A School in Haiti- changing 300 children's lives!

In Haiti, especially rural Haiti, education is about learning the right answer.  Because of the class sizes, students don't have the luxury to participate in active learning and participatory class work.  There are state exams for the 6th, 9th and final year of high school and school focuses on preparation for these critical milestones.

St. Paul's school was able to host a two day workshop with artist, Janet Strickler, to provide an opportunity for open and creative thinking through Mandala building.

A mandala is a geometric Hindu or Buddhist symbol representing the universe.  As an artistic form, they are a circle created in a geometric pattern working out from the middle.  Haitian students focus all the art around structured figures and patterns. Rulers are always a huge part of their work, so mandalas were a perfect way for them to expand their creativity.  Janet told them there was only one rule: no copying others, just use their own ideas to create their mandalas.  

After an hour, there was a wonderful array of artistic designs, each one unique!  The students were able to open up their minds and decide for themselves which pattern was right for them.

To reinforce and to make the class Haitian-led, a second workshop was offered the following week, led by Joseph Alvins, a young Haitian who took part in the first workshop as an assistant and who brought his own style to the second class. The students truly opened up even more, with larger, richer mandalas at the second workshop.

It is always important to abide by the school structure designed to best serve the educational needs of the country.  It is also wonderful to be able to supplement the standard curriculum with an out of the box program like art. It was a joy to introduce mandalas at St. Paul's and to watch the students expand their creativity. Yay Art!

Links:

• Colorado Haiti Project website