domingo, 24 de julio de 2011

Snapshot: Art in Zone S

Check out the snapshots from Zone S, an area of extreme poverty in Huaycan... :)




Want to read directly what Gladys, our volunteer art teacher, has to say about our program? Check out her amazing blog here: http://artedperu.blogspot.com/

Thanks for all your hard work, Gladys!

Published by Lara DeVries on behalf of the Light and Leadership Initiative. Special thanks to Gladys for the photos and the great work!

lunes, 18 de julio de 2011

We've Been Inked!

No joke, volunteers like LLI.

For her second time around as a volunteer, Ellie Hargadon-Lowe decided to make it official... and permanent: She loves LLI.


A few weeks ago, Ellie tattooed Light and Leadership's logo on her ankle. It came out quite well. Light and Leadership promises, especially to Ellie's mother, that this is not a requirement to be a volunteer :) but it is pretty great to see someone so passionate about our organization and cause.

Going to be at the Glessner House Event this August?! So will this tattoo. Ask Ellie to see it!

...to the National Museum!

This past Saturday, LLI's women's group took a field trip to the national museum to see the Yuyanapaq exhibit, a photographic display of the destruction brought to many Peruvians in cities and small towns by the terrorist group, the Shining Path, in the 1980s and 1990s. The exhibit serves as a way to remember those who suffered or were killed during this tragic time.

I myself have been to this exhibit many times since moving to Lima a few years ago, but I had never experienced it like last Saturday. A majority of these women had lived through this experience as young girls or teenagers and it was so moving, and heart-wrenching, to listen to their stories and commentaries as they viewed the photos of the history they lived through.

Although the exhibit was intense, the mood lightened a bit once we went out for some appetizers and Irene, who's in her 70's, began dancing to the music and laughing with me. This is why I love working with these women: they have difficult pasts, and possibly difficult futures... but they are always positive, resilient and eager to learn more. We have slowly built up this women's group over the past year and it shows no signs of slowing down!

Volunteers Ellie and Jessie pose with three of the women.

Part of the group waiting outside the museum.


Special thanks to Franzi Weil, former LLI volunteer, who graciously sponsored this field trip! Interested in sponsoring a field trip? Contact Lara@lightandleadership.org for more info!

--Lara DeVries, LLI Executive Director

Published by Lara DeVries on behalf of Light and Leadership. Special thanks to Jessie Pincus for the photos and to Sarah Renkert and Eleanor Hargadon-Lowe for coordination of the field trip. We'll miss you :(

sábado, 16 de julio de 2011

Woodburning: Check.

This past Tuesday, volunteer Art teacher Gladys Pasapera held a Woodburning workshop with our women's group. Fourteen women picked up a new artisan skill and a few of them discovered they are quite good at it... which got us thinking about a new chapter in our Artisan Project. Stay tuned for more details.

This workshop was something new for our women's group. Light and Leadership is now incorporating different types of educational workshops into our monthly or bimonthly meetings, including art. It was an absolute success! Art is a great way for women to come together, learn something new, and form stronger bonds with each other and with our volunteers. We'll be doing a Woodburning, Part II workshop sometime in late August, so look out for more details then.

Check out a few photos below from the workshop:

Volunteer Ellie Hargadon Lowe, who also coordinated the workshop, with Irene and her woodburning design.

Lara DeVries and Gladys Pasapera with long time participant Marina and her son.

Published on behalf of Light and Leadership by Lara DeVries. Special thanks to Sarah Renkert and Ellie Hargadon Lowe for workshop coordination and the photos, plus thanks to Gladys Pasapera for her time and talent! Great job ladies :)