Karen's ride for Malawi
Thursday, July 29, 2010
We went to Journey House last night and picked up the items the girls there donated; they held a bake sale and raised money for Educate Malawi, and bought chalk, some toys (including silly bands!)and some teen magazines to share with the children in Malawi. In addition to that they wrote letters to the kids and some poems for us to bring with us. We plan to distribute the letters and ask the children in Malawi to write some of their thoughts back! It was a nice evening; the girls were very excited and wanting to connect and help the kids in Malawi. We are looking forward to this exchange and returning to share with the girls at Journey House. Thanks to the staff who supported this project and helped make it possible!! Lindsey was our contact and we are grateful for her efforts and willingness to help!!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
July 25, 2010
We are getting closer to our next trip to Malawi, and really getting excited. There are a lot of wonderful things happening and a lot of wonderful people continue to show up in our lives to help with this project and on this journey.
I am hoping to blog as often as possible to keep people informed and with a way to comment or ask questions...so many things to do all the time and ways to share information. We thought reviving this blog for our upcoming trip and really notifying people would be a good way to share information!!
We have a couple different projects we are working on toward connecting children in the U.S. with children in Malawi; here is a description of one of those collaborations:
RavenWood Freedom Farm and Learning Center, Inc. is very excited about our latest endeavor, Through The Lens, a cross-cultural photo documentary project. We have received funding through 9 different Western Massachusetts Cultural Councils to implement this project. Through The Lens uses documentary-type photography taken by middleschoolers to try and bridge some of the gaps in understanding and tolerance between the urban Holyoke Community and the Rural Hilltown Community. By providing cameras for 10 Holyoke middleschoolers and 10 Hilltown middleschoolers and, with the support of a photographic artist, we encouraged children to explore their lives, families, and communities through photography. The two groups had opportunities to meet, view each other’s work, and explore issues of culture, bias, race, community, and assumptions that may arise. There will also be a chance to share photos with a group of students living in Malawi. This component of the project will take place during the summer of 2010 and result in a culminating photo exhibit which will travel around western Massachusetts.
This project is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Councils through our local cultural councils. In all published materials and announcements regarding the activities supported by LCC funds the grant recipient must acknowledge the support with a written and/or verbal credit statement and by using the MCC logo. The credit statement is, “This program is supported in part by a grant from the following Local Cultural Councils: Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont-Hawley, Colrain, Heath, Holyoke, Plainfield, Rowe, and Shelburne. Local Cultural Councils are local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency”. The logo is available at MCC’s website. This credit is required by the MCC and failure to comply may jeopardize future funding.
(The MCC logo would not paste here; but all credit for this grant is acknowledged by Educate Malawi, Inc.)
RavenWood Freedom Farm and Learning Center, Inc., is a non-profit organization which was created to provide educational programs for children and adults with a focus on human and ecological diversity including but not limited to farm, nature and arts programming. Programming is designed with an aim towards increasing awareness about racial bias and working towards ending racism. Our Mission at RavenWood is to provide an educational experience with a focus on the life sustaining importance of human and ecological diversity; where children can grow fully as they experience themselves as unique and essential members of their world and community. RavenWood is pleased to be receiving funding for this project through the 9 Hilltown Cultural Councils and the Holyoke Cultural Council.
The above project was coordinated with the help of Saralinda Lobrose; thanks so much Saralinda for your help and support!!
I am hoping to blog as often as possible to keep people informed and with a way to comment or ask questions...so many things to do all the time and ways to share information. We thought reviving this blog for our upcoming trip and really notifying people would be a good way to share information!!
We have a couple different projects we are working on toward connecting children in the U.S. with children in Malawi; here is a description of one of those collaborations:
RavenWood Freedom Farm and Learning Center, Inc. is very excited about our latest endeavor, Through The Lens, a cross-cultural photo documentary project. We have received funding through 9 different Western Massachusetts Cultural Councils to implement this project. Through The Lens uses documentary-type photography taken by middleschoolers to try and bridge some of the gaps in understanding and tolerance between the urban Holyoke Community and the Rural Hilltown Community. By providing cameras for 10 Holyoke middleschoolers and 10 Hilltown middleschoolers and, with the support of a photographic artist, we encouraged children to explore their lives, families, and communities through photography. The two groups had opportunities to meet, view each other’s work, and explore issues of culture, bias, race, community, and assumptions that may arise. There will also be a chance to share photos with a group of students living in Malawi. This component of the project will take place during the summer of 2010 and result in a culminating photo exhibit which will travel around western Massachusetts.
This project is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Councils through our local cultural councils. In all published materials and announcements regarding the activities supported by LCC funds the grant recipient must acknowledge the support with a written and/or verbal credit statement and by using the MCC logo. The credit statement is, “This program is supported in part by a grant from the following Local Cultural Councils: Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont-Hawley, Colrain, Heath, Holyoke, Plainfield, Rowe, and Shelburne. Local Cultural Councils are local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency”. The logo is available at MCC’s website. This credit is required by the MCC and failure to comply may jeopardize future funding.
(The MCC logo would not paste here; but all credit for this grant is acknowledged by Educate Malawi, Inc.)
RavenWood Freedom Farm and Learning Center, Inc., is a non-profit organization which was created to provide educational programs for children and adults with a focus on human and ecological diversity including but not limited to farm, nature and arts programming. Programming is designed with an aim towards increasing awareness about racial bias and working towards ending racism. Our Mission at RavenWood is to provide an educational experience with a focus on the life sustaining importance of human and ecological diversity; where children can grow fully as they experience themselves as unique and essential members of their world and community. RavenWood is pleased to be receiving funding for this project through the 9 Hilltown Cultural Councils and the Holyoke Cultural Council.
The above project was coordinated with the help of Saralinda Lobrose; thanks so much Saralinda for your help and support!!
We are also working with Journey House, in Mansfield, CT. In 2004 Natchaug Hospital opened a 13-bed transitional living community on its Mansfield Center campus to provide intensive, comprehensive mental health treatment and special education for adolescent girls. The girls will be writing letters and sharing their thoughts with the students at Namitsitsi primary school when we go in August. They have also raised money for supplies for the students by holding a bake sale and purchased some school supplies for them to be sent with us in August. We are very grateful for their efforts and support!! Lindsay O'Sullivan has helped coordinate efforts and we are deeply grateful for her hard work!!
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