Last week, I started volunteering with a group called Very Special Arts India, which is a branch of Very Special Arts- The International Organization on Arts and Disability. It's an amazing place and also happens to be in my neighborhood! The organization works with children with disabilities and who are underprivileged through dance, theatre, music, and visual arts. They also hold English and computer classes, and have a vocational program for adults with disabilities. The vocational program fosters income-earning skills and provides a functional literacy class. The adults enrolled learn to make goods such as woven products, jewelry, dolls, candles, and embroidery that are then bought by people in the neighborhood. (My friend, Niti, told me that she buys all of her candles for Diwali there every year!) I'm currently volunteering there 2 days a week, teaching arts and crafts lessons to a group of kids who are disabled and then helping with their dance class afterwards.
They are really lovely kids, almost all girls, actually, all of whom have mental challenges to varying degrees and some of whom have physical disabilities as well. So far we have made giant tissue paper flowers, crayon with tempera-resist night skies, and now this giant tree in the pictures below! One of the bigger challenges is that, in addition to all being at different mental development levels, none of the kids speak English and several are hearing impaired. I'm definitely finding that the more time I spend with the kids, the better I am able to communicate. It's a wonderful environment and they have great facilities; the entire place is run on volunteers, donations, and a whole lot of compassion. Obviously, it's a very happy place to be, and I am certainly there as much for myself, as for them, if not more. I am, however, having a bit of a hard time coming up with lots of new arts and crafts ideas for the kids that aren't too complicated, so if anyone has any suggestions, please e-mail me!
On another note- 2 monkeys have taken up residence in a tree across the street. Actually, I don't think they are spending the evenings there, but on several occasions they have left their tree and decided to hang out on top of our fence (we have a very small patio/courtyard in front of our flat enclosed by a brick wall and gate). Did I mention they love routing through the garbage for mango peels? Not sure if the neighborhood kids have chased them off yet- before the monkeys arrived, it was their tree to climb...
They are really lovely kids, almost all girls, actually, all of whom have mental challenges to varying degrees and some of whom have physical disabilities as well. So far we have made giant tissue paper flowers, crayon with tempera-resist night skies, and now this giant tree in the pictures below! One of the bigger challenges is that, in addition to all being at different mental development levels, none of the kids speak English and several are hearing impaired. I'm definitely finding that the more time I spend with the kids, the better I am able to communicate. It's a wonderful environment and they have great facilities; the entire place is run on volunteers, donations, and a whole lot of compassion. Obviously, it's a very happy place to be, and I am certainly there as much for myself, as for them, if not more. I am, however, having a bit of a hard time coming up with lots of new arts and crafts ideas for the kids that aren't too complicated, so if anyone has any suggestions, please e-mail me!
On another note- 2 monkeys have taken up residence in a tree across the street. Actually, I don't think they are spending the evenings there, but on several occasions they have left their tree and decided to hang out on top of our fence (we have a very small patio/courtyard in front of our flat enclosed by a brick wall and gate). Did I mention they love routing through the garbage for mango peels? Not sure if the neighborhood kids have chased them off yet- before the monkeys arrived, it was their tree to climb...
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