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The camp was appropriately named ‘Emocionarte’, a combination of the Spanish words for emotion and art. Many of the children from Limonada have experienced violence and abuse, so ‘Emocionarte’ was designed to teach students how to process emotions and communicate them in a healthy way using various art forms. One of our friends suggested that it was a time for the kids to express their emotions and for us to hold ours back. It was awesome for me to see how ART can be used as TOOL in the healing process! Each day concluded with Guatemalan psychologists working with the kids to define their emotions and more tools to help them process their hard experiences.

Our seven hour journey from Guatemala City took us on three school buses through the mountains, desert and jungle of Guatemala to El Faro, an absolutely beautiful retreat center located on the coast of Punta de Palma, Izabal. Most of the children had never left the dangerous red zones of Guatemala City. The wide-open spaces of the camp were a whole new world to these young explorers from the small concrete alleys of La Limonada. Words cannot even begin to express our delight as we watched them run and play in the lush green grass and swim in the ocean for the first time.

Our Athentikos team of ten partnered with the staff of La Limonada (photo below) to teach & lead games. Our classes involved painting, sculpture, drama, collage and LEGOs. Every night ended with a special event including a costume party, an acoustic concert by Amy Stroup, bonfires on the beach and a movie night. As camp started, the LEGOs were still held up in customs at the Danish Embassy, and we didn’t know if they would be released in time to make it to camp. Miraculously the LEGOs showed up via boat on the second day. We were thrilled to be able to share this incredible gift from LEGO with the children from La Limonada.

The kids were very creative with their LEGO projects even though they had never played with them before. They built houses with meticulous detail, including toilets, TVs, trash cans filled with trash, stoves with propane tanks, lamps and couches. One boy shared that he built his home with red and white bricks to represent the peace and love that he always wanted to fill his house. Another designed his house with a very large kitchen because he wanted to be able to serve food to his surrounding community. These thoughts were so profound coming from children with such painful stories. We constantly had to remind ourselves that these were children from La Limonada.

On the final evening, we screened Reparando, our documentary that features the community where these children live. They were fascinated to see familiar people and places on the big screen. After the film, the Athentikos team gave each child a doll made by Maria (the Doll Lady) and explained the purpose of the story’s metaphor. It was a perfect way to close the emotional week and a very special time for the Athentikos team to share with the kids.

Upon returning to Guatemala City, we hosted an Art Show for the La Limonada community. Families were invited to see the children’s creations and hear firsthand from several of the students about their experience. The energy level was high and applause filled the room as each group shared. We were extremely proud of the kids and honored to partner with the staff of La Limonada in this life-changing camp! Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!

For those of you new to my blog & my life… our connection to Guatemala is through our two adopted sons. We are honored to be connected to this beautiful country and humbled to be serving with some very passionate people (many who have become like family). Here are some of my photos…

I taught the collage class. The kids created one piece and each day we added layers with different techniques. The techniques (colors, writing, painting, etc) reflected different emotions. The first photo above is one of the students with her finished piece. We were on the dock when the LEGO donation arrived – 25 boxes of LEGOs all the way from Denmark!! We received the grant and the donation after a LEGO employee watched ‘Reparando’ last year. It was exciting to share them with the kids.

The class I taught met on the dock!! ON.THE.OCEAN. How freaking cool is that!?? It was awesome except yes, we did have a few things fall into the water including one of the pieces! But a counselor dove in the water after it and it was fine. One technique was Using Found Objects and Pigments. So we used beets, leaves, clay, grass and bark to color with. This second photo is one of the kids “coloring” with a beet!

For those of you who know Scott & I — we love Halloween because we get to dress up! We totally missed it this year because we were in Guatemala – so the first night at camp, we had a costume party with the kids! They decorated masks and all received a variety of accessories. Then we had a dance party. The counselors said it was the first time for many of them to dress up like that! It was a lot of fun. The first photo is of me, my husband (Scott) or our dear friend, Cesar. The second is of me and my mom – yep, she was part of our team!! The third photo here is of Scott & I with Tita & Moshi.

Here are some more pics of our Costume Party & the kids break-dancing!

The kids got to do sooooo many things at camp!! Many went swimming for the first time! They had daily Bible verses. And a highlight was the campfire. WOW!

This is the road to the camp… it’s a dirt road through the jungle… and we were on it for about an hour and a half! Below that is Amy singing at the concert. You all MUST OWN the songs “Quite Hearts” and “Redeeming Love.” BUY THEM NOW.

So on the LAST DAY OF CLASS we were taking a group photo and this rainbow appeared. AMAZING!! Thank you God for this beautiful gift!

Each of my classes created a “group” collage piece to present to Tita for the schools in La Limonada. Here is one of the pieces. I am very proud of our work!

Here’s our Athentikos Team: Josue, Cesar, Amy, Darlene (my mom), Scott, Mary, Stephanie, Gary, ME & Ericha

When we returned to Guatemala City, we had an Art Show for the Community of La Limonada for the kids to share their performances and fine art with their families. It was really special to hear the kids share about their pieces of work. We were all so proud of them.