Kids

Positive Words in Art

Positive Words of Art is the title of my new program for the children of Cajones.  This year I have 73 kids.  The inspiration for the program is a man named Masaru Emoto and his project that proves our emotions have a physical effect  on us all and on our world around us.

The object of the program is to bring positive images forth and connect them with emotion from the children, that represent positive states in our lives.  The program has led to some interesting awakenings.

The children were given the following words or phrases and asked to provide a drawing as a group that best represented the word or phrase they were working with.  The words are:   Love, Trust, Respect, Appreciation, Enlighten, Happiness, Peace, Wellness, Abundance, and Everything is Possible.

The result was astounding!  I found that these children did NOT know either the meaning of some the words or the word itself or had no concept of a representative image!  In only a few cases were a few of these words known.  An example of what I discovered was in the response with the word “peace”.

The group that worked with this word drew a picture of men with machine guns – killing people and then the dead people were buried and that is how they achieved peace!  It is a wake up call.  We have a whole generation growing up that thinks this is how peace is achieved.  What is this telling us?  Have we become so numb to the violence that our next generation will consider being killed a blessing?  How many other children across the world have this same vision?  If they see this image, they can and will create it in their lives.

I am currently working to change this image now with the help of the teachers (as they recognized this as a problem as well).  Perhaps it is time that all schools run a similar program to “check in” to our childrens minds and see how they are viewing their world.

The Sacred Planet Program

The objective of this program is to teach Mexican children in poverty stricken areas respect and appreciation for the Earth, promote their problem solving skills, and expand their imaginations.  In this program we engage primary and secondary school children both in and out of the classroom.  They work individually and in groups mixing the different age/grade levels within the primary or secondary school levels, giving them the real world experience of collaboration and cooperation.

In the first implementation of this program we had 80 children participating and expect that to more than double this next school year.

The basic idea is that the children first learn that we are all connected and what we do affects others. This is done through a movie and interactive discussions.  Once that is completed they are sent out to collect trash from their community from which they then will develop a new product.  The products are then judged by business members of their community based on viability, creativity and marketability and the winning groups receive a surprise cash prize.  This is an amazing process to be a part of, seeing the children’s imaginations unfold and the mental thought process connection.

In our first session everyone had a wonderful time and the products the children developed were amazing.  We had piggy banks, automatic water drippers for plants, a full set of glasses & goblets, a transformer doll, boats, coffee mugs, water pitchers, scoops, clothing, toy cars, flower vases, fruit baskets, photo frames, candle holders, lamps, even a pair of binoculars and more, and all from plastic bags, bottles, and broken plastic pieces, cans, potato chip bags, broken bits of clothing or toys and some paper.

In the second phase of the program Discovering Our Earth

Interactive Learning Project in the Sacred Planet Program

The objective of this project is to further the connection formed between the children and their Earth.  This project will expose the children to science, medicine and culinary use of natural vegetation, and further develop their creative and investigative skills.

Project Summary:  To gather and identify plants from around the area.  To create a long lasting book filled with their findings.

The children will collect specimens of existing plants from habitat that is currently at a crossroad between being protected or being destroyed.  After gathering their specimens the children will research to identify their plant species.  Once they have the indentification completed they will research the plant further for it’s medicinal or culinary use.  We will then compile all the information to produce a book that will be printed for the children to take home to their families.  This special book will teach many people how important the plants are for medicine and food.

None of this would be possible without your financial support.  Please donate now – for as little as $10.00 you can sponsor a child in this program.