Touch up!

It was exactly two years ago that I spent, with my team, a whole week in San Martín Jilotepeque (Chimaltenango, Guatemala) to paint an enormous jungle scene at the wall of the patio of the school for children with special needs. It was a fun project and it left me inspired to paint the outside wall too. That mural was created in the beginning of this year, and sponsored by the Dutch Foundation Colour4Kids. While I was painting this mural, we were in the process of planning the construction of a second floor at the school. The roof was already there, it “just” needed a ramp, walls, doors and a railing to convert it into a proper place for the kids. Colour4Kids provided the funding and by the time I finished the mural in February of 2024, I knew I would have to come back one day to paint the addition they planned to put on top of the existing walls, as well as some touch ups, because the mural would surely get damaged during the remodelling.

The construction went as smooth as could be, well within the time limit and even with a little money left over! But what surprised me most was that the murals were still in perfect shape. The builders had gone out of their way to protect them.

I recently went back to the school to continue the mural of the jungle above the ramp and do some minor touch ups here and there.

For the outside, I had asked the director to hire a local painter to cover the new cinderblock wall on top of the mural with some colour. I had a few coloured horizontal lines in mind, nothing special, just something to cover up the grey.
To my great surprise, the director sent me a picture of the painting in progress, asking me if they were doing okay. I was flabbergasted: not only had they plastered the new wall, they had repeated the geometric design from the bottom part of the mural, in the straightest of lines! It looked fantastic! I couldn’t have done it better, especially since we’re talking about 3.5-5 meters up in the air!

A week ago I went to San Martín Jilotepeque for the last time this year, as a guest to the inauguration of the expansion. It was a wonderful event with all the bells and whistles. The patio was beautifully decorated, the children performed dances, there was food and cake. What a nice project to be part of! 

Upstairs there’s still one grey wall left at an open corridor. Who knows, maybe next year this could be a dining hall for the kids, with a gorgeous mural about nutrition…??? 

A colourful, grey day!

 

1 November 2024, All Souls' Day, an important day in Guatemala. People get together at cemeteries to clean and decorate graves and tombs of loved ones, in order to celebrate life with the dead.  It’s a colourful occasion with all the with flowers, wreaths and kites. Giant kites are worked on for months and are then displayed and sometimes even flown to honour the dead and to send messages to the spirits of loved ones. The children enjoy flying their own colourful creations, cheering up the otherwise pretty grey and dull sky.

It was also the day that I put the finishing touches to a mural project in the village of El Hato, just outside Antigua, Guatemala. It’s the second mural at this school. Two years ago, I painted a mural here, representing both youth and the community’s floriculture. Recently, I was approached again by the director and teachers to come back for yet another mural. The theme was the same: portraits of local children (students from the school whose parents grow flowers) against a backdrop of Guatemalan textiles and flowers grown in this village.

When I finished, late in the afternoon on All Saints Day, it was already getting dark and it had just started to rain. I couldn’t take any decent pictures of the result. But I had to go back anyway, for the official opening of the mural, as organised by principal Paty. The whole school got together and I received a big thank you, some beautiful flowers from the mother of the kids I had painted, as well as a beautiful piece of Guatemala fabric.

This mural was generously sponsored by Colour4Kids, thanks so much!!

Kids & Dogs & Art

 

The mural Kids & Dogs mural we painted in Parramos last week was just one part in something that hopefully will become a substantial educational programme about (street) dogs. People in Guatemala have of course always had animals. But more and more rural communities are turning into urban centres and that requires a new attitude towards pets and domestic animals. Parramos is one of those towns were dozens if not hundreds of stray animals wander the streets, surviving on garbage, suffering hard lives and forming a nuisance for its human habitants. A few local women have taken on this huge task of taking care of them and are doing their best to have as many of these stray animals spay and neutered. But they can’t do it alone, neither is it just their responsibility.

With the organization I volunteer for, Unidos Para los Aninales, we have developed an activity book for children with lots of information and tips on how to take care of your dog, especially aimed at a Guatemalan target group with limited resources.

But we can do more. So I returned to Parramos to teach a workshop for eleven children age 7-11. Also participating in the workshop were Lupita, Griselda and another dog, all three of them live at the Municipality of Parramos. The children learned about who’s responsibility it is to take care of street dogs (everybody’s!), why sterilization and vaccination is so important and what food is good for dogs. The children got to classify some food samples (beneficial/poisonous) and after the activity the “good” food was shared with the dogs who were surprisingly uninterested!

Then it was time to paint. Each participant made a poster with a cat or dog. Some of them made two! It was such a fun morning, the kids didn’t want it to end. Of course, each child received a copy of our activity book Cómo Cuidar a mi Chucho. Hopefully to be repeated!

Many thanks to Amada from Parramos for setting this up and helping during the workshop, and the Municipality of Parramos for providing the space and PR. Especially thanks to Colour4Kids for sponsoring this project. 

 

Caring for stray dogs is a shared responsibility

 

Parramos, Chimaltenango, is a small but vibrant town in Guatemala that not so long ago wasn´t much more than a large village. Last week, I went there to paint a mural on the wall of a nursery school, right next to the city hall. It was as noisy as usual, much hotter than normal in November and the wall considerably larger than the measurements I had been given. It wasn’t 2 meters tall, but 2.70, quite a difference. Fortunately, the design was easy to adapt. We paint a border at the bottom and just continued the coloured lines in the background.

The mural not only brightens up the entire street but also hopes to convey an important message: the overpopulation of street dogs is a problem that can be solved together. “¡Juntos los cuidamos!”, it says: “Together we take care of them”, because children can also do their bit to care for pets. Taking responsibility together will hopefully lead to less so that they are not neglect, abuse and abandonment. On the right side we painted the logo of Unidos para los Animales, an organization that offers affordable sterilizations and with which I have been involved as a volunteer for years. In the text below the logo the public is encouraged not to dump their pets and to sterilize them. In short, to take responsibility for the dogs and cats in the community.

The kindergarteners certainly loved it! “They look just like real!”, they said of the puppies. “¡Qué chilero!”. Or in other words: super cool! The teachers and principals were also very pleased.

The request for this mural came from a group of women from Parramos who, on their own initiative, trap stray dogs, have them sterilized and release them again, if no home can be found for them. Sending the dogs back into the streets is always heartbreaking, but unfortunately often the only option. In any case, they will no longer contribute to the growth of the dog population on the streets. No more unwanted puppies!

With the mural finished, I just want to  give big thank you to Esmeralda and Amada for this opportunity and for coordinating the logistics. Thanks to the staff of the kindergarten, the students for their support, the Municipality of Parramos, as well as their photographer Cristian. Also thanks to Diana Hernández and Gaby Rodriguez for helping me paint and Flori and Luis Velasquez who were so kind to offer transportation, the first and last day. And of course a big shout out to Dutch Foundation Colour4Kids for sponsoring this mural!

But! This project isn’t quite finished yet! Tomorrow I’ll return to Parramos for an art workshop about doggie welfare. Stay tuned!

Social Inclusion in Guatemala Part 2

 

Up before dawn and on the road at 5am. The things we do for the arts! Also to beat the blazing sun later on, as well as the traffic. Although, driving in the pre-dawn dark wasn’t much fun. Plenty of traffic already with many cars outfitted like Christmas trees. In Guatemala there is no middle way: people drive without any lights at all, or they pimp their vehicles till they look like the tandem bicycle in Men in Black II.

We made it to San Martín Jilotepeque and at 6.30am on the dot we were at work. As soon as we got out of the car, we were warmly greeted by two street dogs who stuck with us during the day. Despite of their heartwarming hugs, it was COLD! Something like 12°C. But we knew it wouldn’t last for long. An indeed, as soon as the sun made it over the mountain tops and then over the buildings in our street, it was HOT. From 12°C to 28°C in two hours’ time, WOW!

We were back in San Martín Jilotepeque to finish the mural we had started last month. It wasn’t an awful lot of work, but the details that were pending were important ones. Such as the name of the school and the symbols that represent different special needs. Now it’s all done and finally the mural, with social inclusion as a theme, makes sense!

It won’t be our last time in San Martín Jilotepeque. With the Dutch Foundation Colour4Kids we’re still raising funds for the construction of a second level for this school for children with special needs. Another level means more walls, so hopefully more paint projects in the future!

This mural is sponsored by Colour4Kids. Many thanks to Catherine Corry for driving (again!) as well as doing a terrific paint job. And thanks to our friend Cristy Velasco who brought us coffee and her delicious carrot cake.

Social Inclusion in Guatemala

It was cold, that chilly kind of cold before the sun announces its appearance with bleak streaks of light. Dressed in sweaters and scarves, our all-girl team of four set out for San Martín Jilotepeque. We left this early to beat the traffic and to have an early start because we knew we had a long day ahead of us.

The wall at the Escuela de Educación Especial (School for children with special needs) was ready for us. The cinder block wall was neatly stuccoed and ready for some colour. In accordance with the director of the school, I had made a design about social inclusion with a focus on respect and acceptance, something that persons with special needs still struggle with in rural Guatemala.

It was a tough job! Despite January being the coldest month of the year, the heat was relentless. The white wall reflected the fierce sunlight and heavy traffic was thundering along, right behind our backs. The cones that the friendly traffic police had placed on the road helped a bit to keep us safe but didn’t do much for the exhaustion fumes. It was so bad, we all opted for a facemask, despite the heat! And to top it off, some workmen started opening the road right next to our wall. The noise, the heat, the dust and dirt made it a tough day’s work.

The next day we left even earlier. Sunrise over the mountains of San Martín Jilotepeque was a treat. It felt as if the temperature had slightly dropped and even the traffic seemed to have slowed down a bit. Ten more hours of painting and the wall was completely covered in paint. But alas, we couldn’t finish it completely. Some very important details still need to be painted, such as the name of the school and the symbols for the different abilities that go on the blue squares at the top. I also want to paint the small part at the very right of the wall. So, I’ll have to go back.

Going back to San Martín Jilotepeque was in the planning anyway, because with the Dutch foundation Colour4Kids we’re fundraising towards the construction of a much needed second level at the school. As soon as we’ll have raised the needed funds (donations are very welcome!), the construction can get started. The first thing to be built is a ramp leading to the first floor. In order to do so, the outside wall will be raised a bit and this part needs to be painted too, so I’m going back no matter what. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

This mural would not have been possible without the help of Catherine Corry, Gaby Rodriguez and Diana Hernández, my fantastic painting crew. Thanks also to Elmer Hernández Lara, director of the school for helping with the logistics and the parents who volunteered to stucco the wall. Thanks to Cristy Velasco for the delicious lunch and snacks. And of course, a big shout-out to Colour4Kids for sponsoring this mural.

To be continued!