Printmaking and Girls Retreat

Fermin with his finished work

Working on sketches

Finished products!

Tuesday, June 9


A rough morning with advanced got better with some dancing and the beginners class.  Beginners got to start printmaking today! We went on a nature walk to collect interesting things that we would use to design our prints.  I'm telling you, I seriously love this group!  I wish I had gotten a picture of everyone together, but I do have everyone in different pictures, so that will do!



After collecting materials, students drew a picture on paper of their favorite place or a place they would like to go (Some drew something they knew how to draw- I'll take that, too!).  Then used the leaves, flowers, and other things they'd collected to illustrate the picture they drew.

I'm genuinely so impressed with how they turned out!  Tomorrow the glue will be dry so they will be able to print them.  In the mean time, Marcos and I got styrofoam while the kids were at music class.  We're going to use them for a different printmaking method.  We also picked up chicken sandwiches and strawberry smoothies!

The kids drew the same picture on the styrofoam plates, then colored it with marker and printed it.

After school, the girls retreat started!  The Georgia team hosted a two day retreat for the older girls and I got to go and be a part of it!  We took a bus to a camp ground within Huehue.  It was so beautiful!  Not that the rest of Huehue isn't, but this was so clean and so green with pools and a bridge over a creek.  It was an oasis within a city.  The group I went with arrived a bit later than everyone else, but we still got to eat Domino's pizza (yes, you read right, Domino's).  Then we headed down to another building to hear Ashlie talk about sin and how Christ died for us to take it away so we could be with God forever.  I was very impressed with how succinctly she worded things and with how well she did with it being translated.  AND she had a great visual- tupperware.  A shoe box sized one represented us, a smaller one was Christ in us, with another similarly sized to represent sin that could not be in us if Christ was (so clever) and then a giant storage tub represented God and how we live in Him.

Keep in mind that many of these girls come from not great places and are now living at the Fund or at the Daughters of Purpose girls home.  Many were abused physically, sexually, and emotionally and some have kids of their own at age 16.  This retreat gave them an opportunity to not worry about things for a while because there were plenty of women around to dote on their babies, they didn't have to prepare any meals, do homework, wash laundry, or pay for anything.  They were able to enjoy the random dance party which broke out when the movie didn't work later that night.  The girls loved making headbands, necklaces, and their very own paintings.  They were able to relate to Americans when Heather shared her testimony and realized that they ARE loved and they ARE NOT alone.  Many opened up about what had happened to them.  A few found a new Father in Christ, girls that the teachers have been praying would find and accept Christ.

Teresa and I  :)

It was such an honor and privilege to be a part of the retreat, even for one night.  The girls that I've met here are so amazing and full of life! I love them and I love spending time with them, even if I hardly understand them and vice versa.

This bug interrupted the evening and is
twice the size in flight!  GROSS!!

School, Kids, and Food

Marcos with Diego and Jose

Monday, June 8

The advanced class is still acting crazy- they refuse to speak English and keep acting out since I've been there.  Marcos says it's very unlike them, but I'm not entirely convinced.. :)  We had shortened classes today because the kids start learning a dance for the festival coming up in July, called Festival Julios.  Carrie and Jamie did a great job choreographing it!!  It is so much fun! Classes were also short today because the Georgia team put together a mini carnival for the kids.  They had a toss game, a catch the cheetah tail game, a game where the kids stood in a line and passed a wet sponge to the front where it was squeezed-the team to fill their bucket first won.  They had a sack race and played the game where two people stand back to back with a balloon in between and teams of 2 race each other.  The kids looked like they had a lot of fun and loved getting candy, pencils, and other prizes.  

Squeezing the water out of the sponges

Sack race!

We used saran wrap to create the texture
when the watercolor was still wet.

The beginner class has been a lot of fun so far, which Marcos says is very unlike them, too.  We'll see about that!  They really love art, so we've been doing a lot of it!  Today, they finished up their watercolor projects and tomorrow we start PRINTMAKING!  One of my favorite types of art making! 

Students chose to write their favorite verse or draw a picture
over their water color.  This is Fermin's work in progress.

After school, I went home to catch up on some journaling and reading.  I really needed the quiet time and didn't realize it until I was in the midst of it.  I love people and I love being around people, but I most certainly need time to process and be away from others.  

Anderson sharing a toy

Virginia was one of my favorites to play with after school

Eventually, I went over to the Fund for a little while.  I played with Anderson by helping him run up and down the slide a bajillion times as I held his hand.  I watched the older boys play soccer, while a few younger girls persistently put things down my shirt...  "Dead bug, teacher!!" "Rocks, teacher!" with MUCH giggling in between..  Seriously though, a dead bug??  

For dinner, the mission team took all the teachers out to eat as a treat for all their hard work.  Thankfully, I was able to join them! We went to an Italian restaurant that was absolutely delicious!  Soda lemonade, chicken with bacon, potatoes, veggies and a yummy sauce on top.  Yummm.  I can still taste it.  Even better than the food, was the company.  Marcos and I sat with Heather, Christian, and Sarah, all girls from the mission team.  We laughed SO much!  Heather is a mom with an absolutely amazing testimony that we heard some of at dinner tonight.  Christian and Sarah both just graduated from high school, one is taking a year off and the other is headed to college (I can't remember what for).  

Left to Right: Heather, me, Marcos, Christian, and Sarah