Laurel True Day 4 in Haiti

Here's today's update from Laurel True as she and her assistant Erin Rogers continue their work in Jacmel, Haiti with the Art Creation Foundation for Children (ACFFC). See Tuesday's blog post for background and enjoy -- Nancie

Day 4 in Haiti

Today was a Marathon day!

A totally amazing day. The mural came to life today and there were so many people involved.

We started early. At the Foundation by 8 am and ready to roll! We packed the Jeep up with supplies, leaves on mesh and tile and headed for the wall, which is down by the beach.
About 4o or more kids came down with us in the morning and after lunch even more showed up.


The drawing on the wall looked fabu and the kids were proud.

I gave a short demo and we started putting leaves on mesh up right away. The kids were totally in charge of everything. In fact, throughout the day I realized that there just wasn't enough body space in front of the wall and it was best for Erin and me to just move aside!


The kids had it handled!

Mixing thin set

Prince Luc and some other FOSAJ artists and some of the older kids- teens with much art experience took leadership roles and everything went smoothly.

It was HOT. I mean hot. Like sweltering. Add sunburn to the list of burns - including those I've incurred by getting off the wrong side of the mototaxis.

Many eyes and hands

Spirits were high and everyone was so motivated to set mosaic. Once all the leaves were up then we started on the tree, sun and other design elements.

Some of the kids added symbols and imagery to the base design. Awesome.

The tree has eyes and more eyes floating around. Also birds. Beautiful. The kids used tile and mirror and some tile salvaged from the rubble of the earthquake in the tree.


The kids said that the leaves in the tree symbolize people. And when a tree looses a leave then another one will grow because the tree is strong.

Older ACFFC boys working on the mural

We worked all day in the heat and sun. A huge -- and I mean huge crowd formed to watch. Tons of people, mototaxi drivers, food vendors, other artists and community members to watch. This in addition to the 40+ kids from ACFFC and a half dozen FOSAJ artists!


Wild! Wonderful.

Food was brought out so the kids could keep going. And Georges kept going back for more tile at ACFFC!


As the day came to a close we found out it was one of the kid's birthdays. How great.


One of the FOSAJ artist played guitar and sang a song at the end of the day in front of the mural.
A local journalist took video of Georges and I talking about the project with all the MUDs crowded arou d us.

Erin was totally Awesome. The kids adore her and visa versa. Matou is a wonderful translator.
All the kids did a fabulous job.

I've never had a group take to it so quickly and be so immediately comfortable taking over decision making and project tasks.

What an amazing day.

The mural a the end of the day

Georges toured us around Jacmel at day's end and we ended up back at the beach for a round of celebratory Haitian beer.

Tomorrow we start some background and finish up the design elements.

Jacmel is a very special place.

Laurel

Help Laurel's work to rebuild and revitalize Jacmel to continue long after she is gone. Consider a gift to the Art Creation Foundation for Children in Haiti. Every dime will go towards feeding, housing, teaching and inspiring children in Jacmel.

Go to: http://www.artforhaitianchildren.org/donate.html