Day 8, Jacmel HaitiWe've finished completely and with lots of hard work and pride and are ready to offer the mural to the City of Jacmel tonight at a dedication celebration!
Beyond amazing!
Sun and Moon on the corner.The mural will continue down the other side of the wall!
A Haitian band will play and all the kids are coming. I'm sure the fête will draw a crowd.
Finishing the mural today, though, was hard work!
We grouted with sand from the river which the kids sifted in a large sieve then mixed with cement.
Georges took me to a large hardware store in Jacmel jammed with people buying building materials.
We mixed the sand/ cement (3:1) for grout and applied with sponges we brought with us.
We were all sweating!
We buffed with brown jersey gloves and scraped away excess cement for a beautiful finish.
Clean up!Later in the afternoon we went to the FOSAJ Headquarters and gave a mosaic lesson to those guys. They have a wonderful art gallery on the beach.
We're headed off now to hop on the "Moto" to go meet everyone at the wall!
Mototaxis. The only way to travel in Jacmel.From later this evening . . .
We had a wonderful celebration tonight. Beyond words. The kids and the ACFFC staff and the community came out for our fête.
The band played wonderful traditional Haitian music and everyone danced! So fun.
I took lots of pics with my camera because the iPhone doesn't do well in the dark. I'll send those when I get home.
But here is a beautiful pic of the mural with candles lit on the little shelves we put in. A wonderful idea of Nancy Josephson's!
Our fête ended tonight just as it started to rain. The rain held off all week for us)
We leave in the morning. Too soon.
We will miss the kids and new friends and wonderful Jacmel.
I so look forward to returning to continue on the mosaic mural project. I hope before end of the summer!
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
Thats Fab, love it!
ReplyDeleteThe mural is beautiful, and Laurel has given so much to the children, to Jacmel, to Haiti.
ReplyDeleteMaureen, Laurel would be the first to tell you that it was definitely a two-way street. The kids -- and the community -- were totally ready to dive into mosaics. Art is already a part of their daily lives. Laurel and Erin just gave them a new way to express their creativity and create economic stability at the same time.
ReplyDeleteBravo and I am so excited to be seeing it and hearing about it from the children tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful. You touch so many lives in such a positive way. Sarah Rizzo
ReplyDeleteSun and moon on the corner -- a mosaic metaphor for the world today which is brighter because of the vision presented here. Thanks for offering hope to all of the people this project has touched, including those of us who can only read about it and dream.
ReplyDeleteLove, Peace
and Mosaic Tree of Life Light!
Amen, Mariellen! Amen!
ReplyDelete