Rainy Day Goodbye

Sigh.

It's Tuesday afternoon and soon, verrrry soon, I'll be heading to the airport.

It's raining cats and dogs. My fingers are crossed that my flight leaves on time for São Paulo.

Drinking a cup of black tea. Bags packed. Petting Cipote. Oh Cipote, I'm gonna miss you.

It feels a bit surreal.

I have been running around, going non-stop, trying to get everything done. And so, as I write, the kids involved in the photography project are on their way to the Santander Cultural for their exposition. N., T., & E., who collaborated with me on this have promised to take photographs.

I wish I could be there, but I am also ready to board my flight home.

Here are some pictures of the setting up of the show.

I was there just a few hours ago, helping with the final touches. But it was really T. & N. who devoted their entire day to getting this ready yesterday. They are amazing, and yes, somewhat indecisive too. Ha. Two indecisive creative people trying to decide where to hang photographs.

I can only imagine! I was with them until about 1 PM yesterday and couldn't return until 5:30. They were crazy at that point after being cooped in the museum basement all day long. Lots of giggling ensued.

 

I'm going to miss them. And I am so full of love and affection for the kids who took these photographs.

Stay tuned for more pictures!

The Youth of Pro Jovem Adolescente Exhibit Their Photography

On Friday, the youth program located in the Partenon neighborhood of Porto Alegre, celebrated their one year anniversary. We invited their family and our colleagues to an afternoon of good food, good music.

Everyone gathered around to give their attention as each youth talked about their wonderful artwork such as the beautiful mural they created together a few months ago.

They had a first showing of their photography and their interpretation of the "Drugs: Impact on Our Lives" theme that they had chosen. Each youth was chose their top three favorite photographs and wrote about them. They'll also be writing biographies. They're still coming up with "artistic names" so for the moment I'll have to use just initials.

These are A.'s photos.  

 

I took this photo because I saw a lot of tagging and I saw the nature. There are a lot of trees, the building there on top, a lot of plants. It's just the entrance to go down stairs.

I took this photo because it is interesting. There are a lot of robberies and assaults here. It is violent day and night. Pass through in the morning and one can be assaulted. The photo is important because of Cachorro Sentado, a vila. I don't live in the vila. I just took a photo. 

I thought the shadows that I saw while walking were interesting. I took the photo on the street. I was with people. It is an art. 

These are B.'s photos.

This one has a story but I prefer not to tell it. This photo signifies cruelty that today isn't so common, stepparents are raping innocent children that don't even know the word "sex," children die almost every day as victims of rapes, if people were smart enough they would know who to leave their children with and that's all I wanted to say.

I chose this photo because I thought it was interesting to speak about it. Trash is something that we all produce, but there are people that think the place for trash is on the ground, and it isn't, the place for trash is in the trashcan, because trash outside of the trashcan brings many awful things and some of those are rats and cockroaches, that are very disgusting and sometimes they end up even bringing sicknesses that are not cool.

Graffiti is a divine thing, and there are people that think that graffiti is a crime, because it is very similar to tagging. Graffiti is a cool thing to do because sometimes it is a portrait of some sad realities and other times it is a portrait of cool things like cartoons and other things.

These are E.'s photos.

The graffiti that we in Pro Jovem did, this graffiti is more or less the same, in the letters and in the wild-style.

It was fun to be able to play football and have various friends and be remembering the playing that we did.

I did this design based on a sunset. It is a beautiful flower. It is pretty sunset and a work of art.

A. N. & R. shared a poster board for their photographs.

 

A.N.'s photos.

In this photo, marijuana is being prepared for smoking.

Shocking moment he is smoking a pitico. What is a pitico: (marijuana, crack and tobacco). Don't follow this example. 

In this photo marijuana is being rolled.

R.'s Photos.

This beautiful landscape is giving a beautiful look at a world without violence totally clean.

With inspiration I was able to take but one that called my attention a lot was the graffiti in the light of the sun.

With music we totally forget our problems. Music brings a lot of happiness and joy. 

"Ka$h" hadn't turned in her camera yet to be developed, so she wrote her biography instead:

My name is Ka$h, I live in Morro da Cruz with my mother, stepfather and three brothers. I am 16 years old, I go out, study and do Pro Jovem. My oldest brother is in jail. I like to go out on Fridays after school to converse with my friends. I smoke cigarettes and I drink on the weekends. I live with a drug user but I don't use drugs. Where I live there are drugs all over the place and if I wanted it would be easy to just use them, but I am the fight against "crack."

I love my life and I am never going to use "CRACK."

These kids are awesome and I feel so privileged to have been able to meet them, get to know them and see their wonderfully creativity.

Next up: their photography exhibit at Santander Cultural!

Photos, Funny Accents & Pine Trees

Today the first group of teenagers got to see their photos and some of the writing began. Writing about their favorite photos. Writing biographies for the exposition.  Fun and challenging and all that good stuff. I love learning from and getting to hang out with these guys and girls (we're up to 2 girls in this particular group now!).

Here's a photo of Negão (the "artist name" that one of the kids chose for himself) comparing one of his photographs with its subject:

We had a number of new adolescents entering the workshops today and luckily enough leftover cameras so that they could participate in the project too. One of them did not know what to make of my accent. I can hardly imagine how I sound to a Brazilian ear especially as I mangle pronunciation of words and verb conjugations. I was working with the kids individually on their writing and talking about their photos so I wasn't aware of this particular kid's fascination and bemusement, but apparently he kept repeating quietly to one of the coordinators, "She talks so strange! She talks so funny!" Then he sat next to me just so he could listen to me speak. Ha. 

In the meantime I am feeling utterly swamped and in the mood to sleep for a week straight, but I have a mountain of work to get done before that can happen. (And since I've got so little time left I can't imagine I'll be letting myself sleep in too late even if I technically can). So this is my quick post while I'm boiling pinhões (singular form = pinhão) which taste kind of like chestnuts but come from a pine tree for (part of) dinner. They taste good but I have to say that the leftover shell ends up looking slightly like squished cockroaches, a thought I have to banish from my head when eating.

Then I've got to work, work, work on a paper...at least until my televnovela starts that is. I've been watching it almost religiously (or actually much more than religiously since I've never attended a place of worship between 3-6 times a week) and it's ending this week! Gotta have priorities, right? ;-)

Adventures of O Cachorrinho

I met O Cachorrinho [the puppy/cute little dog] for the first time in a shopping mall. He was the toy inside my Easter chocolate egg. It was love at first sight. Actually that's a lie. I couldn't figure out how to put the little pup together and had to rely on the expertise of a mathematician. So it took a while for me to see what he actually looked like.  But from our first shared grin, O Cachorrinho and I went everywhere together. He enjoyed traveling in the side pocket of my shoulder bag. Every once in a while I'd take him out so he could check out the view.

Inspired by my friend Finchy's fun photos with her pet piggie, I figured I should start documenting O Cachorrinho's outings, which I've done here.

Poor little guy hasn't gotten to go anywhere exciting (yet!), but regardless he always has a smile on his face.

Day Out at the Museum

Yesterday we all had a fantastic time when we went with the the guris (Portuguese slang for "young people") to a photography exhibit at a museum.

They were hanging outside the room in the morning before the oficina  (translation: "workshop" - essentially the youth groups), some were using up the remaining photographs on their cameras by taking some shots of the view out the window.

Today was the day for them to bring the cameras back so that I could get the photographs developed in time for the next oficina.

We saw photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson...

...and watched a video talking about the art of his photography...

...and we even added our own art to the art we were seeing :-)

When asked at the end of the oficina about their favorite part, they agreed that it was all fun, that they loved seeing all the photography. And now none of us can wait to see their photography.

Take a Deep Breath

Last week, we officially started the photo project with one of the youth groups. We began with everyone talking about their journey from home to the youth group (which is how every group begins). Then I introduced them to a breathing exercise. We played with paper "cameras" and talked about how they affect how we look at the world. We read over "Terms of Responsibility" and they signed agreeing to the terms. We gave the adolescents the cameras, designed possible photos and brainstormed together about ways to take photos that would follow the "Zoom" theme that the group has been working with.

Phew! It was a lot and it was fun. 

Next week, after taking the cameras home with them, they'll be bringing them back for development and we'll be making a field trip to Santander Cultural to check out the FestFotoPoA, the International Festival of Photography in Porto Alegre. Cool, exciting stuff! There's a part of me that's always a bit nervous about projects like this. Really, there's a lot of juggling and timing and hoping it all comes out well while you're looking up at all that stuff you're trying to keep in the air. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. No matter what, I think it will be good. Especially because this photo project is truly a collaborative, group effort. I am in awe of all the fantastic people who are making this happen.

And so, at the end of the youth group, I asked two questions that I like to ask (ever since working at Communities in Schools (CIS) last year that is). I asked the group members to each tell me their favorite part of the group and their least favorite part. I love these questions because the answers are rarely what I expect. Unsurprisingly, it was difficult for them to come up with "least favorite" parts because of that human tendency to want to be polite I'm sure. It takes a while to be able to respond to this question.

But their favorite part, as expected, was unexpected. Almost unanimously, they all agreed that it was that thing we did with our stomach, with shaking our hands. Yup, what they liked best was the breathing exercise.

Before I started the exercise. I talked about how to breath into one's belly because not everyone knows how to do this (and I've finally stopped assuming that they do. Yup, as my dad has told me, when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. Or, people just don't know what they heck you're talking about when you blather on about this deep breath nonsense).

There's an image I once heard someone using that I really like and subsequently borrowed. (I think I borrowed it from the woman who taught an awesome yoga class to our Hope & Healing group at CIS last year). Basically, it's imagining you're swallowing an elevator, it's going down your throat and descending all the way to your belly. Yup, put your hand on your stomach to feel it expand as the the elevator comes down.  That's inhaling. Now to exhale, imagine your sending that elevator all the way back up.

We did this a few times and they said they'd gotten the gist of it. So we moved on. I co-opted this particular breathing exercise from a role play of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) group performed in my Group Therapy class last spring (thank you CBT group!). Everyone plants their feet flat on the floor and sits up straight in their chairs. Then we begin to shake our hands and stomp our feet, increasing the rapidity of the agitation as we go. It looks totally silly, so it helps when everyone else is doing it too. We move faster and faster...and faster...Until I say, "Okay stop." Then we all breathe together, deep inhalations into the belly, deep exhalations, a certain number of times. This time I happened to choose 6. That's it.

There are usually a few seconds of silence that follow this. A pause. It's just enough time to "be" with a slightly stiller, calmer mind...It was nice.

And I totally love that this is what they liked best because all of us (myself very, very included) could use some skills (and frequent reminders) to take a step back and slow down even if just for a minute or two.

Next week we'll do some more breathing, since I'm thinking they'll be up for it, and hmmmm...perhaps I'll be able to throw a yoga posture into the mix too...

Donations Gratefully Accepted!

NOTE: Since writing this blog entry, I have received enough donations to reach my goal (and indeed go a bit beyond it). My thanks to all of you for your support!

Dear readers of this blog, friends, family, colleagues, professors, classmates and all-around wonderful people,

While interning at Communities in Schools at Travis High School in Austin, Texas last year, I had the idea for a photo project with the students. With your support, we were able to pull it off! (If anyone would like to see a copy of the report on this, please email me at: lostinthequotidian@gmail.com).

This spring, as an intern at a social services agency in Porto Alegre, Brazil, I am excited to be embarking on a second project and I am writing to ask for your support.

I am collaborating with two youth programs run by energetic and enthusiastic people. We love the idea of promoting self-expression and enhancing self-esteem through photography with these creative, smart and passionate youth. An example of their creativity can be seen here in a mural they produced: 

One program, ProJovem [ProYouth] is intended for youth whose families have monthly incomes below $80 American (R$140 Brazilian reais) and/or who are in conflict with the law. We presented the group with several options for the project’s theme, including self-portraits and graffiti. They chose “Drugs: Impact on our lives” because, in their words, they live with the reality of drugs on a daily basis. They brainstormed titles for the project including, “Be happy without crack” and “Crack: the destruction of dreams.” 

The second program, Programa de Prestação de Serviços à Comunidade da Universidade de Rio Grande do Sul [Program of Community Service of the University of Rio Grande do Sul] is for youth in conflict with the law who are ordered to complete community service. Operating out of the education department, this program sets youth up with places to perform community service and also facilitates a youth group for them. We’ll begin the discussion with them about the theme for their photography project soon.

In the end, we hope to bring both programs together by inviting their family and friends to view their work at a final show.

Due to a generous donation of 25 one-time use cameras from the SNAP Foundation, we have a strong start. However, we also need to raise money to pay for the development of film, printing of photographs and enlargement of some of the photographs for the final show, as well as other costs (customs fees for the cameras which we're trying to get lowered, materials hanging the photos for the show).

There is heartwarming support for this project at the social service agency and the programs (both directly and indirectly involved) are assisting as they are able financially, but budgets are limited.  My colleagues are creative and know how to achieve a lot with a little. However, the more resources we are able to raise, the higher the quality the final show will be able to attain. It’s a question, for example, of printing 8x10 photographs on photography paper or printing the pictures using a color printer and regular paper.

Therefore, I am writing you to ask for any donation you might be able to give. For example, $3 will pay for enlarging one photo for the final show. $10 will pay for the printing and developing of one camera. You can rest assured that we will be shopping around as well as further negotiating these prices with the photography store that we decide to use, but these numbers are based on quotes from stores that I spoke to yesterday. I have set up a Pay Pal account for facilitation of donations, which you can reach by clicking on the "Donate" button on the right side of this page. [This button has since been removed because, wonderfully, I have reached my donation goal].

Although I did not anticipate it last year, one of my favorite parts of the experience was the final show. The students got to bask in the admiration of their friends, family and community for their creativity, efforts and visual/written expressions. They were glowing. Their pride in their work was beautiful.

I love how photography gives a person a way to capture their vision of what they see and to share that vision with others. I am honored (and excited) to be able to see the images of the world that will be produced by the awesome youth participating in this project.

The project ends in mid-May, a week before I return to Austin, Texas to graduate. Soon after, I will send out a report, complete with pictures, of course, to anyone who is interested.

Thank you for your support and please don't hesitate to email me with questions!

Abraços (hugs) & gratitude from Brazil,

Libélula Azul

Daily Constitutional

Almost every weekday morning I walk fifteen minutes down a long street to catch the buses I need to get where I'm going. Most afternoons I get off at that same stop and walk the same route home.

I'm can be the kind of person who needs to change my routine frequently. When I was a gardener in charge of the maintenance of various houses, I'd frequently have to switch up the order in which I watered all their plants, just so I wouldn't go out of my mind with the sameness of my trajectory.

And so, it's funny to realize, that after months now, I still am happy walking up and down the same street. I could certainly vary it up and take other routes to get to the bus stop. At times I change my path in little ways, but nothing significant.

It just seems that every day there's some new detail to observe. And when I take pictures they help me to remember and continue appreciating the old details at the same time.