Monthly Archives for April 2011

Planting the flags of the children

In this, the last week of our World Identity theme,  it was time to bring things back to a local level and ask the kids to create a flag that represented their individual barrio or sector. Each kid did their own flag design and we asked them to think about the things that they saw in their neighbourhood and the things that they liked or didn’t like.

On the other side of their flag, the kids stuck pages from a book called Mi Ecuador which is a 6th Grade School Textbook here. The inclusion of pages from the book were in order to participate in a project called Dysarticulate which originated in the UK and aims to highlight awareness about illiteracy. The Mi Ecuador book talks about what is so special about the country with lots of practical exercises designed to improve children’s literacy levels and vocabulary. Therefore this book seemed to be the perfect combination with the sector flags as it added to our world and Ecuador identity theme.

Once the kids had made their double sided flags they were able to plant them outside and we took photos. We asked the kids to really think about the layout of their flag creations so that through the photos we could transmit not only the pages from the book but give viewers a real sense of the environment in which these live their lives.

Posted in Volunteer Blog by Olivia on April 27, 2011 at 7:48 pm

El Mundo – World Identity Rompecabezas

To continue and develop our broad theme of increasing childrens’ knowledge of the world and developing a strong sense of individual and Ecuadorian self identity, we launched our new theme – El Mundo. We had a lucky dip in which kids picked a random flag from around the world. We then played a number of games in which the kids had to match their flag to the continent maps displayed around the space – ‘Find my continent’ as it were! It was interesting to see how extensive or how limited their knowledge about the world was. And we were particularly impressed by Isla Trinitaria, in which the kids’ knowledge of the world was definitely the most extensive.

After a globe puzzle, that it was time for the groups to do a recreation of their flag adding any extra details that they knew about the country that they’d picked. We had some great flag interpretations including a bottle of wine on a French flag, fishes on a Portugal representation and the Andes on a Chilean flag.

The following week it was time to create a ‘Jigsaw Puzzle World’ or Rompecabezas, in which kids identified the region of their flag on the giant globe and tried to stick it in the right place! This activity produced a giant patchwork world of flags which looked great and were totally unique in design in each of our sessions. We also discussed world identity with the kids. We decided that although people might look different and speak different languages, the thing that joins all people is their feelings and their hearts. The kids then got to represent this by creating hearts or hands and connecting these all around the globe.

Posted in Volunteer Blog by Olivia on April 11, 2011 at 11:34 pm

Emma Gentle visits Juconi, Mexico again…

Yet again I’ve been lucky enough to work with the children and young people at Juconi, and yet again I have come away feeling all the richer for the experience. Though the workshops were shorter this time they still functioned a place of experiencial learning, problem solving and experimentation with ideas and materials. The process had the upper hand as the end piece was hard to reach- saying that, there are 2 rather interesting and colourful mobiles that are waiting for more shapes to be added as the art classes at Juconi in the year ahead allows. I was again blown away by the concentration and aptitude in getting the job doe as well as the friendly welcome I received by the young people at Casa Juconi; and also the creative friendly welcoming children at Centro Juconi. A big thank you!

Posted in Volunteer Blog by Lynn on April 8, 2011 at 8:19 am
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