Group pic w/ Nyanga gogos

Priscilla hired this woman named Gloria Simoneaux, who’s working/living in Nairobi on a Fullbright scholarship, to come to Cape Town and do several art projects with the gogos in Nyanga and Kayalitcha. It was exhausting and frustrating at times, but ultimately incredible. I got lost every single day, drumming in the fact that I have the worlds most terrible sense of direction (yes, we were going to and from the same exact place every time). The gogos were too old and feeble for some of the projects we had them doing, so there was a lot of trial and error and on-the-fly thinking. Even though the space was way too small, and the gogos weren’t always physically capable of doing every activity, we had such a blast! I learned so much cool stuff that I can’t wait to take back to Mount Frere with me. Gloria has a great repertoire of fun, relaxing, self-exploration projects, and I even got to throw in some of my own ideas. We were a pretty good team, I think!

One of our most rewarding projects was “Body Mapping.” Basically, you lie on a big sheet of paper, trace your body, and then fill in bits and pieces with different things, like: what is your strongest place (ie, your heart, arms, brain, eyes…); outline your body using your favorite color; write the names of people who have helped you in your life, etc. Anyway, it was incredible, especially to see the looks on their faces when they saw what they had created! They were all so self conscious at first, and insisted they were terrible artists, but they were all fantastic. Some of them seemed SO stubborn at first, grumpy and refusing to paint—but by the end of the workshop they had totally opened up and were smiling, laughing, crying. It was tumultuous and unforgettable.

The workshop was split into 2 groups. The first 2 days were the gogos from Kayalitcha, and the last 2 days were the gogos from Nyanga. I only have pics of Nyanga gogos right now, but will get more pics from Gloria later. We had a great time. I think it was a real learning experience for everyone!

I'm trying to help this gogo think of something she loves about herself.

Gloria helped this ancient blind gogo draw a picture of her "happy place." (Her church, of course!)

I absolutely loved this woman, Elizabeth. She was the leader, I think, and on the first day she got the group to do some singing and dancing when they were getting a bit tired. It was beautiful. At the end of the workshop she said, "I feel so healthy. I am alive again!" Breaks your heart!

Everyone is hard at work, exploring their creativity!

HUGE thanks to Priscilla, Gloria, and everyone at Baphumelele for letting me be a part of such an awesome workshop!