Hillbrow

We leave for Africa in just 4 days! We'll spend one day handing out blankets in Hillbrow, an inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg. It is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, poverty and crime. The majority of the residents are migrants from the townships, rural areas and the rest of Africa, many living in abject poverty.  I just read "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton, a history of how the slums and inner city neighborhoods like this came to being.  It's told through the story of a man who travels into one of these areas to find his son and his sister.  You discover the painful reality of life in these neighborhoods through his eyes.

People Projects

One of the townships that we will visit in the Johannesburg area is Diepsloot.  I know that we will be distributing disposeable cameras to teens to help them show us the stories of their lives, but I'm not sure at this point if it will be here in Diepsloot or later in the week at the Emthonjeni Community Center.  Woodmen Valley Chapel helped build this center as a place where kids could come for meals and other needs.

The following day, teams will have the opportunity to visit the Florida Baby House, the Forest Farm, or the Fairland Police station.  Those of you familiar with the Johannesburg area perhaps recognize these places.

I thought that you might enjoy "meeting" the other artists on the team.  Future posts may include stories about their experiences there, so you can always scroll back to this picture to use as a reference!  Our first activity once we arrive will be a visit to the Apartheid Museum to learn more about the history of South Africa.  Three days of our trip will be spent in innercity areas outside of Johannesburg, including Diespsloot and Hillbrow.  We are taking disposeable cameras with us to distribute to children there and will work with them to tell stories of their lives from their viewpoint. Their photos will form an exhibition that I believe will be displayed here in the Springs after our return.

A New Adventure in Faith and Art

Artists have been persona non gratis in churches since the Reformation. For 11 years now, I've been a part of a group of artists at Woodmen Valley Chapel that has sought to encourage churches, and artists themselves, to recognize that creativity is a God given gift that greatly impacts lives. This group led WVC to encourage its creatives and open its walls to artists in the general community. From there, our leader Cindy West wrote a book called "Saying Yes" and organized an artist's conference that drew painters, dancers, musicians and writers from across the U.S. Now there are plans to take the conference internationally beginning with South Africa.  I'll be travelling there with 9 other artists from Colorado Springs to meet with a small talented group of South African artists.

Many of you may have already seen some of this information on Facebook, but I hope that these initial posts will include a bit more information for you.