Diapora of Hope 09

Fifteen women and two men from the United States and Canada were an excited and professional group of artists traveling to Philadelphia, Egypt, Kenya, Guatemala and Nicaragua to participate in BuildaBridge's annual Diaspora of Hope. The artists were joined by scores of local artists in each country as they planned, trained and implemented an arts camp on the themes of hope, peace, and unity with children from very difficult circumstances. The BuildaBridge Classroom model was the structure for each camp. This was the first year Diaspora of Hope conducted a project in Philadelphia with a local partner--a shelter abused women and their children. The mission of Diaspora of Hope is to provide children with a brighter future and build the capacity and sustainable development of local organizations serving these children who live in poverty. The following blogs from around the world describe the events of the week and stories of transformation.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Philadelphia Stories of Transformation

Imagine staying in a facility that is a safe haven for your mother and siblings from potential harms inside your own home.  Not knowing when you may get back to that home, consistency being a thing of the past, you trudge forward somewhat uncertain of your future.  This is what was facing the children of Diaspora of Hope Philadelphia.  With a handful of children and a mixture of apprehension and anticipation from the students, our team delivered the means for creation in visual and dance forms.  Our six children ranged in age from 6 to 15 years old. I was most concerned about how to establish organic movement from the children for dance that we could use in our final celebration performance.  


As a teacher, my objectives began to shift from focusing on a culminating masterpiece.  I focused more on praising individual bodily expression that my students produced and began to show initiative toward creating.  This transformation was particularly rewarding because our youngest child was barely speaking in the beginning of the day. He was, however sure of one thing, that he didn’t want to participate in the dance class.  By the end of the day, the same child became the center spotlight of his group movement piece.  He also didn’t want to leave us. 
-Chelsea Andrews, Teaching Artist
As a first time volunteer for Diaspora of Hope Philadelphia, this experience was an enjoyable one for me. I observed teachers and other adult volunteers working wonderfully with sheltered children. I was inspired by the positive response of these children to the well planned visual art and movement activities. One young boy actually directed the movement group I was a part of, plenty of leadership potential in him. A very bright moment indeed. All positive endeavors that benefit children "at risk" is time well spent.
-Betty Leacraft, Volunteer


My story of transformation is that of my own.  I entered into this program trying to decide whether or not to go back into teaching.  For someone with social anxiety and a fear of public speaking, teaching might not be a logical profession and yet it is really what I love to do.  My initial apprehensions disappeared as soon as the children entered.  Having such a small group of children was really a gift, in that we could focus on getting to know and work with each child.  It addition, it helped me by alleviating me of worry of crowd control and discipline issues, and remind me that the focus was on the student.  While discussing her sculpture, an older student started telling me about her upcoming science project.  She really began opening up to me about an interest she had and it struck a chord within me.  Knowing that I had a made a connection with this student really solidified to me that teaching is definitely the field I want to be in.
-Stacy Lenz, Volunteer


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