“LATE IN THE AFTERNOON on Saturday July 7th, the ominous storm that had
been dumping rain all afternoon finally passed over our little 'escuelita.' The strong rays of the setting sun streamed into El
Farito illuminating the faces of 16 eager children dressed in colorful costumes as we prepared to begin our long anticipated Creative Arts Community
Presentation. With the roof still dripping rainwater, families, friends, and students made their way through the very
muddy dirt roads of Cedro Galán to attend our show in support of their loved ones and their community. As the audience took
their seats and the traditional folklore music began to play for the first performance, I took my seat toward the back of the room, looked around to
take it all in, and I thought to myself, ‘This is what it’s all about.’
“Since October, Scott and I have been teaching weekly music and drama classes to
local children as part of our Creative Arts Program. The goal of this program is to offer arts instruction that is not being
taught in the schools in order to promote creativity and original thinking in a supportive environment. More specifically with
music and drama, we encourage the students to try out new and different activities that challenge them to step outside of their comfort zones to
build self-awareness and self-confidence. We also strive to build an appreciation of their local culture as well as open their
minds to other world cultures by exposing them to international music and fieldtrips to local performing arts events.
“Earlier this year I had received interest from the director of a theater company in
the states who wanted to bring down a team of actors to teach drama workshops for the kids. This worked out perfectly with our plan
for a creative arts show, so we arranged to have a week of workshops culminating in a community presentation. This would give our
students a wonderful opportunity to learn new techniques from professional actors and apply their new skills in a performance. In
April, Scott and I began working with the kids to prepare songs and plays for the show. Our students were so excited about the
workshops and the chance to perform. Having a goal to work toward, the kids became more engaged in the activities during class
because they knew we were working to create something bigger.
“The night before the first day of workshops, I found out that the group of actors
would not be coming and my heart sank. The next day, over 20 children arrived at El Farito eager to meet the actors and learn from
them for the week. It broke my heart to tell them that the group was not coming, so I made Scott do it. And as
always, he did it with candor and humor. The kids responded as usual when are faced with unpleasant news, with a combination of disappointment,
sadness, frustration and anger. Some left the class, but the majority stayed to face the solution with us. I
was determined not to let this setback ruin their hard work and positive spirits. Scott and I decided to continue with the
scheduled workshop times and teach them ourselves. We weathered the week together and the kids learned some valuable life lessons
about how to handle unexpected situations outside of their control.
“On Saturday, just 2 hours before the presentation, the weather handed us some
more challenges. As we set up the equipment and scenery, the sky opened up dumping rain, blowing the mist inside the open-air
building and covering everything (us included) with rainwater. Due to the rain, only half of the children in the cast had arrived
for our final dress rehearsal and I worried that, after all of the kids’ hard work, only a few people would attend. With
about 30 minutes to show time, the storm cleared up, the kids showed up, and our audience began to trickle in. By 5 o’
clock the fifty or so seats were full of happy faces and the show began. In addition to 4 songs and 2 short plays by the children,
there were also traditional folklore dances by a local community group and 3 traditional Nicaraguan songs played by Scott’s guitar students led
by Sr. Muñoz, a prominent member of the community and a talented guitarist.
“This truly was a ‘community presentation’ in the sense that it was
performed for the community, but it was also produced by members of the community and they felt as much a part of it as we
did. Later in the week Kathy August (owner of El Farito and partner with MPI) told me that several parents and young adults came
up to her after the show and thanked her for building El Farito. One of our adult students said to Kathy in English, ‘Thank
you for making this building. I love this place.’ Kathy said of her experience that day, ‘It has
been a pleasure to watch El Farito turn into a true community center, serving the people of Cedro Galán.’”
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From Andie Williams, 2006-2007 Nicaragua Program Director.
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