The Artist Block Experience IV

amazing people from the community helping us fix the path in front of the preschool


 
the wonderful val missing preschool


 
the facade of the preschool. it was really wonderful.

The Artist Block Experience III

I feel emotionally grateful to all out sponsors, my classmates, our facilitators, and those members of the community who helped us. The entire CWTS was a huge learning experience for me. Personally, I would really like to that Mr. Anil for being very patient with all of us since the first day.

I actually remember how I was always late for the afternoon classroom sessions. And I even remember just how late I was for the first meeting. I have to admit, I didn't who Sir Anil was at that time. I had to ask people from my CAO group to understand just how much respect he deserves.

During the first meetings, he was able to make us feel comfortable around each other and at the same time, plant seeds of long-term solutions within all of us. That first meeting, I realized just how wise he was for his age and just how amazing of a person he was.

When we had problems during the execution of the project, he was there to lecture us on our mistakes and at the same time, understand our reasons and accept our apologies for our shortcomings.

Our project head, Joshua, was also really amazing. During both terms of CWTS, he had such heavy loads from our organization, but he was still able to pull it off. It was almost a miracle. And to all the amazing CAO friends that I got to know because of CWTS (and my amazing social skills /charot/), I salute them for all their hard work and all the heart they gave for our project to push through.

Now that the eternally tiring CWTS is done, I miss it. I'll see everyone around school. Sir Anil is leaving, but I know I'll always remember him for as long as I get neither amnesia nor Alzheimer's.

The Artist Block Experience II

Regularly visiting Catmon to accomplish what we really had to was really tiring for me. It was really hot there. Even before that, the moment I wake up, I immediately give up thinking of all the stress that would come after the academic part of the day is over. Well, I guess I'd just have to suck it up since I am involved in another theater production.

I guess I let my selfishness take over me that entire time.

The shooting for the video started and that's when, I think, I felt like I was being of use to my classmates who have working so hard since the first visit.

The shooting was done and I was just ashamed of my face. There were shots that were so up close, I could see my pores cry.

But I don't care since that is, I think, my major contribution to the entire project.

Right now, I feel like I want to do more for the community. However, I think all I can do now is pray for the other block because they're still not done. And also for the next artists who will, hopefully, be as effective as us or perhaps even more. To add to that, I really hope that my friend, the other class's project leader, would be able to do something that would go together with what we left for the community. The last day of our stay in the community, half of their class just stayed inside the preschool and sang randoms songs, just killing time. I was there since I volunteered to guard the bags with my classmate who needed a lot of sleep. Also because one of my classmates spontaneously mentioned some sort of law for productivity or something. I know I'll encounter that again since we have the same majors.

In the end, it was actually true, though, that all of us didn't have to work to be productive. The one's left downstairs found their own momentum with their work and they did such impressive painting jobs, I felt ashamed because I can't paint anything. I guess that's just one of my (very few) flaws.

Kidding aside, it was very enjoyable to be with all of them. Especially with a facilitator like the one we were blessed with.

The Artist Block Experience I

During the first exposure trip, I heard from the other blocks that a  lot of them got sick. I didn't. I guess growing up in a community not so far from the likes of Catmon helped me adjust easily to where we went. Yes, the wall was scary. I have fear of heights. And drowning. And murky waters. All of them were there. And we had to take that path almost every time we went there.

Ate Sharon was the mother of our host family. She had two kids. Her hospitality and the presence of those kids made it really worth it for me to try to get over my fears every week. Still, I felt so much relief when we no more had to go to the host families and instead, they go and meet us all in one meeting place. Ate Sharon was pregnant with her third child when we first met her. She gave birth during the term break and so we were able to see the third child in our host families. I just have to say, that child was the cutest I've seen in Catmon. I do not speak with bias just because they're my host family.

Having lunch with the pregnant ate Sharon and her two kids was really amazing. As my partner and I kept talking to her, we discovered a lot of similarities between all of us. First was that our provinces were not so distant from each other. Another was when ate Sharon tried to recall her experiences in the city where I live in, trying to figure out where exactly I live.

Personally, I didn't care about what we were supposed to do while we were with them. All I wanted to do was to talk with them and let the get to know me as I get to know them as well. That part went well. Ate Sharon even has my number and she can just text me anytime. Even now. I can really say that I am going to miss their family and if it can happen, maybe my classmates and I can set up a reunion sometime in the future and come back to Catmon as a whole, without it being a school activity, just us visiting them and trying to help if we can.