This isn't possible! March 4, 2010

Has it been that long since we've talked!? WOW! Well, life is busy and in a routine, so maybe we haven't felt inspired to write. But wanted to tell you about an exciting happening, which is building on previous efforts.

For the last several years a small group of gringo ladies has had summer art programs for the local kids in El Valle; each program has been about 8 weeks long. Last year, all the art projects were made with recycled materials, including the kids' carnaval masks and costumes.

This year we had sponsorship from the Fundacion Parroquia de San Jose (i.e., we didn't have to have bake sales to raise the money for the program...what a treat!), and we were fortunate to have two teachers from the Museo de Arte Contemporano (MAC) in Panama City. The kids learned basic painting and color mixing, and employed those skills to make and paint their carnaval masks. It was such a delight to see the kids' creativity grow, and see their joy in achieving some really interesting work with novel approaches. In about a week, we will put up an exhibition of the kids' best work (as chosen by them) in the El Valle Library.

Also, during this summer's program we employed four young teenagers as aides to the MAC teachers. These teenagers were chosen from the previous year's program when they had demonstrated their own creativity. It was so gratifying to see these teenagers grow in responsibility and initiative, and share their artistic ability with the younger kids.

The Fundacion has asked us to organize additional cultural classes for the kids; these new classes will be conducted during the school year. In April we will re-start the weekly painting classes with the MAC teachers, and we hope to add other classes, such as: acoustic guitar, ballet, singing, theater, music reading and appreciation, choir, creative writing and any others which fit into the general category of "culture".

Now, if this isn't a motivation to learn Spanish....