Alexa and Darcy in Kenya, Sanaa Project

The mural begins!

Darcy

We have started the mural!!

The entire front surface of the New Dawn Education Center, about 80 x 20 feet had been cleaned and primed by a local Huruma painter by the time we arrived at the school Tuesday afternoon. We spent that afternoon talking to the students, form by form. Headmaster Ben brought us to each classroom, introducing Darcy by her new Swahili name, Tausi, which means peacock, is much easier to pronounce, and never fails to rouse giggles from the students. We explained why we were here to those students who did not already know, and told them we hoped they would feel free to approach us with any questions about art, or if any of them were particularly curious about or interested in our project. They applauded and cheered and called out “Sanaaaaa” for Darcy’s camera. Before leaving that day, we handed out 160 Sanaa Project t-shirts, one to each student, so that they could all – even those who had not chosen to participate in the art club or mural painting – be a part of our project.

The next day, Wednesday, we arrived around 3:30, an hour before the students are finished with classes, to start taping up the outline of our design. The students peered through the windows of their classrooms. Some were wearing their Sanaa t-shirts, prepared to start painting. Some held up recent drawings they had done for us to see, or came to discuss their ideas for the mural. We had decided to start with large blocks of bright colors — an abstract interpretation of a sunrise, with a lot of orange, New Dawn’s school color. This, we hoped, would be a simple way to start the process and would give the building a cheerful but clean look right from the start. From there we hope to incorporate the students’ individual ideas and skills: Harriet loves to paint flowers, so perhaps she will add vines and flowers to the columns. Isaak does good lettering, so he can be the one to write the words “New Dawn Education Center” along the second story. Daniel’s eagle was so impressive, maybe he would like to do a silhouette of a bird over the orange sun. But that afternoon, we started slow. The students painted with great care, up and down, up and down, making sure the colors reached into every corner, along every windowpane. The colors were so vibrant that, although we only had one hour to work and the front was only half-way colored in by 5:30, the building was transformed already.

Before heading home, we stood at the bottom of the stairs leading to the school building’s main entrance and visualized the final product. I had been nervous about starting, but excited, after all this time, to get the colors up and see the students involved. We have come to realize how they value the building and the time they are given there. They put on their mustard-yellow uniform sweaters every day and walk, some from miles away, taking care to look neat, keep their notes in order, perfect their handwriting. School is not a chore to them but a privilege, and we hope that the respect and love they show for the building can be expressed through their mural.

Pictures coming soon!!

Alexa

Alexa and Darcy in Kenya, Sanaa Project

Last day of individual painting!

Today was a gratifying last day working on the small-scale art projects! We wanted to be sure that all of the students could finish their work on time and have art that they were proud of to bring home at the end of the day. We haven’t told them yet that we hope to leave an arts program in place after our departure, because that plan depends on so many factors yet to be worked out – finding someone responsible and interested enough to lead art club meetings long-term, funding, enthusiasm from the students, being able to continue using the church space, etc. The people of Huruma seem to be so accustomed to people coming and going that they probably don’t expect to see permanent changes from each group of young foreigners that come their way and we don’t want to get their hopes up just to disappoint. We want to let them know we are trying our best, but feel that we should wait until we are certain before we make any promises. However, there was plenty of paper, brushes and pencils left for us to leave with Headmaster Ben, so we are feeling optimistic!

We told the art crew we’d be gone until next Tuesday and they seemed disappointed – many had been expecting a class tomorrow – but as soon as Darcy announced our plans for the mural, which we had mentioned only briefly before, everyone was happy again!

We took more photos of the students and their art. They wanted pictures by themselves, with each other, with us, of their favorite Monet or of their palette where they had mixed the perfect skin tone. Our two New Dawn graduate students approached me, said goodbye, promised to be there early on Tuesday to help prepare for the mural, and gave me their paintings to keep. Both had been sketched out and delicately painted in great detail. Daniel had spent all that day painstakingly mixing oranges, browns, yellows, and reds to create the appropriate effect of feathers on an eagle’s back. Samuel had drawn, erased, re-drawn, erased, and re-drawn the front left leg of a horse copied from a small Cezanne watercolor. Irene had mentioned these two men to us before, saying they were two of Huruma’s most serious artists – serious in their practice and serious about pursuing art in their futures. Headmaster Ben had similarly discussed them with us and told us how much he hoped Daniel and Samuel would be able to learn from us. I’m not sure how much we taught them, but at the very least we gave them a peaceful hour and the necessary materials each day to do what they enjoy.

Now the weekend, and next week: The Mural!

Alexa

Alexa and Darcy in Kenya, Sanaa Project

New Dawn Art Students

Photography by Darcy

Alexa and Darcy in Kenya, Sanaa Project

Africa Redefined: United Balozi Group

Darcy

Having our Sanaa Project meetings with the New Dawn students every day at 4:30 means we have our mornings free. Our first week was so full of running errands, organizing plans and adjusting to Kenyan life, that it never occurred to us that there would come a single moment when we had no plans until today. The Tongoi household headed off to work – some people went to the preschool in Huruma, some to talk to the high school students at New Dawn, and Darcy and I were left to catch up on emails, buy new supplies, and figure out how we can best take advantage of our free time.

We had decided early on that we wanted to be as active as possible during our time here. Staying with Sammy Tongoi and his parents has been excellent motivation. Aside from Irene’s complete commitment to the Huruma community through the New Dawn Education Center, the New Dawn Clinic, and a church nearby, her son Sammy and friend Alex Choi have been hard at work on their project, Africa Redefined (check out their site! www.africaredefined.com). So far their work here has revolved around a group of young men from Huruma who, despite some having graduated from high school and others being trained in practical professions, have been unable to find sustainable work and worry about never making it out of Huruma Village. Sammy and Alex have been coordinating group meetings, helping the men organize themselves into a formal committee, and giving them the encouragement they need to keep working and hoping.

The other day, while we waited for 4:30 to arrive, we went with Sammy and Alex to photograph and film the election of the committee officials and the drafting of their constitution. The meeting started off quietly. A young graduate of New Dawn Education Center named Jimmy stood in the center of a circle of thirty-five men and told them why they were there – to come together and start taking action not just to change Huruma, but to be rid of it altogether. The village of Huruma is built on government land and can never become a permanent community. The residents see no reason to beautify it, to built more stable houses, or to create a job market there with work stalls and shops – they realize that they can be kicked out of their homes at any moment. The handful of Huruma residents who came out to this meeting to take initiative and change their lives and the lives of their loved ones have the shared dream of seeing Huruma disappear forever. Their constitution did not state this mission, or any other mission. It focused on the practical and the immediately necessary. It demanded that all members be represented and respected. It required that those in attendance be sober for each meeting and that the actions of elected official be monitored carefully to avoid corruption. Jimmy was elected chairman, two other New Dawn graduates were elected secretary and treasurer, and two friends volunteered to be joint disciplinarians. Membership fees were agreed upon – 100 Kenyan Shillings each, about $1.15 – and Darcy took photos of each member to be used for their identification cards. At the end of the meeting a group title was selected: “United Balozi Group”, ‘balozi’ being Swahili for ‘ambassadors’. Finally, Jimmy asked the group if they “unanimously endorsed this constitution”. When all agreed, we parted ways.

Over those two hours, Darcy and I had watched the men transform into vocal and enthusiastic participants in a project that we, Africa Redefined, and the members themselves believe can make a difference. We hope to spend as much of our free time as possible being actively involved in projects such as these. The people of Huruma are so full of hope that what they seem to need most is a push in the right direction and inspiring words to reinforce their optimism, which Darcy and I are more than happy to give.

Alexa

Alexa and Darcy in Kenya, Sanaa Project

Sanaa 101

Today we were up early and on our way to Huruma by 8:30 for our first meeting with the New Dawn Education Center headmaster, Ben Khalonyere. We presented him with our plans to implement an “arts club” for interested students, teach them some color theory and technique, create individual works with them all during the first week, and paint a mural on the face of the school itself during our remaining time. Ben told us that their school had never started an official arts program as part of their curriculum, not due to lack of interest but because arts teachers were expensive and hard to come by. He seemed thrilled by our eagerness to help and excited to share our plans with the students. We scheduled our first art club meeting for 4:30 that afternoon in the church nearby and left him to go explore the village until then.

We met with Pastor Sammy at 4:00 to set up for the 25 students Ben had promised to recruit and send our way. The church is made of tin with wooden shuttered windows, rows of plastic chairs and three large wooden tables. We rearranged the furniture and set up paints, pencils, brushes and water on each table. We also had a series of images – a few books on various artists/movements and two-dozen postcards of MoMA masterpieces – to be laid out for inspiration. As soon as the students arrived they began studying the works by famous artists: Matisse, Gaugin, Van Gogh, de Chirico, Kirchner, and Mirò, among others. They passed them around and traded before beginning to directly copy the images they finally settled on. We tried to encourage them to create original paintings and suggested that they just use the postcards for inspiration but quickly began to see how they added their own spin and style to the famous paintings, making each work completely their own. A Rothko was given a floral boarder, a Modigliani woman was painted in a colorful patterned dress, and a de Chirico piazza painted in bright yellows, pinks and purples.

We taught them about mixing colors and Darcy circled the room with a palette of baby-blues and oranges to share. Not one of them was willing to settle and paint a dark swatch of a Mirò generic forest green, or leave a slightly tan square of a Rothko white. Some students finished faster and were eager to start a second painting. Others flipped through the books and asked questions about various artists or works. One of our students was a young man named Daniel, a recent graduate of the New Dawn Education Center who dreamt of becoming an artist and came to practice, sitting peacefully in the back row with a pencil, sketching Cezanne figures silently and with great precision. But for everyone it seemed, above all else, to be a fun, relaxing hour of peace and quiet.

At the end of the hour, the students reluctantly put down their brushes and pencils and handed over their unfinished works only after we promised we would return at the same time tomorrow to keep painting!

Check back soon for pictures!

- Alexa

Alexa and Darcy in Kenya, Sanaa Project

Our Arrival

We arrived in Nairobi on June 9, and were at the New Dawn Education Center in Huruma by early-afternoon. We met some of the students and teachers all of whom were enthusiastic in their mustard- yellow uniforms when we informed them about our project. We are staying with the school’s Director, Irene Tongoi, with whom we have been discussing the Sanaa Project in further detail.

Since being here, we have been exposed to many of the large problems that exist in the village. In particular, many of the villagers told stories of volunteer groups who come to Huruma with hopes of making a difference but fail to consider their projects’ sustainability. The villagers expressed feelings of frustration with outsiders’ lack of awareness and consideration for long-term improvement. We are doing everything in our power to make sure our project will be different.

Alexa and Darcy in Kenya, Sanaa Project

2xShin

We have been in touch with California-based street artist 2xShin (check out her work here: flickr.com/photos/shinshin2008/) about our mural project!

We reached out to 2xShin with the idea of incorporating her techniques into our project. She uses wheat paste to adhere her photographic images to surfaces around various cities.

She told us her process wouldn’t work on the steel structure of the New Dawn Education Center but offered a ton of other suggestions and advice about technique, materials, color schemes, theme options.

Thank you 2xShin!

Alexa and Darcy in Kenya, Sanaa Project

The Mural Site

We recently received an email from Irene Tongoi, Director of the New Dawn Education Center in Huruma. She attached an image of the school on which we will be helping the students paint a large-scale mural:

Constructed from recycled steel sea containers, the surface measures approximately 80 ft long by 20 ft high. The material and the ribbing of the exterior walls pose an interesting challenge! We are in the process of researching what technique, paint types and designs will be ideal for such an unusual structure.

We’re excited to see what can be done with this unique site!

Alexa and Darcy in Kenya, Sanaa Project

Welcome!

Welcome!

We’re very excited to share with you an important moment in our lives!

This June we will be traveling to Kenya as volunteers to develop a sustainable arts program for 160 high school students. The Sanaa Project (sanaa is art in Swahili) is directed at students who live in the poverty-stricken Huruma slum outside the city of Nairobi, the country’s capital.

We believe that artistic creation is not only crucial to education but also a right for students in all societies. Through the Sanaa Project, we hope to raise awareness about the importance of art as a means of expression and a source of hope.

We need your help to connect these 160 children to art in a sustainable way. Our goal is to raise $10,000 by June 10^th to buy the art and mural supplies, T-shirts for the children, and to cover our travel costs and local subsistence at $20/day. With your help we will then sell the students’ artwork here in the US and reinvest the funds to buy more art supplies.

We will be leaving with the Volunteer for Life program of Palms for Life Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in the United States. We decided to work with Palms for Life because we believe in their mission—the idea that “we are all connected to the poor” and that investing in education is a key step to addressing the root causes of poverty.

During this first mission of the Sanaa Project, we will initiate a mural project, designed and executed by the students, to stand as a constant reminder to the local community of children’s potential for creativity.

More information regarding the Sanaa Project can be found under the Kenya heading in the “Projects” page in the Palms for Life site.

Thank you!

Darcy and Alexa