My name is Benoit Seys* and I would like to share with you the experience I had "on the field" with Stephanie and Anthony during AiA"s "Southern African trip"
I joined the founders of Art in All of Us in Lusaka, Zambia, on March 2 2007. Stephanie and Anthony had started their journey almost 2 months earlier in Sao Tome, and visited schools, hospitals or orphanages in Sao Tome, Guinea, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola (!) when we met in Lusaka.
Together we visited schools in Lusaka (Zambia), Lilongwe (Malawi), Ilha de Mocambique (Mozambique) and Mbabane (Swaziland).
What can I tell you?
Stephanie and Anthony total dedication to this wonderful project. Spending and sharing time with the kids are only the reward of a very long process! Preparation of the trip, finding schools and hosting, organising the logistical aspects (all those pieces of art made by the kids need to be shipped in a way or another to Santiago de Chili!) are not a sinecure.
A second very practical learning is that travelling with Stephanie and Anthony is far from being a "5 stars all inclusive package"! A penny is a penny. I do understand now how and why the organisational costs of AiA are kept to a minimal 7%! Anthony"s motto could be: "there is always a cheaper way to do it".
Also to be noticed, AiA gets often the support of well-established NGO"s, like UNICEF and SOS village, where Stephanie"s and Anthony"s professionalism and strong track record are recognised and praised.
Having said this, now I can report you on the job done and on the results. The modus operandi of a visit can vary, and is tuned depending on the situation (age, level of the education, available timing ...), but the aim and the objective of AiA are always kept in mind: to foster the creativity, the curiosity and the artistic sensitiveness of the kids!
Results are not only the magnificent poetries and drawings we got, but more important are the questions raised by the kids, the energy they show while participating to the different workshops and ... their smiles!
Less noticeable (because less "loudly" expressed), but not less important, are the reactions of the teachers or staff members of the visited schools. They understand that the curiosity of the kids is endless and systematically asked how this experience could be extended. The Pen Pal programme of AiA is a first answer, even if too often means (pencils, sheet of paper, envelops and stamps) are lacking in those countries.
One can wonder if AiA"s visits will have impact on a longer term! Isn"t too <"utopian"? Asking the question is giving a partial answer! Yes AiA"s impact is a drop in the ocean of the deficiencies (in Africa) but if only one kid met during the "Awareness Programme" reaches influential professional or political job, and remembers the AiA"s visit, a major goal will be achieved!
In the mean time, those kids have had a voice and this voice will be echoed in AiA"s World Art Book.
I want to conclude by thanking Stephanie and Anthony to having let me join them and for the trust they showed me (I did not mentioned that they "outsourced me" the organisation of some workshops, because dealing with 100 kids is ... exhausting, I can tell). AiA"s project is now mature and can be brought to "another level" My commitment to support AiA"s activities is only getting stronger after this experience.
Ben
*Who am I? I"m Belgian citizen, 35 (almost) passionate for photography and travels. I met Anthony at the Brussels University, where we studied Business Administration. Some years after graduation, our lives "re-crossed" while we were working for the same telecom company in Brussels. On January 1st 2007, I left this company to join AiA on a voluntary basis, wanting to give another direction to my personal live. Why did I join AiA? I hope the lines here above are explicit enough!
*Who am I? I"m Belgian citizen, 35 (almost) passionate for photography and travels. I met Anthony at the Brussels University, where we studied Business Administration. Some years after graduation, our lives "re-crossed" while we were working for the same telecom company in Brussels. On January 1st 2007, I left this company to join AiA on a voluntary basis, wanting to give another direction to my personal live. Why did I join AiA? I hope the lines here above are explicit enough!