Thirty-two days! It's hard to believe that it's already been a month since we arrived home from the global phase of the Spread the Love project. While I personally am still tripping over the suitcases, life has gotten back to normal for Troop 1292 but we have not slowed down. In fact, we are now 48 hours from "Install Day" at IPS School #42- the local phase of the project.
The local mural is an important and exciting piece of the overall project for us. It is important because it brings our experience full circle. Early on we wrestled with the fact that while there is need abroad, there is also need here in our hometown of Indy. It was important to the girls that we recognize and address- a.k.a. spread the love- in both places so we made that a priority when we designed our project.
The School #42 mural is exciting for us because we have been given full control over the artistic content. In Jamaica, the school board member and principal charged us with designing a cultural heritage mural. While this challenge helped us learn a lot about the country, it limited our creativity. The only guidelines given for the Indy project are that it have a welcome theme and be kid friendly. An added bonus is that the assistant principal we are working with is a favorite former Orchard teacher. This means the girls not only get to give back to their community but they get to give a little back to their teacher as well.
As we started prepping the wall at #42 today, it was fun to hear the excitement of a few of the kids and teachers who asked what we were doing. It brought back memories of the moments when our Jamaican friends began to recognize all the different elements of the mural we did for their school. We were excited then, not only because what we painted was recognizable, but because the the mural was indeed teaching the lesson it was designed for. We are excited now because we understand the power something as simple as a mural can have on the students of a school.
Tonight, as we prepare to act locally, we leave you with a few pictures of the finished project that has us thinking, or rather remembering, globally.
Troop 1292 and a few of our "customers" in front of the Jamaican Heritage Mural
The Cove School, Negril, Jamaica
Jamaican Heritage Mural- The Cove School, Negril, Jamaica
Closeup of the quote on the tree