by Stacey Rozen, Soweto, South Africa – Sat 24 April 2010

Chill & Spill Exercise: How others see me, how I see myself, how I want to be seen

Soul stirring aptly describes my day in Soweto facilitating a Chill & Spill workshop with 20 girls I’ve grown to care for as my younger sisters.

Dawn broke on a rainy, gray and cold start to our winter. I drove from Johannesburg, parked my car on the outskirts of Soweto and transferred my art materials and sandwiches into a taxi.  I watched the contrasting views – from tin shacks in squatter camps to newly built houses – until I arrived at a small, cold room deep in the heart of this intriguing township.

The girls trickled in, wet and chilly, and we all exchanged welcoming hugs. Slowly the room transformed into an energized and creative vibe. The warmth of our sisterhood embraced us.

We brought out our Chill & Spill books and chatted about the next activity – about how each girl sees herself, how others see her and how she would like to be seen. Portraits of self-reflection. This is significant, as these girls have had their photos posted on the internet. They wonder what Art with Heart’s readers are thinking about them. It’s a long distance relationship, in a way unknown and unseen.  Some don’t have access to computers and rely on me as their mediator, their informant. I’m honored to hold their trust.

This is a space where a girl who has given birth to a child can leave her responsibilities behind and be the young girl she still is. This is the space where a girl who was raped can be held and comforted. This is the space where a talented young woman who hasn’t found the opportunity for tertiary education can escape her cleaner’s job and explore her creative abilities.  This is a space for respite from poverty and its consequences.

This is a space where a girl can ask me to please keep her painted portrait safe. She can’t take it home to the shack she shares with her granny, because the roof leaks and she doesn’t want her artwork to get spoiled by rainwater.

Each portrait paints a unique picture of a girl in Soweto – her dreams, her aspirations, her challenges, her abilities. I wrapped the precious portraits and carried them home. This is not a tourist’s journey. This is reality.  This is a portrait of South Africa’s extreme complexity and contrast, through the eyes of a girl reflected in a woman.

I have written this blog as if I was writing in my own Chill & Spill journal.  It’s my own personal reflection and I hope it gives you a glimpse into the humanity of our group.

Photo by Cassie Redstone

Art with Heart is fortunate to have amazing supporters who think up unique and wonderful ways to help us meet our mission to help children in crisis. New bride Christine Godlewski Wadden and her husband Joseph were thrilled to donate to a cause that was so close to their hearts.

“Art With Heart teaches patience, encouragement and hope through creative mediums. Sometimes when you can’t find the words to express how you feel, a piece of paper, a paint brush or a journal can be very powerful tools. The organization has always resonated with me because it’s how I best express myself as well,” Christine told us.

Some couples would rather give than receive, and Christine and Joseph decided that a charitable donation to Art with Heart was a wedding gift that would last – one that would show compassion to a child in need.

We are so grateful that they chose this wonderful way to start off their life together.

We receive updates from Stacey Rozen, who has been using our Chill & Spill curriculum with young women in South Africa. This was an update from a February workshop she held:

On a recent Saturday, a small room in Soweto was filled with a wonderful creative spirit. A group of young women, all orphans between the ages of 13 and 18, enjoyed a Chill & Spill workshop themed ‘From Our Hearts to Yours.’ I adapt all of our activities to fit relevant issues related to their lives here in South Africa, as they hail from an area which suffers from poverty, unemployment, child-headed households resulting from the HIV/Aids pandemic, crime, and teen pregnancy. They all live with guardians or are in foster care.

I chose to form this group as I believe strongly in the ‘girl effect’ – if we can uplift and empower young women the entire community benefits. There is a great need for a safe space to communicate what’s going on in their lives and we do it by providing a place for creativity, peer support, and a sense of ‘belonging’. Five of the group members had already received Chill & Spill journals six months previously when the group first began. Our group, named Mekgabiso Ya Pelo (“Art with Heart” in SeSotho), has grown and now there are 20 of us!

During our Saturday session, the new group met, and there was a grateful exchange of energy as they each received a Chill & Spill journal and art materials gifted by Art with Heart. I very much enjoyed giving the gifts to them.

February is the month of love, and so we focused on the love and care that each young woman can give to herself. Our theme was a variation on the ‘Me, Myself & I’ activity in Chill & Spill. I believe our potential is expressed through the quality of our experiences, so we discussed self-awareness, being good to ourselves, and loving who we are. It is important for each young woman to feel seen, validated and indelibly connected to each other through a sense of abundance.

I hope that the presence of a caring adult provides a sense of safety from which these young women can set out to discover and grow. I am touching just a few, but I hope that my touch is a significant one. Thank you to Art with Heart for their encouragement and for reaching out to us in South Africa!

Art with Heart would also like to thank The Sammamish Club for making this possible!

Art with Heart 2nd Annual Bowling Tournament on March 25 at Acme Bowl was a resounding success with more than 65 people in attendance enjoying a rollicking evening of friendly team competition. Together, they raised over $6,500 to help Art with Heart continue to bring its mission to children in crisis.

Many thanks to Christine Jackson and LaDauna Wilson, tournament committee co-chairs, along with committee members Sam Boren, Susan Boren, Cindy Parks, Megan Beck, and Mike Martin for their hard work in planning such a fun event.

Also, huge thanks to the following lane sponsors for helping to make the evening possible: West Coast Paper, Golden Pacific Embossing, Inc. Grays Harbor Paper and Prisco.

And finally, hearty congratulations to the following tournament winners:

Team Competition

• 1st Place — ColorGraphics
• 2nd Place — Pollard Group
• 3rd Place — McCallum Print Group, Xpedx & Seattle Envelope
• Highest Individual Total Game Score — Matt Robinson, ColorGraphics

We received this letter the other week from a sibling of a cancer patient. I love this…

I am 10 years old and wanted to let you know that I love this book [Magnificent Marvelous Me] and I can express my feelings in here.

Before I did this book, I felt lonely like there was no one around. After I did this book, I felt really happy and important. This book helped me learn that it’s okay to show the world who I really am.

If you’d like to help kids like Lisa, please consider donating today.

We received this letter from a parent in Austin, TX:

My name is Kelly, I have a 7 year old daughter. She is the most loving child, but struggles every day with crippling Perfectionism. She has social anxiety, she is self-defeating and feels she cannot and should not do much to avoid failure. Her biggest issue is feeling inadequate.

We have taken steps to help her change how she reacts to things and how she sees herself and the world around her.  She is a very intelligent child and has fought us every step of the way. For Christmas I thought this book would be a fun way for her to open up about her feelings and express herself in a new medium. She did not touch it until today.

We worked together on a few pages in Magnificent Marvelous Me tonight. When I asked her about herself and how that page made her feel, she yelled, “I am awesome!“.

After she said it, she stopped and looked at me and we both smiled and cried.  She said she did not mean to say that, but it felt great. I have NEVER heard her say that unless she is forced to.

I cannot tell you how great this was.  It is a small thing, but a giant step for us.

Thank you so much. Art has always been very important to me and this is a great way for my child to open up to herself and express emotion in a new way. She is finding herself and I cannot say thanks enough.

Thank you,
Kelly Clark

Celebrate those who help hospitalized children cope

In March we celebrate women’s history and basketball.  It is also Child Life Month – an opportunity to recognize and honor those who provide special services for hospitalized children suffering from health-related challenges.

Children aren’t equipped to cope with traumatic health challenges like adults. That’s where Child Life Specialists step in. Terminal illness, loss of a family member or other serious hospital events can cause kids to feel frightened or confused. Before there were Child Life Specialists, they often faced these situations – and their emotions – alone.  The sights, sounds and smells of a hospital or watching a sibling undergo a painful procedure can create severe stress for a child, but with the help of these certified professionals, kids can better understand and manage these experiences.

The Child Life Specialist is a true hero who helps ease the burden of a child’s trauma with targeted interventions and creative tools that allow kids to work through their anxiety and express their feelings.  Hospital preparation, creative play and therapeutic art workbooks (such as those created by Art with Heart) are some of the tactics they use to help children understand what’s happening around them, foster an environment of emotional support,  and help them cooperate with the medical services they need. Research shows that the services a Child Life Specialist provides can help children through the stress of trauma and pain, causing them to actually heal faster – both physically and emotionally.

A while back, my own son received special treatment from a Child Life Specialist before his ear surgery, and I found that he wasn’t the only beneficiary. Both my husband and I found our anxiety levels decreased exponentially as we watched her demonstrate what was going to happen during the surgery in child-friendly terms. While in the waiting room, he happily worked through his “Oodles of Doodles” (Art with Heart) book and by the time they wheeled him off, he was happy and content.

So this month as we’re honoring women’s history and watching basketball, let’s take a moment to recognize Child Life Month.  While we all hope to avoid the need for these services, it’s nice to know that truly heroic professionals are there for our most vulnerable if they ever do.

Steffanie Lorig
Executive Director, Art with Heart
www.artwithheart.org

We got this letter the other day from a 10 year old boy who received Magnificent Marvelous Me from a Child Life Specialist…

I am 10 years old and wanted to let you know that this book is amazing and you should make more books that are similar and I would love that.

Before I did the book, I felt amazed by it.

After I did some of the book, I felt better with my feelings and how I am now.

The book so far has helped me with my feelings alot because I have been very scared to talk to my parents about my feelings and I can now talk about my feelings.

Buying or Selling a House? Your Giving Group Real Estate Team offers a simple way for you, as an Art with Heart Supporter, to make a big difference! When you chose them to be your Realtors, a donation in your name will be sent directly to Art with Heart upon closing by the escrow company. Visit their website or call 877-536-2355 for more information.

Friendy Wendy: Art with Heart supporter and jewelry designer Wendy Slonecker is donating $10 from the sale of each Art with Heart necklace to us! The beautiful handmade glitter and resin pendant comes on a triple strand of waxed linen cord and sterling silver adjustable chain.

Tasty Gallery & Artisan Shop: Check out the Calef Brown original artwork at the new Tasty Gallery & Artisan Shop at 7513 Greenwood Ave N. in Seattle. Owner Sheri Hauser will be carrying an Art with Heart original masterpiece on an on-going basis, with 100% of the purchase price benefiting Art with Heart.

City Year Young Heroes Program asked Art with Heart to participate in one of their service learning days on Feb. 27th.

Youth worker Babylonia told us, “We lead a diverse group of  middle schoolers – a good portion of them are at-risk and off track. Many of them live in neighborhoods rife with violence and struggle internally with anger and confusion.”

She asked Art with Heart to participate because she felt that a workshop on non-violent expression would be very good for the Heroes.  She was particularly interested in having Art with Heart do an activity out of Chill & Spill so they could learn how to use creativity as an effective outlet to deal with the issues facing them. She continues, “It would be very relevant to our topic, and would be a way to finally engage the kids in art in our program!”

Their service topic was “The Roots of Conflict,” and they covered youth violence, gang/community violence, and methods of peaceful communication. Art with Heart invited Dr. Ana Sierra, a child & community psychologist with 30+ years experience in the field to lead the workshop. She has been an avid supporter and contributor to Art With Heart since first discovering “Oodles of Doodles” many years ago.

Dr. Ana led all 55 students in Chill & Spill’s “Powerful/Powerless” activity, focusing on their strengths. She then asked them to use these strengths as a starting point for an “Exquisite Corpse” poem.

Babylonia told us that she was amazed at how much the students shared when they were done. “I’ve never seen them want to share so much! It was amazing.”

Ana recalls, “Our Young Heroes learned strategies to access their deep, knowing selves and express their precious pearls of experience and wisdom. As they learn to connect with their communities in active, compassionate ways, Chill & Spill activities prepare them for this important work by helping them to know themselves better, act confidently, and react peacefully.”

You can contact Dr. Ana Maria Sierra at 253-686-5184.