Runner supporting cmap

We have a new runner supporting cmap. Thank you to Victor Bomers.

On June 22nd 2013 he will be running the Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromsö, Norway, to raise money for the cmap.
The town of Tromsö is located above the Artic Circle, at 70°N, and for two months each year, from the middle of May until the middle of July, the sun doesn’t dip below its horizon. The Midnight Sun Marathon is a special race because despite starting at 20:30, runners from over 50 countries complete the 42.2 km in broad daylight.

Please visit our Virgin Giving page to support Victor running in the evening sunshine:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity

Posted by Lone & Andrew on May 17, 2013 at 12:05 pm

Volar

I’ve been back in Inglatera for just over 24 hours and I cannot tell you how strange it feels. It’s as if I’ve been through the looking glass; that someone put my entire life on hold and I walked out of the airport into the autumnal sunshine of 2012 and not spring 2013.

What’s stranger is that Guayaquil feels so close. Which is lucky, as I need to update you on our happenings- we’ve been quite busy in Club de Arte Ecuador…

For the remainder of March and first half of April, we brought our projects to a close. Some big…

In some of our home visits, we continued with spool knitting: we’ve taught over 30 inquisitive minds this craft in the last few weeks.



And with other groups we developed our work with hand puppets by creating historias, which grew from the lives of our participants. From these stories we made a short film with each group.

The first Guayaquil, is a wonderfully imaginative story about a boy who can fly.Viaje a la playa, the second, depicts a colourful family trip to the beach.

Both were constructed and scripted by our groups, with Blanca as our ever-patient director and me helping out with the camera.

At the start of April we shared the films to great excitement of the whole family. We’d prepared una poca fiesta for the groups and with that, we said goodbye. Home visits were finished.

My very last week was Club de Arte grande- we returned to the sectors one last time (for me) and made cosas muy especial: Calidoscopios.

And then it was done. Gone. Flown.

Once again, Club de Arte will be meeting week on week, much to the excitement of our participants. And so this precious chameleon of energy and diversity that is Club de Arte Ecuador has been handed over to the wonderful Jonny and Tracita with the continuing invaluable support of Blanquita.

All that is left for me to say is chao, but only on this platform: Ecuador has not seen the last of me.

Oh, and to watch this space: these chicos have got some plans gigante; Club de Art’s about to have a blast.

Cuídate,

Beckesita

Posted by rebecca on April 23, 2013 at 2:18 pm

Caras Nuevos

The end of Febrero has been and gone, but the beginning brought a new face: one that’s fresh, vibrant and I was very happy to see – Blanca. As a former member of Club de Arte and the more recent Grupo de Fotografia, Blanca did great work with CMAP’s past volunteers and we are thrilled to now have her on board as a trainee co-facilitator.

Blanca has dived head first into Club de Arte Ecuador, and whilst I’ve been showing her the ropes of arts facilitation, she’s been helping me get a better grip on the language, and together we have been exploring the diverse landscape; from the daring heights of Balerio Estacio and Nueva Prosperina, to the river bed planes of Isla Triniteria; and tapping into the immense creativity of the children who live in this hot and busy part of the world.

Our work with local families has continued, with clay work, which also included Febrero’s Club de Arte.

This led to working with body maps.

Which in turn developed into explorative colour painting…

…or into the making of hand puppets

At the start of March Club de Arte Ecuador welcomed more newcomers, los nuevos voluntarios- Tracita and Jonny! But whilst they hot up on their Español, we continue with our visits; most recently making spool knitters from cardboard tubes and teaching the children to spool knit.

Everyone took to both the making and knitting with great interest and a rapid understanding of the process.

A fantastic third Club de Arte of the year, which will be followed by our concluding visits and final Club de Arte with Blanca and myself in April; and we’ve got some very big plans!

Posted by rebecca on March 22, 2013 at 10:22 pm

February means Carnival!

February in Brazil, brought many tumbling fat drops of rain, alongside stifling heat and Carnival!!
Brazil came to a temporary halt for a few days to allow for Carnival celebrations to take place. All over the country feathers, sequins and samba went into overdrive to create a spectacle that had been a year in the making. It was all out festivities for a few days and we very luckily got to be part of the parade. Dawning incredible costumes and dancing the night away will forever remain a favourite memory of my time here in Brazil.

With less than two months left and the excesses of colour, jollity and sound now a beautiful memory, it is nice to turn attentions to a bit of normality and relative calm.
Things are picking up at ACER Brasil, as the young people return from summer holidays and Carnival, to an even more diverse choice of activities to capture their imaginations. Percussion, Capoeira, Games, Boxing, Ballet and our very own new cmap Art Club that takes place twice a week.


We started last week with the project titled, ‘Me’. We started scribbling our name, over and over and over on a page to explore the different ways to write it, in different fonts and sizes and colours. A simple activity to get the creative juices flowing and it very quickly got us talking about names. We looked up the meaning of everyones name and the origins. Some of the young people were surprised to find out their names were French, Latin, German and even English in origin. Talk led on to what their star signs were, what year they were born in the Chinese calendar….discussing whether or not the attributes of any of these bore any truth to how they were individually. It was a great start to our exploration of self that will lead on to the self in the community and the importance of individualism within society.

Yoga classes too are picking up and word seems to be traveling. Last week I went to a little shop in Eldorado that sells candles and incense, in search of some new scented oil for yoga. While I was making my way through the small bottles with scrawled handwritten labels, sniffing each, I got talking to the owner of the shop. She asked where I was from, spotting immediately that I was not ‘from round here’ and what had brought me to Eldorado. When I told her I was volunteering for ACER she said, ‘ah yes, they do yoga at ACER’…..I smiled. I was very happy to tell her that was what I did.

I am glad that ACER has now become synonyms with yoga and that word is getting around. Classes have been going really well and vast changes have taken place for those who have been coming regularly. Some of the ladies who come to the classes say it is also a chance for them to have time for themselves that is otherwise very hard to come by. A chance for peace! In this vibrant, environment that is brimming with colour, sound and scents it is lovely to be able to create this small piece of space and calm, amidst the chaos.
Here is a rather beautiful yoga related moment I wanted to share with you. It happened during the summer holidays, a few children were watching through a gap in curtains as we reached the relaxation part of the yoga session. They whispered to each other, one asking the other, ‘what is going on in there?’….The other said, ‘I don’t know….I think it is a lying down class.’ Too lovely.

Posted by Rhea on March 1, 2013 at 7:48 pm

Hacer Conexiones

I’m sitting at the start of February and reflecting on the hottest January on my record; it’s been a whirlwind of colour, activity and rain; Guayaquil is turning green and with great speed. We are already 4 weeks through Hacer Conexiones (Making Connections)- cmap Ecuador’s latest project, which is currently focusing on hands and how we use them.

Club de Arte Ecuador began, fresh from it’s Christmas break, with a fantastic welcome back from all it’s participants; in the first week we used our names and finger painting to make Grande Bandera’s de Club de Arte.

Since then and since Club de Arte Ecuador is currently a one-woman show, we have been taking workshops into the families homes; hence we have ‘Poco Club de Arte’!

Due to this alternative set up, so far we have mainly focused on ‘making space’ specifically for arts activities. Again we used our names as a base for this, then progressing to use other shapes and objects, which produced some wonderfully creative work from the participants.

Up until this point, activities had been designed to encourage participants to think about ownership, as well as individual and collective working, whilst being creative. However, it was the next activity, clay, which really allowed the children’s imaginations to roam free; I was blown away by their creativity.

With pinch pots or ‘ollitas’ as a starting point for the workshops, participants rapidly gained confidence with the clay. They were soon experimenting, building on their learning and making an endless list of objects, both real and imaginary: marbles, flowers, penguin-in-a-bath-with-a-hat…

February brings the decoration of these wonderful creations, as well as our second Grande Club de Arte Ecuador of the year, so, keep your eyes peeled- I will be keeping you posted.

Posted by rebecca on February 4, 2013 at 6:48 pm
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