Friday, September 12, 2008

Jamaica Project update



August 19-30, 2008, Global Explorers Kids Director Holly Hutto, and her daughter/student ambassador Angelina were in Treasure Beach, Jamaica volunteering at the VIJON (Volunteer in Jamaica Opportunity Network) summer art camp. Scheduled for 5 days, 5 hours a day, the last day of camp had to be canceled due to Tropical Storm Gustav which brought a day and a half of rain and wind to Treasure Beach - typically the driest area of Jamaica. About 20-25 children from Treasure Beach participated in the camp, which provided children with arts and crafts activities, sports and games, and one meal and snack a day. Coordinated by Stephanie Genus of VIJON, the camp is offered free to the children, many of whom come from low-income families. VIJON also provides the campers with school supplies, to help them offset the personal expense of school.

During the camp, Global Explorers Kids helped the children work on a collaborative project with children in Chicago. The children in Chicago and the children in Treasure Beach are each working on squares for a culture quilt - providing them an opportunity to share their cultures with each other via painting, fabric collage, photography, words, video, and more. Children and families participating in Global Explorers Kids summer camp donated pencils, paper, folders, and markers for the children in Treasure Beach, which were distributed to the children along with additional supplies that were donated to VIJON.

Work continues on the project as Global Explorers Kids edits the children's videos, prints their photographs, and works on sewing their quilt squares together. The project will be documented online and the finished quilt will be publicly displayed at a later date. Stay tuned for a personal account of the Jamaica trip from our 7-year-old student ambassador Angelina Kujaca-Hutto!






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