Summer news: the Arts and Crafts Workshops carried out in August in Pune were a complete success!
The idea: to express, to create and to have fun.
The participants: the children from our two Day Care Centers, Yashodhara Home, and the two public schools in Pune – Khese and Nikam – with which Asha-Kiran works in its new ‘Improvement of Primary Education Project’.
The organizers: four artists and a photographer, all Spanish Volunteers.
At the end of July, with great enthusiasm and a lot of material, María Soutullo, María Balibrea, Esther Esquinas and Tess Quintana, left for Pune to begin the workshops that they had so conscientiously prepared. David Gomez Rollán photographically documented the development of the workshops.
Among the activities carried out were the painting of murals and the making of puppets and big-headed beings, various ornaments and figures, origami, collages, toys, board games, carvings and necklaces – all of them from various materials and recycled items.
There were significant differences in the participation of children from Asha-Kiran’s Projects and that of children from the schools – the former plunged into the activities with great ease and joy, while the latter were rather timid at the beginning and had more difficulty learning to handle the different materials. This could be due to the fact that the children from the Day Care Centers and Yashodhara were already familiar with basic techniques such as cutting, pasting, painting and others that require some manual dexterity, while in the public schools of Pune, the students do not often have the opportunity to develop manual skills or participate actively in class.
Gradually, however, the children from Khese and Nikam Schools gained confidence and 'got down to work' while the Volunteers encouraged them, no matter what their final 'creations' looked like. The last day of activities, there was a party at the participating schools with piñatas and great cheer.
At the DCC’s and Yashodhara, in addition to the children's individual handiwork, the walls were covered with colorful paintings for the delight of visitors and the children themselves – undoubtedly a highly rewarding experience for both Volunteers and Beneficiaries.
