I was not hijacked in England!

Hey guys, sorry for the crazy e-mail. Someone hijacked my yahoo account and sent out that crazy e-mail. Even worse, they erased my address book so I cannot send out a blanket e-mail to inform everyone.

Miss you guys and I will write more soon!

Sara

Arts EVOLve Community Artist Workshop

Hi all!

As you all know, I have been working with community artists to develop an arts program at LEAP 3 that uses creative methods to help students apply science, maths and LO (life skills) curriculum to community outreach projects.

After the success of the holiday program, LEAP 3 staff, students and the artist were demanding more, so we decided to continue the project on a larger scale. The artists decided that they wanted to actually create their own non-profit organisation to eventually work with many schools in multiple communities.

At first we were a bit confused on how we begin such a feat, but then Sarah D. and Lauralee from Dominican University came to Jo'burg to help us out. Last week they conducted a 2-day workshop at LEAP for the artists (myself included). At the workshop we learned the basics of forming a non-profit organisation and just learned how to better organise for the long run.

We left the workshop with new focus and a clear vision for the future (not to mention a whole lot of tasks to take us there!). The workshop was also extremely motivating for the artists and they are excited beyond belief about the prospects for the future.

Thanks so much to Sarah and Lauralee for coming out and thanks to LEAP and TWA for their support as we progress on this project.

We will keep you posted as we progress! Oh, and we chose a perliminary name for our project...Arts EVOLve.

Sara

Interview with Mongezi Mtati

Hey everyone,

Here is a recent interview from the Tech4Africa conference. I talk about the role of technology in community education and how much I've been inspired by the students at LEAP and all of my friends/work partners in SA.

Enjoy!

Sara

Check us out in the NY Times!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/world/africa/09safrica.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=homepage

Creating an army of crafters!

So, I am slowly getting more comfortable teaching at LEAP. It was difficult at first because I walked into a culture of very traditional chalk to the board teaching and didn't understand where I fit in. After trying that type of teaching for awhile I gave up (with the students' approval) and started feeling more free to teach the way I like- through projects and creative approaches.

The arts project that I featured in the last update was a hit and we have been asked to continue what we started, so we have formed a strong team of professional artists to come to LEAP on a regular basis. Now we are working with the kids to create a project around the theme of conviviality (the celebration of healthy living). They are then going to take these projects into the community to celebrate healthy living in Alex through theatrical performances and more. All of the costumes and set will be created and designed by our students. So many people just look at Alex for it's faults- violence and xenophobia. I have actually experienced quite the opposite. Every time I have been in Alex I feel that sense of community and togetherness that most communities lack, especially the upper class, fenced-in communities in Jo'burg.

I have been working a lot with the beadwork and fashion design groups. The kids are so excited to have this type of creative outlet. We require our kids to be at school from 8-5 Mon-Fr and 8-12 on Sat. Our arts program is giving the students a chance to apply maths and science in a new way. Who knew that you need both maths and science to create a necklace out of recycled materials? Counting, measuring and learning about the toxicity of glues and adhesives has made maths and science come alive in real ways.

I also love seeing the kids perfect their crafting techniques. As the kids started pumping out projects the Grandma McEwen in me made them redo and perfect their techniques until their handmade projects looked as good as store bought.

Next month some sustainable business developers are working with us to help us design our project for the long-term. So many of the artists have gained new inspiration working with our kids, so they have decided to make this a long-term effort. So watch out...creative teaching is on the loose!

The LEAP Center for Creative Reuse

I am alive! And yes, I am the worst blogger in the world. Well, to be honest, I have been so busy doing that I have no time for blogging. As to be expected, LEAP has been keeping me unbelievably busy. I just finished my first term here and also just finished leading a week-long workshop focused on recycling and reuse.

One of the things that LEAP tries to do is provide students with extended opportunities over the holidays to participate in positive, fun activities. So over the World Cup holiday I worked with some of my colleagues, both from school and our organisation SOWHO, to conduct a workshop that encouraged students to look for creative solutions to deal with waste. We invited about 10 artists from different sectors to come and work with the students. We had musicians, actors, jewellery makers, journalists, poets, garden experts, party planners and photographers leading different workshops- all focused on using recycled materials. Everyone had a great time and now the school has recycling fever! Below is a video from the workshop.

At the beginning of the video you will see pictures from the different groups. In the middle of the video you will see pictures of Alexandra, the township where our students live. All of the pictures of Alex were captured by our photojournalism students. They visited a particularly environmentally challenged informal settlement in Alexandra where trash has become so overwhelming that it is just piling up (not all of Alex has that much trash on the streets). Since it is an informal settlement it means that people have built shacks in places where there is no running water, electricity or garbage pick-up. The photojournalists then visited a FIFA-sponsored world-cup festival in Alex where a formal recycling program was being practiced for the two weeks that the festival was happening. Unfortunately after the festival was over FIFA took all the shiny new recycle bins with them...can't they help a community out?! I guess it gives our students a goal to work for- getting recycle bins in Alex permanently. We all learned a lot this week about what needs to be done and walked away feeling inspired to start to make a change. Enjoy the video...

Exciting updates!

So, A few things have happened since I wrote (but forgot to post) the last blog:

I have since learned that I will be attending 4 World Cup matches with Dave and Wally when they come to visit in June/July!

I have found a new place to live! Starting March 1^st I will have my own “cottage” on a property that is closer to my school. The new place is a much more multicultural environment and seems to be just way more relaxed and chill in general…I’ll keep everyone posted on how that goes.

This week we are submitting a grant proposal for a pretty big project that will allow students and residents of the Soweto and Alexandra townships to learn about global warming and assess their vulnerabilities to climate change. I am working on this project with Teach with Africa, LEAP and a team of creative folks from Soweto. Cross your fingers for us!