Childhood Now: 7 Days I leave for AFRICA and I am FREAKED!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

7 Days I leave for AFRICA and I am FREAKED!

Dear Family, Friends and Loved Ones!

Thank you so very much for all your love and friendship! It is because of your dedication and belief in my work that the tour with The Big Little Caravan of Joy is actually happening! I am only 7 days from my departure for my three month adventure in Africa. I am flabbergasted, overwhelmed, scared and excited all at the same time!

My African Tour will travel to:
Swaziland, June 10th - 24th (100 educators, 300 kids)
South Africa, June 25th - July 17th (350 child care workers, 250 kids)
Zimbabwe, July 18th - July 30th (40 child care workers, 200 kids)
Ghana, July 31st- August 21st (20 educators, 250 kids)

In total:
1,500 Participants (Including all conference participants, children and educators)
50 African artists hired
13 Canadians volunteering
4 Countries in 3 months ... OH MY GOODNESS!!

The biggest news of course is my International Arts Conference in South Africa that will be taking place on July 1-3, 2011! This will be a HISTORIC EVENT IN ALL WAYS! This has never, ever happened before. 350 child care workers will be bussed to Durban to partake in a weekend conference. For many of these women they have never left their village or township before. For some, this will be the first time they see the ocean!! The Empowered Noah Child (ENC) and the EAC Conference in Swaziland is an international conference organized and directed by myself on behalf of Noah, PET and in conjunction with The Big Little Caravan of Joy. The goal of the conference is to embody the spirit of the performing arts, culture and play so as to give rise to the authentic and creative spirit of the Noah child. The programme has been created and designed specifically to inspire Child Activity Co-ordinators through the performing arts, and the magic of creative play in order to empower the young child. I am doing the same in Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Ghana too!

Please keep me in your prayers. It requires much grit, intrepidity and and will power to deliver this program to so many who live in challenging circumstances. My passionate purpose in creating light, where there is much darkness for small and vulnerable children, is much stronger than my lack of courage. For many times I am in utter disbelief with all that I have created and the whole thing can be quite intimidating!

I do hope that you will enjoy your summer! I send you a big hug from cyberspace.

Much Love,

Sarina

1 comment:

janice said...: hi
i have been contacted by cwb to hepy you. cant see your email address.
mine is janiceperrin23@gmail.com
pls get in touch so i can help; June 17, 2011 at 2:10 AM

Who is the founder and director of these programs?

For over 25 years, Sarina (B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed.) has traveled the planet, studying how communities and cultures express themselves through the performing arts. By combining dance, story, music and theatre elements from around the world, Sarina has invented a teaching methodology that inspires and galvanizes children, adults and international artists everywhere and anywhere she teaches and directs. Completing two undergrad degrees in Fine Arts and in Education, Sarina continued with her search for knowledge of the importance and relevance of the performing arts in education and completed her Teacher Certification, Masters and PhD course work at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). Sarina’s projects in television have included the 13 one hour episodes of Bravo’s Way Off Broadway, 65 episodes of The Barefoot Dancer, as well as being a movement coach on the Canadian national television series Pop Stars, Big Voice and Battle of the Blades. Her award winning documentary Thank You Tanzania, profiled her first art camp that she facilitated alongside her three teenagers, at an orphanage for hundreds of heroic and inspirational Tanzanian orphans affected by HIV and AIDS. Sarina is the founder and director of Learning by Heart Studio, a performing arts school for artists, teachers and students, that has been operating in Toronto for the last 16 years. Since 2006, Sarina’s arts-based programming, The Big Little Caravan of Joy and the Painted Turtle Arts Camp, has reached over 10,000 vulnerable and orphaned children in 8 countries in Africa and 20 remote Northern communities in Ontario. Sarina has also trained over 1,000 international artists and educators with her child-centric arts-based methodology in the hope that her program becomes a sustainable cornerstone for education programs in communities of need.

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. Khalil Gibran

A Thank You!

"From the bottom of our hearts, Noah sends a big thank you for the incredible work that you did here on your visit to us- for all the preparation leading up to the trip, the activities with the children at our Arks and most importantly at our magical Empowered Noah Child Conference. We have seen the difference you and your amazing team made with our employees, in our communities and with our children, and it is that change that to us is paramount. We are so grateful for dedication and hard work, but of all for your big heart and the love you show to all of us. We have never met someone with as much passion and energy as you, and we are blessed that you share so much of yourself.”

Karen Krakowitzer CEO, Noah, South Africa August, 2011

Halala Sarina Condello

Written by: Everson Mdingwa Sinyolo
Zimbabwe, 2011

Born of Toronto, Canada
Born of humble parents
Love for Africa
Love for Zimbabwe
Halala Sarina Condello

Dreamt of Africa
Dreamt of Zimbabwe
Dreams have come true
Dreams have landed you At Mount Cazalet
Halala Sarina Condello

Your heart is in Africa
Your heart is at Mount Cazalet
Passion for Africa Passion for African Music
Yes, you made them better
Yes, you made them happy
Halala Sarina Condello

Transformed their lives
Transformed their community
Changed their nation
Halala Sarina Condello
Instilled assertive pride
Assertive empowerment

Assertive identity
Unleashed their creative spirit
Halala The Big Little Caravan of Joy!

From Sarina's Speech at The Empowered Noah Child Conference 2011

In Sarina’s own words:

The definition of empowering a child simply means to enable a child to become stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life so that they can make decisions that will lead a healthy life style in all regards; spiritually, socially, cognitively, culturally and physically. We do this by utilizing the arts and tapping into the child’s spirit. The platform to do such work stems from a few golden rules:

1. The children we care for are the most important people in the world. 2. Every child is to be treated with respect and as an important individual.

3. The children we care for are not interruptions of our work; they are the purpose of it.

4. Safety, fun, learning, creativity, adventure, and PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT is the most important value we bring to the children we care for.

5. Child spirit exists within all of us. Tapping into this child spirit is paramount to a child’s over all development.