Working well with others

So I think I'm getting past the honeymoon phase here at the different sites I'm working with. This is a good thing. The staff seems to be getting more comfortable with me and aren't afraid to ask for where they need supports in their class. I like this kind of relationship as it helps give me more direction.

I've also started to see bits of American Sign Language being used over here. Today I caught the ASL versions of "Thank you & your welcome" being used by some of the students. What was really nice was that these children were not all deaf, but they were using sign language in class to be considerate of those who were deaf, or needed a more visual way of communicating.

What's still hard is the children who have Autism. There is such a huge range within the autistic spectrum and some of the children here are hitting themselves for stimulation. We have children who do this at my school in the states too, and it's always daunting to hear the slap of a child's hand against their own face, or even worse the crack of their knuckles on their cheek or forehead. At my school back home I've only seen some head banging, and often helmets are given to these children until a substitute can be found for the stimulation. But here I've seen mostly face hitting which is just terrible to watch. I know that all of the staff here are working as hard and as quickly as they can to find a substitute for this kind of behavior and I hope I can be a part of that process.

Potatos & Coffee

OK so we tried some potato prints with the older kids. I brought thick coffee water, as I wasn't sure if they would have paints. However, coffee is way expensive over here so bringing that seemed like....not a viable resource to them. Paint came out though and we got rolling on decorating some envelopes the kids were already working.
Although the coffee incident was a bit embarrassing it did prompt one teacher and I to have a really good discussion. I have to bring something to this group of older kids 4 times a week, and I have no idea what I'm working with. I realized I could either suffer in silence or I could speak up and ask "so, what are you looking for?". I've come to realize that folks in India tend to be either overly polite (giving directions when they don't know the real way to go;-), or very direct and I'd rather the very direct approach. Once I took the risk of asking the question I was taken on a tour of all of the materials available and the staff and I started to brainstorm ideas of what we can do. This was VERY helpful. I also am loving that some folks in the states are emailing over ideas.Keep them coming! Along with the pictures of our stamping time I've posted a picture of some weaving I'm trying out with an old sari. The loom is made out of an old, thick folder, and I cut long strips from the sari to weave through. I think this could become a table runner.

Stencils

Many kids here have some fine motor skills issues. We're using stencils to make shapes and then identify and label them.The stencils were made out of old toothpaste cardboard boxes. One kid is obsessed with Colgate so he was thrilled to work with them!

Something Marketable?

Yesterday I started working with some of the older students at the College of Vocational Training. I was asked to bring small, marketable craft ideas for these students to create, and then sell at a store they run. I loved this idea! The only problem is there aren’t many materials to work with, and we can’t just sell fine art we need to sell functional art. With that, as I don’t know the students well yet, I was unsure of what they would be capable of making. So I started with some collage work, using recycled materials of course, and made a sample card with a fish on it. There was of course no cardstock at CVT, and I’m pretty sure we used up their small supply of white paper. Our results were ok, but that was as far as I could take the project. I need to be creating ideas that will last. I’m not being hard on my self, I’m just realizing that I really need to think this through. As a working artist I’m use to thinking about art as a career, but I’m also able to take out loans to get materials and get a small business started. Although there are some resources here, I really need to figure out some materials that these kids will always have easy access to, and are capable of doing after they leave the school. Art as a livelihood with no financial support…… this is tricky.

I have lots of crafty friends. Post any ideas using these materials:
-Fabric scraps (mostly from old clothes)
-Recycled paper (newspaper and old print shop scraps)
-Leaves, sticks etc.

Thanks!

Mussorie

Will, our new friends Tiffany and Kosta, and I went to visit our other new friend Louise in Mussorie. Mussorie is one of the towns in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, and you can see it from the window in our house in Dehradun. We had a fabulous time! We even kind of saw some snow tops of the big mountains way in the distance, which of course you can’t really see from our pictures. But the foothills are there. We hope to get to Nepal before we head back to the states to see the really big ones!

I miss my family. I wish Barb was in this picture, along with my sister Kerry and her husband Mike. That would show perfectly who I am missing most while I'm here in India. Brooks was good enough to pass along some "Emma Stories", as I do love her 5 year old in sites. Here are some of her most recent discussions told by Brooks:

"we were driving out to the lovefeast in mary jo's car. she had her g.p.s. set up to get us out to the new spot in camden, and it was one of those ones that talks to you (in a female british voice); tells you when and where to turn, etc. after observing this for a few minutes, emma said, "mary jo, is she your master?"

"ellen slept over one night recently, and emma wanted her to read her a bedtime story. em picked the wizard of oz and as ellen was reading, emma goes, "oh! i know what
comes next. they're going to meet the cowardly lion and he needs to find his cabbage." (you know, instead of 'courage')

So Good!

Little Ones

Monday was my visit to the Early Intervention Center Sattelite Program. This program started out of a women's co-op which focused on fair wages for female house workers (cleaning ladies, nannies etc.), as well as at home crafters. The EIC started as a daycare for the children of these workers, but has since joined with the Latika Roy foundation to be an inlclusive program for chilren with special needs. Most of the chilren I met were under the age of 3, and were of course completely adorable. The EIC program is just a few months old, and I hope to help jump start the art supports part of their schooling, while focusing on adaptable projects for these young children.

As the EIC Sattelite Program was my last site to visit, yesterday I started to develop a proposed schedule. I will working at 4 different sites, with ages ranging from 1-21. It'll be a challenge as the sites are spread out a bit. But most are in easy walking distance, and I tried to make a schedule that was a challenge, but leaft plenty of room for prep, research and rest.

Out & About

Will and I have been venturing out of our little safe neighborhood into town, and even up the mountain a tiny bit. I'm constantly amazed at the drastic contrasts between beauty and filth, rich and....I can't even call it poor, compared to what I've known as poor, but a devastating amount of poverty and brokenness. I'm learning that the middle class is in fact growing, but it still seems like I mostly only see the extremes between the "haves" and the "have nots".

We have made a friend in our constant tour guide Priyam. She's the one in the picture with Will at the Tibetan cafe, where we had lunch on Sunday, sitting on the foothills of the Himalayan mountains. Priyam has allowed me to ask any and every kind of question about the community and culture we are in, and she and I have easily lapsed into some friendly girl talk as well. Priyam is a bit younger than me, but well traveled and and an only child which I think makes her a bit more independent and wiser than her age. I'm enjoying her very much, and am glad that she seems to feel the same.

Last night Will and I had a fun experience. We went to one of the "fancy" restaurants in our neighborhood. Two cute/funny things about this place. First of all the restaurant was advertised as having a mocktail menu, and it means exactly what it sounds like as this is a pretty dry town due to local practices. With the "bar" full of mocktail options, which we declined in sampling, there was also a wonderful collection of American music playing in the background. Some country (poor Will had Shania Twain stuck in his head until we fell asleep), some 90's club music, and my favorite addition un-sensored hip-hop. Mind you there was a family with small children sitting next to us, but no one seemed to notice the curse words bouncing with the bass in the background. I giggled a lot about this, and Will shrugged his shoulders in polite ignorance of the whole event. The food was pretty great though, and for that I am thankful. I had a sweet Thai curry dish, which was a nice break from all of the intense spice our bodies have been consuming lately.

Latika Roy Foundation Projects

The Latika Roy Foundation is an umbrella under which many other projects fall. The core of their projects are focused on children with special needs including:
-Early Intervention Programs (ages 0-5)
-Elementary School
-After School Program
-Vocational Training College

Latika Roy also hosts a womens craft program and a thrift store, and the foundation is one of the greatest resources in the region for disabilities awareness. I am very proud to be working with this foundation.
I of course took a ton of pictures over the past few days, and even got to teach an on the spot art class at the after school program. I pulled a few of our favorites to post here.
Peace,
Lauren

Our House