My class English & Creole through Art went on a field trip in the end of the year from their neighbourhood and school in Carrefour-Feuilles to the museum in the ghetto of Grand Rue. The students were a little bit afraid in the beginning because this museum is associated with Vodou culture, something that is a taboo in Haitian society. Slowly they started warming up to the space and Andre Eugene, the founder gave them a small tour. The assistance bd participation of my friend Raphael was key to engaging the students since he is a Vodouiyzan and also very educated. The students with the support of Raphael had so many questions to ask Andre. After they were assigned to pick a work of art that they like and recreate it. They also had to give it a name and characteristics and write a small story in English. It was great because the kids from the ghetto also engaged in the activity. Then one by one they had to present their creation character which was inspired by a work of art in the museum. Art, art making and cultural knowledge as a method to connect, familiarise and fight prejudice.
During Children Rights Day we threw a Creole Day Exchange party in collaboration with GwaJeKa, an organisation from Guadeloupe that promotes traditional game culture. With their representatives, Linroz and Miranda we prepared traditional choreographies of the GwoKa that the children performed. We also did tribal face painting connecting to the African heritage of Creole culture, we braided hair, played a lot, danced even more. Through this activity of play and dance we aimed to promote diversity and knowledge for other cultures.
Collaboratively constructing, beyond race, gender, ethnicity. A truly beautiful moment where my students, despite their differences, collaborated together to make a natural looking Christmas tree. Although the majority is Muslim, we were surprised as to how much they wanted to celebrate Christmas and make decorations, so we listened to their needs. They were given the idea of making our own tree from natural materials, but I let them figure out its construction with very little intervention. Sometimes there are moments for educators where they can sit, enjoy and reflect on their group activity. Merry Christmas from our little multi-cultural center of non-formal education!
During the month long project Nutrition we did many fun activities with the students. We took photos of our faces and printed them. Inspired by Giuseppe Arcimboldo we used the technique of collage to make our own portraits with the use of foods, fruits, and vegetables from magazines. It was quite challenging for most of the students to "ruin" their image and make it funny but finally they did and found it amusing.
We also built a grocery store inside a classroom and engaged the students in role playing by shopping. Some picked the fruits and vegetable and then the other was the cashier and had to do the math by finding the prices. This activity engaged them in language and math practise as well as developing their communicational skills.
Finally with the older students we spent some time designing menus in groups of 3-5 by using our cell phones to translate and research. Then the menus were used for a second role playing game taking place in a restaurant. Some were the customers, others the waiters, others the cooks, some even decided to be entertainment by singing.
During the month's project Traveling we engaged in many multi-faceted and long activities that revolved around our world, its geography and its cultural heritage. The younger group, helped design the main map and with a game each one had to find and name the ocean, continent, country, until complete. The older group, in groups of 3, were encouraged to use their personal smartphone for educational purpose. As their own countries were a very popular choice, I had to assign them countries from all over the globe. The had to research the country and find an important site and recreate it. The idea was to create our own alternative tour guide, as I tried to motivate them to also write a few words about the site, or at least the city and country it belongs at. This is another activity that tries to include team work and tackle organisational and collaborational skills through creativity, while gaining knowledge and contributing to a collective installation.
In the 3d Festival of Love & Solidarity in Napflio, Greece I was invited with Balloon People to conducted an art workshop so, by presenting designs used in ritual ground drawings particularly the art of Veve from Haiti I invited the children to create their own and some we had some amazing results. Later, as traditionally done in Haiti we used flour to collectively draw a large one on the floor something that shifted them slowly from the personal to the collective and collaborative.