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.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

All day training cancelled because of potentially violent protest throughout the city :)



After my sleepless night and two flight delays I arrived in Nicaragua. Everyone was telling me that I chose “great time” to come because of what was happening the next day. In the city there will be protest from both parties in the streets and people were apprehensive as to how peaceful they were going to be. As a result, our all day Saturday training for the camp was reduced to a few hours on Friday. The kids are ready, the teaching and supporting staffs are excited to get camp underway and carry out the BuildaBridge model. The kids have been on their best behavior as to not ruin their chances of not being able to participate in the camp. They all made a banner with their hands dipped in paint. Since this is the first time that Nicaragua has had a BI camp, the teachers and supporting staff and I are excited, yet anxious to see how it will all turn out with less than ideal time and circumstances.

The theme of camp is hope. Nicaragua is a country that has been through over 30 years of wars, natural disasters and dictatorship; these people know how to hold on to hope. The students that we will be working with are children mostly working or living in the city garbage dump. They are poor in terms of having little material possessions, but are rich with the love and support they receive from adults trying to make a difference in their lives through the Food for the Hungary International Nicaragua team. FHI has been working with this community for a while now and know the kids and their stories; stories of laughter, cries, desperation and love. The camp site is located about 10mins away from their community in a church. Some of the church members have volunteered in helping decorate the classrooms for the opening day of camp. The Hope curriculum is so vital and necessary to the advancement of the kids development. Diaspora of Hope is complimentary to the mission of what FHI is already doing with the students through relationships, showing them hope is real. Hope is what we, as a staff and supporting team desire to bring to the students. The hope the students will find in themselves is the pinnacle of the camp.
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