The Big Little Caravan of Joy needs your support this holiday season!!

Happy holidays and all the best in 2014!

Dear Friends and Supporters of my work in Africa and in Northern Ontario, Thank you kindly for the support that you have given to my cause! However, I need your help this holiday season in making sure that the programming for The Big Little Caravan of Joy, Painted Turtle Arts Camp and Friends of Noah Canada, continues to grow, flourish and reaches more children than ever before! When you make a contribution to The Big Little Caravan of Joy you empower children by helping local artists, community leaders and educators, in Africa and Northern Canada, in providing creative and fun-filled programming for children who need it the most. Your holiday donation can support the growth of our programs, so that more children can participate in The Big Little Caravan of Joy, Painted Turtle Arts and Noah initiatives in Northern Ontario and Africa.  If you are interested in donating to this cause please use the link below and include in the message box: 1. that you are donating funds toward The Big Little Caravan of Joy's programming, and 2. the name and address of  the person you might honour with your donation. Here is the link to donate: http://www.canadahelps.org/gp/32283 A personalized thank you card with African small keychain will be mailed to any donation on behalf of a family member or friend. All donations will automatically receive an electronic tax receipt from Friends of Noah Canada.  Our programming in Northern Ontario is now in further development and by the summer of 2014 we hope to have 8 Painted Turtle Arts Camps, run by trained local leaders. Our nutritional, after-school programs and Big Little Caravan of Joy arts camps in South Africa are also expanding. This year I will be running 4 art-based initiatives in South Africa, 1 in Malawi and another 3 in Uganda. I wish you a happy holiday season and a healthy, prosperous new year! With much gratitude, Sarina Condello

Painted Turtle Arts Camp is GROWING!

We Did It Again!

Painted Turtle Arts Camp 2013 was a huge hit this summer! Without the support of Right to Play, our Community Theatre Fund Raising Initiatives, Chief and Council in Cat Lake, Slate Falls, Webequie and Fort Severn, Painted Turtle Staff and Camp Managers we would not have been such a success! Next year we hope to be in 8 communities by running Painted Turtle Arts Camp Training Program  for community leaders in Canada's most Northern and remote regions. 

Great Teachings

We learned a lot this year as we have now completed 9 camps in 8 communities in only a year! I was absolutely thrilled to have had the privilege and honour in facilitating 9 Painted Turtle Arts Camp (PTAC) experiences since 2012. PTAC has evolved from a thought into a dynamic program designed for children to unleash their creative spirit and express their performing arts potential. This program has been made possible by the collaborative efforts of Right to Play, The Big Little Caravan of Joy and Friends of Noah Canada. I am also indebted to Right to Play for all the hard work that they have put in place so that this new and exciting summer program and arts-based curriculum can be shared with hundreds of children! The imagination of the young child is a garden of creative potential. PTAC provides an opportunity, for children from Northern communities, to cultivate those qualities as they discover enchanted worlds through stories and dances from magical lands. PTAC and it’s team possess the necessary tools to facilitate an arts-based camp and renew a sense of inspiration that infuses each and every child with something vital - joyful play! Gratitude abound and a huge thank you to all the Community Mentors, Painted Turtle Staff and the hundreds of children who have danced, sang and performed with joy! Our program would not be possible without the committed efforts of Bailey Davis, Paula Gilverson and Catherine Cheechoo!

The Design of the Program

The Painted Turtle Arts Camp is designed for First Nations children and youth. The objectives of The Painted Turtle Arts Camp are:

•  To nurture every child’s creative spirit through creative expression and play
•  To build a cohesive sense of community through teacher and artist education, performance-celebrations and creative expressions
•  To offer opportunity for youth to be volunteers in an arts based environment and enhance their knowledge and interest in arts based activities

Every year, PLAY partner communities are invited to submit applications to host a Painted Turtle Arts Camp. The completion of an application allows for a process for the community to identify the need and interest for arts based programs as well as identifying resources and support to host the program. 

This is How it Works!

The camp is supported by a team of Big Little Caravan of Joy staff and Right To Play staff. The team travels to host communities to provide creative and artistic guidance and logistical support to implement the weeklong camp. The team arrives and delivers a two day training to local staff in the areas of camp safety, behavior management, roles and responsibilities at camp, back pocket games and activities, dance, drama, visual art, parachute games, white belt training and the ABCs of putting on a performance. 

The Curriculum

The camp is a series of arts based activities including; 

Visual Arts - Young children love to paint, cut, draw, glue, and design pictures. In this workshop, participants will explore colour and shape, and develop skills for making a variety of projects that are inspired by their imagination. 

Music - These workshops will emphasize the importance and value of children chants, singsongs, and singing in the round. Chants and songs are an important and valuable teaching tool, which provide the child with the basic foundations upon which language and grammar structures can be built. 

Dance and Drama - Children are given an opportunity to cultivate their imaginations as they discover enchanted worlds through, stories and dances from magical lands. This workshop will give participants fun and spirited ideas that help unleash the creative spirit of the child, through dance, drama games and performance.

 Energetic Games that Inspire Cooperation - These workshops will include games that inspire a connection to the cooperation and group synergy. The purpose of these workshops is to offer children a group cooperative games that will not only promote teamwork, but will also develop the child’s physical capabilities and appreciation for the working together. 

Fitness and Health - These workshops will include a fitness program and healthy snacks. 

Guest Artists: We were incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to partner with local community artists.  In Cat Lake, Randy Fox came in for half an hour each day to teach the kids the graffiti alphabet.  In Slate Falls, Chancillor Crane instructed children in drawing for the first time.  He taught the children to draw a variety of pictures like bush planes, moose, wolves and the northern treeline.  In Webequie, Ananias Jacob is well known for his beautiful murals painted in the Woodland style all around the school.  Ananias worked in the visual arts rotation each day and taught the children to draw various images like a bear claw, and an owl.

   

Cooks: We were lucky to have partnered with the Diabetes worker in Slate Falls who prepared healthy and delicious meals each day.  In Slate Falls, Dave Guilbeault made delicious homemade soup and sandwiches each day.  Each community also generously donated funds to purchase all of the food throughout the camp.

Group Leaders: Each camp would have not been possible with out the support of local community members who played the role of group leaders at the camp.  Group leaders were responsible for watching over each group of children.  They carried out a variety of tasks such as taking attendance in the morning, handing out snack, escorting groups from one activity to the next, leading quick games or activities, and helping activity leaders during the rotations.  

Final Show: Each Painted Turtle Camp culminates in a big final show for the community.  The children get the chance to showcase all of their artwork which is hung up around the venue.  They also put on a play called Brother Sun and Sister Moon.  The performance involves drama, dance, costumes and lot’s of laughs.  Community members are invited to attend and celebrate their children’s creativity during this final show.  This past year, the support from community members was huge with over 40 people in attendance at the final shows in each community.  

A Lasting Legacy: This year, boxes of supplies were collected to leave with the community.  Craft supplies and costumes were left with Community Mentors and Education Staff so that the spirit of the Painted Turtle Art camp could live on. 

The Big Little Caravan hits Burkina Faso with Effusive JOY!

“I alone cannot change the world, 

but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” 

Mother Teresa

Many ripples of light, happiness, joy and child spirit cascaded through the rural regions of Burkina Faso this fall. Many people ask "Burkina what ?" not knowing much about this small French speaking country. Burkina Faso is geographically landlocked in by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. The country’s name means "the land of upright people the native language of Moore and Dioula, and this was certainly the case during our tour, with the citizens of this warm hearted country.

Sponsored and hosted by the SEMAFO Foundation, headed by the indestructible Chantal Guerin, The Big Little Caravan of Joy visited 5 rural communities including: Fofina- Bissa, Dangouna, Wona A, Wona B and Somana, providing the village children with an arts-based program that reached over 1,000 very happy kids, from September 13 - October 8, 2013.

With 15 team African regional team members consisting of artists that ranged from 4 grandmothers, 3 youth, 8 adults and 3 Canadian artists, Team Joy Burkina Faso stood 18 strong with a sense of playful purpose designed specifically for the sweet children in these regions.

Our team roster composed of: Bailey Davis, Damarise Ste. Marie, Sarina Condello, Vincent Millogo, Dao Lassina, Taro Ibrahim, Dao Madou, Dao Amada, Doa Arouna, Dao Moussa, Konate Djeneba, Dao Harouna, Dao Hamidou, Dao Yacouba, Konate Sema, Unosa, Oumou, Bintou and Ramatou.

The adventure began with a few gatherings to meet the head masters, elders and artists of these regions, which then culminated with workshop entitled: The Empowered Burkina Faos Child. Over 30 artists and educators attended.

With 500 costumes in tow, a massive parachute, art supplies for 1,000 peanuts and a few sets of magical drums, our Big Little Team Joy traveled daily to and from the chosen communities down dusty roads whilst all team members piled up with the supplies in the back of a pick up truck.

At the end of our tour all supplies, costumes and play equipment were donated to the Wona B so that they joy and creativity for the children could continue after we left.
Here are some great shots of our process and some of our final shows as well!

In total over 1,000 people came out during the month to watch our shows! Each show concluded with a merengue party mixed with some traditional dancing and cake. 

A highlight of our time held together in Burkina Faso, were the two parties hosted by the Big Little Caravan of Joy; one party was for the cleaning staff at our base camp and  the other one was for the Team Joy's staff where each and every member received a fabulous loot bag filled with goodies that were donated from friends in Canada!

This year our most generous and kindhearted sponsors included:

Thank you to Pierre Vaillancourt for creating this possibility!!

The Bedford Park Players
 The Summerhill Players

SEMAFO Foundation

The Kevin Sullivan and Family Foundation

ARIDO GTA Chapter

Kristi Herold

Way Off Broadway’s Wizard of Oz

Beverley Shukyn

Sarah Ferris

Vivian Saffer

Trudy White
Randi Kirshenbaum
Ruth Condello
Gail Leger

Antonio DeGregorio
Master Reza Ghasry

...and many more generous individuals who donated, ran lemonade stands, wrote cheques and contributed financial offerings in our donation buckets at our shows--I thank you on behalf of the Team Joy Burkina Faso and the innocent children who partook in the celebration of playful joy!

The Little Big Tour of The Big Little Caravan of Joy of 2013-14

Next year’s tour will be the biggest to date. The vision is to visit all the countries that the Caravan of Joy has visited which includes: The First Nations Reserves of Northern Ontario, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and then to sprinkle some light in Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi and Ethiopia! The tour will last for 14 months and will reach close to 10,000 children. Fundraising for this unforgettable and once-in-a-lifetime tour will begin January of 2013. The tour will kick off July of 2013 as the Caravan will once again journey into the remote regions of our Canadian North and continue to the heart of Africa. 

Namaste,
Sarina Condello

“Do not follow where the path may lead. 

Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” 

 Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Big Little Caravan in Rio de Janeiro!

Brazil’s Keynote: Let Them Play!

On August 30th, 2012 I had the privilege and honour to speak at the National Brazilian Kid’s Film Festival Conference held in Rio De Janeiro. My keynote speech, an interactive address in fact, had two objectives: to make relevant the importance of play in childhood, and to profile the work of The Big Little Caravan of Joy which is dedicated to carrying out play-inspired experiences for children in Africa and on First Nations reserves. Mark Greenspan, who is the executive director of operations at Achilles Media, introduced me to the festival directors, Carla Camurati and Carla Esmeralda  in the spring of 2012 and with the support of the Consulate General of Canada, Sanjeev Chowdhury of Brazil, my attendance became a possibility. Below are some excerpts of my speech which embraced the notion that it is the right of all children to engage in playful and imaginative experiences as part of their childhood.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Let Them Play!

RIO DE JANEIRO

 August 30, 2012

Before I start the the day I would love to begin with an affirmation for the unfolding of this day:

"May there be peace within all of us throughout this conference. May we all trust that we are exactly where we are meant to be. May we use the gifts of connections and teachings that we receive as a result of our time together in Brazil at FICI, and pass on the love and learnings that has been given to you for the children of your countries. Let’s allow this new knowledge and connections that we make during this time to settle into our bones, and allow our souls the freedom to sing, dance, create, tell stories, praise and love.”

What a pleasure it is to be here today to be part of the FICI Before I launch into my address let me applaud and extend my gratitude to the following people:

Mark Greenspan
Carla Camurati  and Carla Esmeralda
Canadian Consulate General of Canada, Sanjeev Chowdry for bringing me here and who supports this talk in that it address the rights of children and creating a better world environments for these children. And for all of you: parents, film makers, creators of stories, educators, producers and we love children! I want to also say a special hello to: two NGOs that I visited yesterday. Scott Miles- project Favela and Ricardo Ramos from Rocinha Surf School. 

All of us here in this room, and we all love children being part of a film festival, have been entrusted with the most influential role known in society and that is to support the minds and hearts of children to become compassionate and autonomous individuals. We as producers, story tellers, children film makers, festival producers, educators, artists and parents all create the fabric of whom we are and who we will be communities in the future.

Each and everytime I stand in the presence of a child-- I do no take this for granted. This presentation is has its roots in the belief that every positive interaction, thought, feeling and experience that we facilitate and create for children contributes to a better world.

SIMPLY, The art of of inspiring a child simply affects eternity.

My objective in addressing you all is three fold

1.To unleash the buoyant, joyful nature of children within this sharing session together and also address how mindfulfully and fiercely protective we must be to uphold childhood as a sacred and formative stage in a lifetime.

2.To define the importance and relevance of creative play and describe how suspending the imagination for a child can be an empowering tool for self confidence and success.

3. Share with you my work with my beloved charity The Big Little Caravan of Joy.

But before we begin in the spirit of the child everyone stand up!
Let’s move our energy together so that we can create a space for inspiration and joyful sharing and learning.
Not just listen with our ears but listen with our hearts..

Repeat after me: Ajugaja

Doesn’t that feel great! Changes the energy in the space immediately. Suspends joy in the air and makes us feel so alive.

I want to show you a 30 second video of joyful connection in a FAVELA just yesterday morning. I had the honour to visit some NGOs to meet the children. In this clip, I am a stranger, the children had known me for 30 seconds. I do not speak the children’s language, they do not speak mine for the most part.

IMPORTANCE AND RELEVANCE OF PLAY

My tag line: borrowed from Garry Landreth (2002) chants: Birds fly, fish swim and children play."

Children require playful and creative experiences that are meaningful in order for them to feel connected, engaged and inspired. Understanding these creative and holistic indicators, goals, and activities ultimately support child development in self, relationships, resilience, emotional literacy and aesthetics.

As adults we are able to verbalize things that are important to us, in ways that mean we can be understood and listened to. Children’s language is the language of play.

The significance of play in children's lives has been written about for centuries. Children are darlings that are in the dynamic process of development. They are growing cognitively, physically and emotionally.

They also have an inherent ability in understanding the magic and animistic nature of life. For them there is no difference or separation between conscious and unconscious. They can play with inner connections between themselves, events in their lives, natural and imaginative kingdoms.

New order begins to emerge from their disorder and chaos when they draw from their own misfortunes to engage in story. For me, the key force in creating new pathways toward working with all children, especially children that are traumatized, is the utilization of imagination and human stories!

From my travels in many countries I have observed that there are four universal healing salves: singing, dancing, silence and story telling! Paying attention to stories whether they are myth like in nature or in film form in spirit re-awakens a sense of awe hope and possibility.

It is how such stories are illuminated and heard that honours the resources of human love and universal support for change.

The reality is that we were all born with the ability to play and create. It is a gift to all of us. You only have to observe children while they play to see this gift and force in its most effervescent and spirited form. A refrigerator box can turn into a boat, house, car, fort...

Children are the masters of finding joy and it is through their play this is realized. It's what they do. It's also the way they learn, acquire cognitive, social and motor skills.

Embracing play as a learning tool can lead to a special kind of intelligence. I think the most alluring affect that play provides for the participant is the development of the ability to take notice and act upon the nuances of a given situation. Just like an artist, the person engaged in the moment has their eyes, ears, minds, bodies and hearts wide opened. This heightened awareness enables them to tune their focus and in doing so it guides their work.

Along the way we as a society have squelched the child’s imagination and inner voice that tells them anything is possible. We teach them that there is a right and wrong way to do things. We instill in them that other people have the authority that can override their inner voice. Albert Einstein once said that “Imagination is more powerful than knowledge.” However, in our society the intent is to promote the collection of knowledge as opposed to expanding our creative forces and extending our imaginations in the status quo.

Perhaps one of the greatest crimes society commits against a child’s creativity is robbing the child of such time to explore and play in their world. We value creativity then we blatantly try to steal it away from children in the contexts of their educational experiences and recreational time. The statistics on the obliteration of play for children are stupefying. We must not be oblivious to this.

According to these many studies, young children between 2 and 5 years of in urban environments can spend more than 6-8 hours in front of a screen. By the time an average adult turns 20 he or she will have spent close to two full years (24 hours a day) of his or her life in front of the television or computer. This is clearly of international concern and will only grow more relevant as our society transforms to a fully digital one where electronic technology expands its reach into every essence of our lives.

The results?

Children aren’t playing as they use to anymore. With greater reliance on cars, sedentary entertainment: TV, video and computer games, safety concerns related to outside free play our children are not exploring their environments. Play patterns for children have transformed into a very passive state- sitting and staring.

Play is so important to overall child development that the  United Nations High Commission for Human Rights has recognized it as the right of every child.

This birthright is challenged by forces including child labor war and the limited resources available to children living in poverty.

On the other side of the spectrum many of these children are being raised in Canada are in a system that drives for an increasingly hurried and pressured style. This completely limits child-driven play as well.

We are all born with a child spirit... it is over a course of the time you can see it grow and shrink.

Child spirit is the guiding force of all children, which holds that children are naturally:
Curious Full of Wonder, Creative, Connected, Resourceful Reflective, Loving, Playful, Imaginative, Flexible, Joyful Energetic, Resilient, Vulnerable and Innocent. This list goes on.

Empowering the Child

The main goal of putting so much thought into programming our with children is to instill in them a sense of empowerment. This includes supporting the development of their self-esteem, helping to build their confidence, and allowing them to find their place in the world and creating a positive relationship with their environment. Empowered children will grow up to change the world!

What do we mean by the empowerment of children?

By this we mean making children stronger and more confident so that in return they have control of their lives. This includes decision making from an informed place where can then make self assured decisions in the future that will enable them to evolve and thrive.

Ways to empower the child:
1. Provide positive reinforcement. Always listen to and acknowledge the child.
2. Clearly delegate responsibility and give the child authority along with the responsibility.
3. Be clear in your communication. When you express goals or explain projects, be sure the child really understands what you are asking for.
4. Show you have trust in your child. Allow them to make mistakes as a form of learning. Let them know you really support their decisions.
5. Look. Listen. Look again.
6. Be interested in the child’s development.
7. Be a coach. This is a process of developing their skills and providing them specific feedback to meet high standards. Be their coach and lead the child to success!
8. Enjoy, celebrate and guide them to express their unique personalities and spirits.
9. Increase self awareness by verbalizing and helping your child understand feelings.
Ask questions such as “how did that make you feel?”, “what do you think you should try to do?”, “what do you want to be able to do?”
10. Focus on solutions together. For older kids with good verbal skills, ask questions to encourage them to explore their own solutions to problems. Then encourage them to choose a solution and follow through. Offer support along the way.

The BIG LITTLE CARAVAN OF JOY

The Big Little Caravan of Joy a name that reflects the spirit of the Caravan. It is Big in vision and heart. It is little in that it is grass roots and visits little people. Caravan for it visits and packs up and moves to another community. And joy for that what the journey unleashes for the child, community and facilitators. Joy is like happiness but it is a much deeper experience. In the search for happiness we tend to focus on the self. Joy is an experience that moves a person out of the self centeredness and provides alignment with others.

Joy can sustain us and that is why I have dedicated my life in connecting others to ways of connection to joy!

Painted Turtle Arts Camp is a new collaborative arts-based project designed for young Aboriginal children in Ontario, from 4-12 years of age, that was introduced to five First Nations communities this summer by myself and  funded by my grass roots charity, The Big Little Caravan of Joy. For the last seven years, most my efforts with The Big Little Caravan's work has taken place in Swaziland, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Ghana. This was the first time that my work was implemented in Canada. It was a dream of mine to create a new forum and program to harness the creativity of the children who live on First Nations communities. The collaborative partnership with Right to Play not only was a match made in heaven but it also made this dream a successful reality. 

The mandate of The Painted Turtle Arts Camp pilot project was to connect First Nations children through the natural language of play, creative arts and cooperative games. This arts-based experience acted as a springboard for the children to explore, experiment and acquire new information about the world and themselves. The Painted Turtle Arts Camp was made up of an arts based curriculum that included visual arts, dance, drama, music, martial arts and co-operative games, and was designed for children 4-12 years of age. The finale of our placement culminated on the last day and included a parade and musical variety show where the children shared their creations, dances and dramatizations with the community. The theme was always light-hearted and fun-filled. The children felt safe and happy so that they could celebrate the joy, spontaneity, and playful nature of just being a kid during the summer holidays!

This pilot project successfully demonstrated that Painted Turtle Arts Camp can:

            • develop, support, encourage and expand the capacity for personal transformation for all children involved with the camp

            • empower artists, educators and community mentors to positively create new ways of understanding and meaning in working together through the arts

            • act as a model to create sustainable arts based programs for children with artists, educators and volunteers

After collaborating with Right to Play and five communities which included: Chippewas of the Thames, Wunnumin, Sachigo Lake, Cat Lake, and Whitefish River, I have concluded that the one thing that needs to be restored, especially for our children in Northern Communities, is the imaginative powers of the community at large. This world can be unlocked by the purity of heart and creativity which is naturally found in children.

 Our most valuable capacity as facilitators and educators for children is to abandon preconceived judgements and open our minds and hearts to the power of imagination and transformation. As I began to a create a plan of action and implemented the creative curriculum this summer to almost two hundred children, I also started to uncover how this approach could allow each and every child an opportunity to explore and discover parts of themselves so that they could hold on to this notion of  personal empowerment later on in life.

Our creative minds work like parachutes. They only operate and function when they are open. Painted Turtle Arts Camps supports and encourages this exact thing and opens the creative possibilities within a community by harnessing the joy of their own children through the exploration of the arts!

I am indebted to the efforts of Right to Play, the Community Mentors, The Band Offices, The Turtle Team and all my sponsors in making this journey a joyful and fruitful one.

One love and with profound gratitude,

Sarina Condello