Project Launch:

The youth that live in the mountainous community of La Lomota, Dominican Republic are not exposed to art in any form – they have no art supplies such as coloring books, crayons, colored pencils or markers and they have no arts programming in school. When a Peace Corps Volunteer stationed there in 2009 asked what kinds of arts programming the kids had, the kids asked back what art was. With a $200 grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program, the Peace Corps Volunteer arranged for students to learn the basics of art while using objects found in the community as the basis for their art project. Since there is no trash service in the community, many of the project involved recycling unwanted objects that were strewn around the community. Students painted a large mural at the school and painted trash bins as well. The desire to be creative became a reality for the youth of La Lomota and changed the way they saw a simple piece of discarded garbage. The project taught them to think outside of the box and encouraged creative, independent thought. The kids enjoyed activities such as dying and hiding eggs for an Easter Egg Hunt, painting face masks, tie-dyeing bandanas, learning how to mix colors by making a color wheel, making over the door dream catchers, and painting a community mural about HIV/AIDS prevention. The kids were able to see that you don’t have to be an artist or recognized by others in the community to have fun with art. They are now less afraid to try new things that are out of their comfort zones and are more outgoing.