On August 29th, 2009 Lindsay Hurtt, Global ARTery founder, traveled to Kenya to begin her work at Daraja Academy in Nanyuki Kenya. Her intention was to offer therapeutic art activities to the children of Daraja Academy and encourage creativity as a tool for self expression and to improve their lives.

Daraja Academy’s student population was drawn from three areas:

• The Nairobi Slums: These are areas outside of Nairobi City Center where the buildings are made of rusted corrugated tin and the streets are filled with an unemployed populace. The children of these families are subjected to poverty, disease, crime, and violence.
• The Local Community in the Laikipia District: In the community surrounding Daraja Academy are two small primary schools. Of the students who complete primary school in this area only 1% move onto secondary school primarily because of poverty and tribal traditions.
• The Northern Tribes: These tribes are predominately semi-nomadic people who live in the drought-stricken areas of Northern Kenya. Due to the circumstances of being a pastoralist people who follow their herds based on the seasons, their children lose access to schooling.

Global ARTery offered both group and individual art therapy to the children. Over the course of 15 days, the girl’s participated in 3 hours a day of therapeutic art making which included sharing circles and a chance for processing the images. Some of the art directives included:

• Self Symbols
• Personal Rainbows
• Masks to reflect what they show the world and what they keep inside
• Found Objects to represent different parts of their body
• Painted Stepping Stones to offer images and words of hope and strength

The experience of having a safe and nurturing space and a context to express themselves, gave them a sense of being seen and heard. To see some of the images of this amazing project, click here.