Arts in the Village
While in the Chikumukure Secondary School, our group painted a periodic table mural, planned and designed by Young. It was painted in the local elementary school, in order to engage students with chemistry and science. Young was discovered by JOCC, the NGO sponsoring us. In order to get to the community, he caught a motorcycle, as he didn’t have his own transportation. He was happy with little pay – he primarily requested food and transportation. He used no measuring devices – his precision is all natural. He mixed his own paints. In Malawian schools, murals can often be used as an educational tool.
Fun fact: Our sponsoring NGO, Joshua Orphan and Community Care supports communities in Malawi in education, early childhood care, sustainable development, and emergency relief. They aided in our community by finding workers able to construct our water town, as well as connecting us with Young. Both these projects supported the local school, helping grow their youth into contributing community members. {https://www.joshuainmalawi.org.uk/}
In the community, we also met Hamban, a vibrant, local artist. He paints colorful, abstract images of animals and people. His paintings are primarily geared towards tourists, in order to support himself and share Malawian culture. He sells in markets and near the airport. Many of these animals survive off the water from lake Malawi, or within the lake itself. Lake Malawi is one of the world’s largest lakes, containing 7% of Earth’s surface water and housing over 1000 species of fish. Many of these fish are native to Lake Malawi, and only found there, such as many cichlids. Outside of supporting immense biodiversity, Lake Malawi acts as a water source for many local communities.
This activity is pretty simple!
Download and print the drawing.
Just use a marker or pencil to connect the dots and design the elephant to your hearts content!
