i am completely behind on posting but i have been working tirelessly the last couple days to catch up. so here i am. back-posting again.
Week 2 is always our body image/self-esteem/nutrition week. I have had to adjust the curriculum a little bit for this younger crew because quite frankly they aren't at the same level of understanding as the other girls. So instead of our normal cutting-outfits-out-of-a-magazine fun, we decided to draw instead. And even this proved to be a bit difficult.
The more I work with these young girls the more i realize how behind they are creatively. I mean, I understand that not everyone is capable of being Van Gogh but everyone is capable of creating. What I thought was a simple task of asking them to draw a picture of themselves, proved to be intensely difficult with some of the girls even crumpling up their papers and tears running down cheeks. No one wanted to do it on their own and almost every girl wanted to just take the one I drew of myself and put their paper over the top and trace. I, of course, wouldn't let them do it. Which is when the paper started crumpling and tears started streaming.
Estefany was one of the only girls who took the initiative to draw her own girl and soon her paper was being passed around to be traced. I sat there, as girls struggled just to draw a circle for a face or two dots for eyes and really wondered what the real issue was here.
Week 2 is always our body image/self-esteem/nutrition week. I have had to adjust the curriculum a little bit for this younger crew because quite frankly they aren't at the same level of understanding as the other girls. So instead of our normal cutting-outfits-out-of-a-magazine fun, we decided to draw instead. And even this proved to be a bit difficult.
The more I work with these young girls the more i realize how behind they are creatively. I mean, I understand that not everyone is capable of being Van Gogh but everyone is capable of creating. What I thought was a simple task of asking them to draw a picture of themselves, proved to be intensely difficult with some of the girls even crumpling up their papers and tears running down cheeks. No one wanted to do it on their own and almost every girl wanted to just take the one I drew of myself and put their paper over the top and trace. I, of course, wouldn't let them do it. Which is when the paper started crumpling and tears started streaming.
Estefany was one of the only girls who took the initiative to draw her own girl and soon her paper was being passed around to be traced. I sat there, as girls struggled just to draw a circle for a face or two dots for eyes and really wondered what the real issue was here.
They have colored before and they all color quite well but creating something is a totally different story. The education system here is very different from in the States. No one is in school for an entire day; they either attend morning session or afternoon session. In the case of some older students they actually start school at 6pm and end somewhere close to 10. But I imagine that a curriculum containing, legitimately, only 4 hours of school doesn't have room for art class.
I know that in the States there have been so many arguments for and against having the arts in a school curriculum. I have, obviously, always been in favor given the fact that I have always been an art student. But what some people call a waste of time, I call the ability to problem solve, create ideas and brainstorm. Art is so much more than scribbling something on a piece of paper; it is the mind's ability to be free.
I couldn't help but leave class feeling a little defeated...maybe even a little overwhelmed. I know, I know, all because of a little drawing failure. For me, it was so much more than just realizing that they can't create, it was realizing that they maybe can't even dream beyond their circumstances. They can't even think past what they are surrounded by to make a cute dress on their stick figure. They can't envision themselves going to a place they've always wanted to go.
But we move on. We keep going. I keep showing up. Because I believe that God has real purpose for placing THIS dream specifically in me. It can't be a mistake that I am an artist. It can't be a coincidence that there is nothing that ignites me more than dreams and hope and change. It may be the very thing He has me there for; to tell them if they look a little harder, dream a little bigger, that they can see beyond their circumstances.
I couldn't help but leave class feeling a little defeated...maybe even a little overwhelmed. I know, I know, all because of a little drawing failure. For me, it was so much more than just realizing that they can't create, it was realizing that they maybe can't even dream beyond their circumstances. They can't even think past what they are surrounded by to make a cute dress on their stick figure. They can't envision themselves going to a place they've always wanted to go.
But we move on. We keep going. I keep showing up. Because I believe that God has real purpose for placing THIS dream specifically in me. It can't be a mistake that I am an artist. It can't be a coincidence that there is nothing that ignites me more than dreams and hope and change. It may be the very thing He has me there for; to tell them if they look a little harder, dream a little bigger, that they can see beyond their circumstances.
No comments:
Post a Comment