own drawing, but still really liked using the paints and pencils. I especially connected with one boy who asked for a number of linearts - he named all the dragons and was telling me about how his favourite animal was spiderman! He was really sweet, and promised that if I taught him how to draw dragons he would teach me how to dance!

The other groups also got on really well, the dance group put together an amazing choreography (which was performed at the end of the day) and all the kids seemed really enthusiastic about it. The origami group also made little wind turbines, which were on sticks and relatively easy to make (but still challenging enough for the kids). The mosaic group also decorated little print outs of Pinocchio, and the work of the friendship bracelet group was evidence as the kids left with multiple vibrant bracelets at the end of the day! The fact that these kids were already really talented at art was a new experience for me, as I've only really been working with children that haven't had the chance to do a lot of these activities in the past. The children that came to HeArts were selected because they're already exceptional at the arts, and their collaboration and passion for everything that they did was evidence enough of this fact. I loved how eager they were to learn new techniques, and the ways in which they helped to support each other.
At the end of the day we gave them all a snack and then did a dancing game together. We held hands in a circle and individuals were chosen to come into the middle and do a small dance. The kids were amazing at this, and their dance moves were incredible! I felt rather self conscious of my own abilities!

This was a wonderful first trip, I enjoyed the fact that I was allowed to explore my own artistic abilities whilst helping these children at the same time. The atmosphere that was created was extremely positive and I loved how involved everybody was. The sharing of our own individual art at the end also emphasised the effectiveness of this group at embracing all artistic talents within the community. I definitely look forward to my next trip!

ARTSCO Mural Painting

On September 21st the ARTSCO group met for our first mural painting. We started working at around 10 in the morning, ending at 12-1 in the afternoon. There were a fair number of ARTSCO members there, and we split into two groups, one working on finishing the round square mural, whilst the other started the new ARTSCO mural.

We decided to do a rhino on the panel beside the elephant we had done at the PTO picnic, using the same technique. This technique, an idea of Mr Nicholas, involved printing a huge picture of a rhino out on different sheets of paper. We started out by taping the sheets together in order, labelling them and laying them out to make the picture. This took quite a while, but we worked well together as a team and managed to finish quite quickly considering. Once this was finished we got the glue and other materials from the art room and carried everything over to our panel (which was in the upper car park). The glue was a little smelly, which was a problem at first. However, we all got used to the smell as time went by, and were able to work effectively (with only a few complaints here and there!).
We started work by prepping the surface of the panel - we painted it with glue to prepare for the pieces of paper that would be stuck down. We decided to stick on two sheets of paper at a time, working from the bottom up, so that it was more easy to do efficiently. At first it was extremely challenging to get the paper on flat, and our whole bottom row had air bubbles and creases within the paper. It didn't look that great up close, but once you stepped back the picture began to come together. We also improved a lot as time went by, and our top row was a great deal neater. The team worked very well, some prepped whilst others pasted the sheets down and painted over the pieces that had already been glued on. There was a point at which I was worried that we wouldn't finish in time, but luckily enough we managed to get the whole thing down in time. There were a few bits of the rhino that were a little off, but Mr Nicholas ensured us that he would be able to paint over it and correct the issues.

The ARTSCO group helped to clean up well and I feel that we worked extremely well as a whole throughout the day. Everyone was actively involved in the painting of the mural, and sticking down sheets (as well as taping them together, etc) was done with a clear embracing of teamwork and cooperation. I hope that I did a good job taking on a leadership role during this process, and that everyone enjoyed it. I hope that we can do more activities like this in the future, though an issue will always be getting enough people to sign up to come!