Children are true blessings in our lives. Interacting with them even for a minute will always make your face bright with a smile. One of the best things I love about children is their bright and curious minds which makes them among the best little humans to nurture. Another thing about children is their love to be taught about their hobbies and talents. This is where project NACAMP comes in. The project focuses on the artistic side of children such as, music and dancing, poetry, and drama, drawing and art & craft, martial arts, among others. As they develop and grow their artistic side, NACAMP also provides mentorship, in striving to establish sustainable solutions against child violence and ensure they grow to be responsible citizens in the society.
On 21st May, 2022 we visited Asante children’s home where we met very lovely, eager, and enthusiastic children. Upon our visit, we conducted various activities that focused on growing the children’s artistic talents and hobbies. The following are lessons I acquired from the visit:
- Children have a Good and Sharp Memory
The children had a very sharp mind and remembered every detail from the previous visitation and events by volunteers of Art for Children Foundation. For example, they remembered dancing choreography taught previously, very flawlessly and easily. The children also did remember all the names of volunteers and what each one of them teaches them. Another instance is when the artistic group of children remembered every single detail, they were taught of how to draw wonderful drawings, like where to shade darker and where to shade lighter. This did fascinate us all very much. - Ease of being a Conversationalist
The children were very warm and homely. As much as they are younger in terms of age, they were very friendly and did engage with us, making conversation flow easily. Their eagerness to know more and learn, motivated them to ask questions and listen attentively. This made us all have more jovial and interesting conversations with them. They did express candidness and turn-taking skills during the mingling period which was very engaging and encouraging between both parties. - Children are Naturally Born Artistic
As I did mention earlier the children did easily remember every move in a previously taught dancing choreography. This showed a lot of passion and love for their artistic abilities and creativity. There were several children who did dance very expertly, showcasing their great dancing moves. This is the best proof that nurturing these talents from a young age is very essential. During the drawing session, there were very great talents who had magnificent drawings. Some were very curious and asked for more drawing tips to sharpen their drawings.
The curiousness and eagerness were further seen during the singing period where the kids sang excitedly and whole heartedly. The day consisted of showcasing different great arts and hobbies by the children and the team participated in teaching and embracing them. - Children are very Attentive and Keen
Another important lesson I did learn from the children is that they are very keen on receiving instructions and advice. This made teaching and advising them so fun and interesting. They never feared asking questions for better clarification. This act encouraged even the shy ones to participate jolly in every activity conducted. - Children are Appreciative
After each activity, the children never failed to acknowledge how they were happy and expected more future visits from the team. This really encouraged us and left bright smiles on our faces and theirs.
Nurturing a child’s artistic side is important both for the child and the community. When children get to practice their different artistic talents they grow to be responsible, critical and creative thinkers. This enables to alleviate social vices such as crime. Art in third and middle world countries is vastly unexplored and still growing. A4C, through project NACAMP is on the right path to identifying and bringing out the best out of this talents, for the betterment of the children’s future and community at large.
Author: Florence Wangui is a 3rd year university student, pursuing BSc. Animal Health, Production, and Processing, at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT)
