HeART Project in Uganda
Special thanks to Megan McMillan and Chris Peterson for their work in Uganda last month through Trivani Foundation and the Great West Institute. Not only did they do the drawing project with the kids – they took it one step further and let the kids transfer their drawings to a mural in their village (Kaberamaido)! We would love to continue this tradition in other countries as well.
Chris Peterson, Expedition Leader:
“I’ve just returned from three weeks in Uganda and Kenya for work with the Trivani Foundation. In Uganda, we spent drawing with the children from Asayo’s Wish the majority of our time in a village called Kaberamaido, at an orphanage called Asayo’s Wish. For most of the last three decades, political unrest and civil war has ravaged this part of northern rural Uganda. As a result, there are many widows and many orphans and a lot of suffering as people start to put their lives together. Trivani Foundation has begun working with these alienated groups within the local community to empower them and ensure that their future is better.
As one of many things that we did while staying at Asayo’s Wish, and with funding from Great West, we facilitated a collaborative community arts project with the 160 children who live at the orphanage. We started with about 50 children in the first group. I had brought from the states seven boxes of crayons (with 96 colors each) and we turned the children loose on imagination-based drawings. There was a lot of excitement with using crayons (likely the first crayons ever for many of them), but there were also some children who were unsure of how to proceed. I think that the creative outlet and open-endedness was foreign to them, given that most of their schooling is dictated by specific outcomes and artmaking is basically never on the agenda.
After a few minutes and some coaching/modeling, they loosened up and loved it. Once we had the drawings, we moved 
the children outside to the side of an old shop, on a highly visible wall in the compound and from the nearby road. I had brought dozens of brushes from Utah and in Kampala before we drove to Kaberamaido, we had purchased ten gallons of various oil-based colors (latex acrylic is basically unavailable there). With the kids looking on, we unpacked the paint and proceeded to mix some additional colors and distribute them to the children After a short translated lesson on how to use the paint and brushes responsibly, they started transferring their drawings to the wall. It was definitely the first time for most of these kids to dip a brush in paint and they took to it quickly.
Initially intending only to paint the one side of the shop, the children made the executive decision to expand around the entire building and then onto the neighboring latrines. A few hours later, we had to cut them off and help them get 
cleaned up. The next day, I facilitated the same activity for the remaining children (approx. 100!) and the walls started to fill in with their paintings. Over the course of the remaining week, one of the leaders (my main man Moses), worked with the children to fill in the negative space and tie the murals together. The results are stunning and the experience beyond explanation.
When we left Asayo’s Wish, most of the paint in the cans remained and I entrusted Moses with the task of providing more creative opportunities for the children with that paint. As far as the mission of eradicating poverty in this region, it is difficult to cite a concrete and verifiable outcome of this mural project. However, under the goal of empowerment, I believe this project will have significant, far-reaching and long-term impacts on these people; for the members of the community at-large and especially for the children who participated in this simple collaborative and creative process. I am excited to visit Uganda next year to see what will unfolds.” -cp
Thanks Chris and Megan! The drawings from these children are on their way to children in Nepal right now thanks to the good people of Trivani and Choice Humanitarian. The team will return in 3 weeks to report on how the exchange went.
Check back for updates!
