Hi friends! I hope you all enjoyed getting to know me and my journey with art in my last post! As you may remember from my bio page, I spent a month in Kenya last summer volunteering! I was a participant on the 2024 Service Learning Trip with Marywood University and ASEC. We lived and worked at The Dorothea Rescue Centre, which is run by a group of incredible Catholic Sisters. They house, feed, clothe, rehabilitate, educate and care for young girls living on the streets. The program is for ages 4-16 and is designed to result in reintegration into society after 6-9 months at the Dorothea. The centre is on a large, gated compound with many amenities. Also on the compound is Our Lady Of Assumption Mission School Komarock. This is a primary school for girls and boys in the local community, as well as the girls at the centre. Working with both the girls at the Dorothea and the children at the school was easily the most rewarding and amazing experience of my entire life.
I spent the majority of my days teaching in “PP1 and PP2” (pre-pre-school one and two). These classes consisted of around 20 students, ages 3-5. We often began our school days by coloring and drawing pictures. To say that supplies were limited would be an understatement. The teachers would rip out pages of a coloring book and give each student two crayons. When we ran out of coloring pages, the teachers would give me a pen and a scrap of notebook paper to draw an outline of a picture for the kids to color in. Despite the challenges faced just to color, the kids’ faces lit up when they got ahold of those crayons.
As I do not have any licenses or degrees yet, I could not practice actual Art Therapy with the kids as I would someday love to do. However, I got as close as I could. One of my favorite memories of the trip was when a couple of the volunteers and I had the idea to do a special art activity. We came across 2 bottles of glue in one of the classrooms and ideas came pouring out of us. With the abundance of supplies we have access to here in America, we would have typically used glitter or colored sand to do this project. As we did not have any of that, we went out into the fields during our lunch break, took a large, empty water bottle, and filled it to the brim with tiny pebbles. We then used the glue to draw the outline of a house or “hut” as the kids called it. We helped the kids sprinkle their handful of pebbles onto the paper and the next day when it was all dry, we shook the excess rocks off. I had never seen the kids more excited, and most importantly, so proud of their creations. We asked them how they felt about the project, and they were very eager to express their gratitude and joy. This activity proved to me and the other volunteers just how important and life changing art can be. The kids had never once done anything like this before. I saw their confidence levels rise, and their self esteem grow.
We asked them how they felt about the project, and they were very eager to express their gratitude and joy. This activity proved to me and the other volunteers just how important and life changing art can be.
Another experience of note was with a group of the girls at the Dorothea. We would often sit at the picnic tables and draw pictures. During this time, the girls felt comfortable and confident enough to open up and tell us parts of their stories. As we could not council them, we were often a shoulder to lean on and a listening ear for them. We gave advice when appropriate, and support where it was needed. It was truly a beautiful experience to watch them relax and let go, all because of art. And my goodness were these kids TALENTED! They had so much creativity and artistic ability buried so deep within them, and it was a privilege to witness them unleash it. I am so excited to say that I will be returning to Kenya in May 2025, and this time, I will bring a whole suitcase full of art supplies! Lol.
ASEC’s Rays Of Hope newsletter
If you’d like to read more about my overall experience in Kenya, please feel free to check out this article I wrote for ASEC’s Rays Of Hope newsletter: http://asec-sldi.org/news/general/Nothing-is-Impossible/
Good evening, I’m interested to get Training at your organisation. I am a therapist and I work with children and art therapy will be an added advantage to them. Kindly you can reply through my email address. Thank you.
Thank you for writing. If you are interested in pursuing art therapy training, we recommend researching accredited master’s programs in art therapy. These programs, like the one offered at Marywood University (https://www.marywood.edu/art-therapy-masters-degree), are typically required for professional practice. You can also explore professional organizations like the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) (https://arttherapy.org/) for resources and information on training and careers in art therapy. They can provide guidance on finding qualified supervisors and training opportunities. We wish you the best in your pursuit of art therapy training.