Beautiful Art Rises from Kibera

Last summer, when I had the opportunity to travel to Kibera with a group of Ellie’s Run for Africa volunteers, my friend Natalina and I were charged with the wonderful assignment of painting two murals to hang in classrooms for the pre-schoolers to enjoy. When we arrived at the school, which is on the same campus as the Emmanuel Vocational School, there were many high school kids wandering around. We learned that their school had been destroyed in the post-election violence, so they began meeting temporarily in the unused classrooms at the pre-school.

As we got out our brushes and paints, many of the students’ eyes grew wide with wonder. These students had never enjoyed an art class or studied painting- most had never held a paintbrush in their hands. As Natalina and I considered our options, we knew what we wanted to do. We asked the teachers of the high school students if we could teach them painting out in the grass and let them help us paint the murals. Soon two murals turned into four!

Thankfully, Natalina had brought a color wheel with her, and we were able to teach the kids about mixing colors, sketching, and even talk with them about imagination. As we listened to the kids, we realized they didn’t have the same opportunities we had in school to be creative and be celebrated for our imagination and originality in artwork. I was thrilled to share such a special experience with my new friends.

One of the most amazing students that we met during our painting adventure was Gloria. Her name says it all! She is a gifted artist. She quickly and comfortably picked up a paintbrush, and after watching us for only a minute, she mixed colors and added them in unexpected ways that were bright and energetic. She made the murals better than we could have originally imagined them. Her smile grew bigger as the paintings were completed. God gave Gloria a special artistic talent; it was obvious from the moment we put a brush in her hand!

I hope that Ellie’s Run helped her figure out a passion that she will enjoy pursuing for many years and that painting will bring her great joy in the future.