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Creative Corners (www.creative-corners.com), the Global Art Project
28/10/08
They match vonounteers to projects where the are best suited and return profits to communities that need them most - a WIN/WIN scenario.
Does art make a difference?
With so many volunteer programs to choose, where does a potential volunteer start? Should you teach English? Teach sports? Help build a house? Save turtles? Work in a zoo? Volunteer in an orphanage? All worthy options, but for the more creative among you, there is a whole sector of the gap year volunteer sector to consider...
Creative Corners; The Global Arts Project (CIC) is a new and unique not-for-profit agency that specialises in creative projects for creative people. You could devise a play in a Bolivian orphanage, teach photography to street kids in Honduras, sing with teen mums in Nicaragua, share some moves in a Brazilian social circus, redecorate a children’s home in Guatemala or design a garden in Peruvian orphanage.
Why are creative projects important? Creative Corners founder Monique Julian was inspired to start this unique organisation after her own experiences volunteering in La Paz, Bolivia. She writes...
'I travelled to Bolivia to teach English to children, but soon realised I wanted to do more. I decided to write, teach and perform a Christmas musical and a circus show with 80 children from an orphanage. The results were amazing. These were children who had never performed before and had never been taught drama or music, so to see the happiness on the kids’ faces was incredible. It was exactly this that provided me with the inspiration and motivation to launch Creative Corners.
Artists work in needy and underserved communities in developing countries provide unique benefits. Participation in the arts or in any form of creative expression allows people to connect to their past, envision their future and express imagination. It allows children to express their own feelings and experiences through a creative means encouraging inspiration and growth while expanding horizons through creative processes.
Encouraging people to think, express and be creative is an essential part of education. Unfortunately in the developing world, teacher training doesn’t often include the creative arts, so by sending volunteers with these skills to run projects it encourages children to reflect on who they are and where they want to be. It also allows them to express feelings through an artistic avenue enabling them to grow in confidence.
So what about the community? Creative Corners also hopes to use art to benefit the local community by organising a local exchange of skills between volunteers, local artists and community workers so that projects may become sustainable.'
Creative Corners aims to give each volunteer individual attention and consultancy advice so that they can achieve their personal goals through the arts.
Creative Corners are looking for gappers, teachers, artists, career breakers or grown up gappers who can act, play guitar, juggle, sing, tell stories, dance, paint, build, teach circus skills, sculpt, design, or plant gardens. These individuals will create a passionate and creative network pitching their vision and skills to change lives around the world while creatively changing their own.
More information on Creative Corners can be found on their webiste www.creative-corners.com.