Yesterday was a magical day. Lynn and I joined In Movement (www.inmovement.org) for an afternoon of art making and creative interaction with the kids at Kayeda Orphanage.
Kayeda is located here in Kampala and serves about 60-80 orphaned kids from ages 1 to 19. Situated in a relatively gnarly part of town, the team of facilitators carried art supplies from teh dirt road, down a narrow ally, between buildings, across a ditch of filth and into a cluster of buildings near the bottom of a hill. No walk ways or steps. Just exposed earthen dirt and rocks, broken bricks and trash lining the path.
Kayeda has what looked like two main buildings, and several dormitories. Kids sleep in bunks stacked three high and four units per room. So in a room smaller than the size of your bedroom, 12 kids live and sleep.
In Movement has been working with this Organization for many years and each year they host a showcase day to demonstrate the crafts and activities they do to the newer, uninvolved students as a way of inspiring their future participation and involvement with these programs. We set up art stations to showcase the music and singing, dance and movement, acting and performance as well as the visual art components of their programing.
Eyes everywhere, following our movements….watching with deep curiosity.
It was my first day working with Ugandan youth and it was really quite amazing. The kids are incredibly attentive and respectful. There was a lot of excitement for the new tall “mzungu”
in the room, but also so much love and respect and authentic curiosity to what we were doing. The willingness to participate and the excitement and joy demonstrated by all the kids was just brilliant.
The kids were thrilled to have us, the group of 8 facilitators, there to lead them in the numerous activities. And then the amazing showcase of all the different activities drew an attentive and appreciative crowd.
It was a wonderful first day to get hands-on with some Ugandan kids.
I feel completely blessed to be in the company of such loving and warm people and have the opportunity to share my gifts through the creative arts.
This video shows a number of the kids, not the regular In Movement participants, getting their hands into the art supplies and simply playing with the array of medium we laid out. At first the lead Facilitator John Mary, did not want these to get involved. He wanted them to simply observe, as a way of showing them what was available to them…but with a crowd of excited youngsters standing on the side watching, it was hard for me to not invite them to play.
So, I did. We quickly rearranged the space, moving paper and supplies, making more room for additional participants, and invited the kids to join in a bit of creative collaboration with us on the floor.
I look forward to a longer, more involved next experinece, but a lovely first taste of spontaneous creative time with these loving and appreciative kids.
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