Learning About Art

I have gotten to see several interesting art making workshops around Nairobi.  My favorite is Amani Ya Juu.  They were using huge wooden stamps with interesting designs that they dipped into wax to create designs on fabric.  There are about 80 women working here making all kinds of bags, purses, and wall hangings out of fabric.  I purchased a wall hanging of Africa that I will show you when I come back to school.  I also went to see another place where they make paper bags for companies.  This place was in another slum called Kawangware.  They use huge rolls of brown paper and print company logos on the bag.  Then they glue the bags together and send them to various companies.  Have you ever looked at your paper grocery bag from Stracks and wondered how it was printed?  I'm sure those bags are probably made in big factories.  But it was very interesting to see this process happening by hand.

I also visited another place called Beacon of Hope, and they train people to create beautiful weavings.  They use huge looms to weave on.  They even dye their own wool there to use for weaving.

Tomorrow I am going to Naivasha for most of the week.  I will take a matatu to get there.  A matatu is a 14 passenger van that is usually stuffed past capacity with people.  Naivasha is in the Rift Valley of Kenya.  There is a huge lake there with many birds.  I will staying at Life Beads Kenya and volunteering my time there.  They are an organization that creates bags and jewelry and helps to give people jobs.  I am excited because I think I am going to get to help them make items, which means I get to spend time making art.  I am looking forward to telling you about my time there.