Much has happened since our last post! The library is now fully carpeted and painted a beautifully sky blue. The library furniture has also been made and delivered by a local carpenter and a few boxes of books have also arrived. The library is finally starting to take shape and just in time for the book writing workshop!
We selected the sixth grade class (all forty students) to participate in a book writing workshop. Altogether there are six workshops held Fridays and Saturdays for the children to explore different art mediums and writing as means of self expression. The first workshop was just an hour of games to break the ice. The next week we started intensive workshops where the kids got to create five different pieces of artwork using crayons, pastels, colored pencils, paint, and cutting paper. The next day was a mixture of reflection, writing, and drawing. This day, the kids discussed which mediums they enjoyed using the most, the winners were: colored pencils and paint! Then we shared what makes us sad and afterwards the children got the opportunity to write more in depth about this topic. Next, the kids drew what makes them happy. The drawings had a lot of detail and were very diverse in topics. After a lunch break, the kids finished their drawings and wrote about what they drew and what makes them happy. We will use these writing samples next week to help them decide what their final topic and picture will be for the book.
Another aspect of our project is writing, illustrating, and publishing two of our own children’s books so that a percentage of the royalties can go back to the library over a period of five years to help it grow. We have decided on the themes and topics of both books and now are in the process of illustrations. One will be an environmentally based book with animals looking for a new home because of dirt, pollution, deforestation, etc. The other one will be a picture book with different professions. Sneha, the photographer, will be taking real-life pictures to illustrate this book! We have lots of work to do and not that much time, but if Gettysburg has taught us anything it would be how to work under pressure.
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