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Today we completed a 7 day training with staff of our local partner les Étoiles Messagères, and a new cohort of 8 young women mentors.  These staff and mentors will work with the 80 new participants in our Girl Awakening Program.  Knowledge sharing during the training included:  principles of girl-centered programming, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence prevention and response, and trauma informed arts activities.  It’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience and is striking to me how in fact what is shared feels very essential yet is not known  - for example, knowing the names of the different parts of the female genitalia, recognizing signs and symptoms of trauma, or understanding how to talk to adolescents.  The level to which we have become separate from our own bodies, from knowing how to care for one another and treat one another is sometimes astounding.   

We are particularly grateful for the support from the International Rescue Committee and the Girl Shine Resource Package, the Population Council’s girl-centered program tools like the Building-Assets Toolkit, and the Girl Roster, and the many arts activities coming from the art and humanitarian development community we have picked up along the way and adapted into a guide, as well as practices and perspectives from our partner les Étoiles Messagères, and the community members and leaders of Goma that have created the content for this training.  

This training sets the stage for Girl Awakening to have local roots and knowledge, and for future ownership of the program to be that of our local partner.  Les Étoiles Messagères grew from staff members of our previous projects in Goma, DRC and is a group of young women community builders and artists with a mission to:promote girls in their communities: enabling girls to freely express themselves through art, make decisions within the community and know and defend her rights.  Moving forward we will be supporting les Étoiles Messagères to continue to grow in the direction they chose and are excited to be implementing this pilot program alongside them. 

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My summer 2021 internship experience: What is arts administration like?

When I first heard about arts administration, it was described as “the business side of the arts,” and I was wary. My impression of it was that it was for people who want to get into the arts but are too scared to commit to being a “real” artist. However, after shadowing an arts administration student at the University of Kentucky (the college I now attend) during my senior year of high school, I realized that there is so much more to this major than the idea of the “safe” path. Arts Administration isn’t an option for artists to fall back on, but an amalgamation of everything that makes the arts industry function. It is filled with creativity and passion for making art happen, and it opens up into countless possible career paths. Needless to say, I fell in love with my major pretty quickly.

This summer, I am an administrative and fundraising intern with Colors of Connection. Along with classes in digital design, emotional intelligence, management, marketing, and fundraising, part of my graduation requirements for the UK Arts Admin program is internship experience.  Much of what I’ve been doing at Colors of Connection is assisting in preparations for the Girl Awakening Program as its launch approaches. I’ve done work in soliciting in-kind donations for supplies and equipment, which includes answering questions about Colors of Connection and Girl Awakening, as well as keeping in contact with representatives from companies and organizations. I have also helped with the Colors of Connection social media, researched various topics for the organization, and assisted with the donor management software.

I have come to appreciate the unbelievable amount of time, preparation, and people that go into the creation and execution of an arts event or program. The myriad of minute details that must be taken into account to make an entire organization and its specific programs run never fails to fascinate me. For example, there is so much thought and planning that goes into creating the organization’s social media marketing plan, from the brand image, to the posting schedule, and to developing a relationship with its patrons. Arts administration is the perfect intersection between the logical left side of the brain and the creative right side, which is exactly what I craved when dreaming about my future studies in high school. Management, business communications, and marketing are topics that I once yawned at, but as soon as you throw arts into the mix, my interests are piqued.  

The internship brings the theoretical concepts I’ve learned in class into tangible reality. In classes this past semester, I created mock plans for my own imaginary programming, but that pales in comparison to working at a real, functioning organization.  

One example of this is learning about the process of strategic planning when creating arts programming. I took a class called Management and Planning for the Arts which covered strategic planning - a process of documenting the organizational mission, strategies, long-term goals, and short-term objectives over a certain amount of time. Because Colors of Connection is currently in the process of launching their Girl Awakening Program, I am able to see the program planning and execution I learned about occur right before my eyes:  from creating a hierarchy of the overall mission that branches out into contributing goals and strategies, to planning a framework for assessing the program’s success. As I’ve worked on writing letters of interest and filling out applications for donations, I’ve studied Colors of Connection’s vision for the program, and I got to read a real program framework that resembled what I once only read about in a textbook.  

Another concept I have gained real world experience in while interning with Colors of Connection is business communications and marketing. Before I took Marketing for the Arts this past semester, I perceived marketing to be cold and manipulative, believing that in business, people do anything to increase exposure and sales. However, I discovered that marketing for arts organizations often feels more authentic and focused on building relationships with patrons and supporters. People in this sector get the opportunity to share the positive impacts their organizations make, and seek out supporters who are just as passionate about the arts as they are. Part of this is creating a strong brand identity for your arts organization, and through assisting with some of the Colors of Connection social media, I see that the organization has a specific strategy to communicate with its community.  

The tangible experience of working for an arts organization has expanded and refined the knowledge I’ve been given, aligning both with classes I took last semester and my upcoming classes this fall. I feel much more confident in my ability to work in this industry, and I’m excited to take what I’ve learned into my upcoming classes and jobs beyond graduation.

- Kristin Earnest

Colors of Connection Summer 2021 Intern 

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One month after the eruption in Goma 

It’s been a little over a month since the devastating volcanic eruption on May 22, and most displaced people have returned to the city of Goma. But for those who lost everything, it’s a daunting task to rebuild their lives. Four young women - 3 CC participants and 1 staff member are in the midst of this difficult process. We are grateful to donors who supported our Volcano Crisis Fund so that we could provide to them at this moment of crisis. Our partner staff, les Étoiles Messagères distributed essentials to the four young women last week including water cans, mattresses, and metal sheeting. Thank you to all again for the support in this unexpected emergency and wishing a speedy recovery for the city and its residents.   

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Volcanic Eruption Update

We are relieved to share that as danger of further eruptions and volcanic activity subsides -  life is slowing returning back to normal in the city of Goma.   

Nearly every CC participant and all of our local partner’s staff were displaced by this volcanic eruption. Four of them have lost everything with over 3,000 homes destroyed, 20,000 people are homeless, and 400,000 evacuated the city over the past two weeks leaving their possessions exposed to further damage and theft. So far 31 people are reported dead.  

We are raising funds for 3 CC participants of our scholarship program, and 1 staff member of our partner les Étoiles Messagères to support them in replacing the essentials they lost.  Pictured above staff member Feza right, and participant Florence left, assess the site of Florence’s former home. To make a one time donation to our Volcano Crisis Fund visit our website.  

The estimated costs for clothes, food, charcoal to heat food, mattresses, water containers, metal sheeting for shelter, and transport of supplies is $1,500 USD.  Join us in supporting them at this moment of crisis. 

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Volcanic Eruption: Update on the situation in Goma, DRC

The Nyiragongo volcano erupted unexpectedly for the first time in nearly 20 years this weekend on May 22 with lava flows reaching 17 villages outside of Goma and hitting the neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city, almost completely destroying one called Buhene.  It’s been a frightening experience for Goma residents.  There was no warning, and the eruption itself has been followed by multiple earthquakes sometimes as frequent as every 20 min.  Volcanologists are now monitoring the situation and from what we’ve learned there are still concerns that cracks caused by the earthquakes could create risk of further lava flows.  

We are very relieved to share that all staff of our partner Les Étoiles Messagères are okay, as is our board member Dr. Muteho who spent the night of the eruption providing shelter for displaced people.  We are still waiting to hear on the status of all the young women and girl participants of our past programs and current scholarship program. We know so far that two girls in our scholarship program have lost their homes.  One staff member who had to evacuate because her family’s home was in the area hit by lava flows unfortunately has been permanently displaced by government orders even though her home survived.

 We are still learning what services are available to the general population impacted and to the girls in our scholarship program to understand what ways we can support them. 

Reports so far are sharing the following:

15 people have died 

170 children are feared missing

Tens of thousands of people were displaced over the weekend.  

About 600 homes were destroyed as well as 5 schools.  

Brave photographers captured this event. Photos in this post are from screenshots from their instagrams. Please visit their instagram pages to see more of their incredible work: 

@guerchomndebo https://www.instagram.com/guerchomndebo/ 

@leyuwera1 https://www.instagram.com/leyuwera1/

@donjuan_masudi  https://www.instagram.com/donjuan_masudi/

@mosessawasawa https://www.instagram.com/mosessawasawa/

And even in chaos there is creativity and courage in the response from artists and civilians 

In solidarity with people in Goma,

Colors of Connection 

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Completed Community Mapping of the Bujovu Neighborhood in Goma, DRC 

Core to changing existing gender discrimination and violence is understanding how it is perpetuated and developing strategies to address it. Unequal access to community resources and exposure to risks and threats plays a big role. Over 120 resources and risks have been identified by us and our partner in this mapping exercise in Bujovu, home to our future program Girl Awakening. This is the first community resource scan of its kind to be done in the DRC.  In our next program steps we will utilize this map, working with our partners les Etoiles Messagères and community stakeholders to identify ways to increase access for girls to resources and services that they are not getting equal access to, and to reduce girls’ exposure to the risks. 

Among the resources identified are:  

25 schools (just 2 of these offer secondary level education and the rest are primary which is an extremely low number for the total neighborhood population of 48,000).  

9 health centers, though none are hospitals, so are only able to treat minor health issues.  

An office of the community chef appointed by the local government who hold weekly meetings with leaders at the sub-neighborhood level.  

7 factories:  there are several big companies that have factories in the neighborhood producing things such as cement, coffee, cigarettes, and corn flour.    

12 churches and 1 mosque

1 cultural center - not yet providing any programming to youth or specifically girls in the neighborhood.  

Among risks identified are: 

The most prevalent are brothels. 23 have been identified - meaning there are just as many (and likely more) brothels than primary schools in the neighborhood.  Most (14) are located in a section of Bujovu called the Cellule Tyazo, where we will be recruiting girls from.   

5 military camps, that while being responsable for security can be a threat to girls for transactional sex or other forms of extortion.  

1 police station that similar to the military camps can be a threat to girls for transactional sex or other forms of extortion.  

We’re looking forward to strategizing with community leaders, girls and staff on how to shift existing access to resources and services, reforming systems to increase equal access, and protect girls from risks and threats. 

A special thanks to the Population Council’s technical support and the les Étoiles Messagères team members and community stakeholders who walked all over the neighborhood to locate the GPS points.   

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The Universe of Girls

Update from Goma, DRC

“Girl Rostering” is currently underway this week in the community Bujovu where our future programming will be located. The Girl Roster is a community survey that our partner with Population Council has shared trained us in.  

This this the first time we are using the full tool, and significantly also the first time the Girl Roster has ever been done in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (So far it has been done in 41 countries in urban, rural, conflict/emergency zones).  We will be surveying between 400-500 households.  

We’re planning to use the results to help us in our program planning.  This survey was designed to address the very challenges so many girl-focused programs face:  the fact that while programs want to reach the most marginalized girls, instead the girls who are on average better off end up being the dominant group in programs.  This door to door community survey enables program planners to see the full “universe” of girls within a community, and to know more about their various challenges and vulnerabilities.  It’s a tool that makes visible those who are most marginalized enabling programs to intentionally recruit.  

We’re excited to get the results, do an analysis with our team and apply what we’ve learned to program planning.  

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COVID-19 Response

These past few months have changed all of our lives with the spread of the COVID-19 Virus.  

As we adapt to these unprecedented circumstances, we’ve put certain activities on hold for the safety of Colors of Connection staff, and our collaborating team and girls of M’shujarts in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

We have already seen the deadly impacts of the virus on more developed countries and are bracing ourselves for how this could impact less developed countries.  Places like Goma, DRC have crowded populations, poor sanitation, low levels of basic health within the community, limited health services, and inadequate disease surveillance, leading to potentially wider spread of the virus and higher fatality rates.  It makes us realize that while we are all fragile in the face of this pandemic, we are not equally fragile.  

In response, we are actively supporting our collaborating team in Goma DRC through remotely sharing up to date information on the virus, practices to prevent its spread, and coping techniques for anxiety.  There is a lot of misinformation out there, and girls and young women are even more isolated and face greater risks than before. 

The M’shujarts team starting this week will be: 

Sewing cloth masks for all girls and young women in the M’shujarts group 

Distributing anti-bacterial soap

Holding sensitization meetings (with a limit of 10 people and social distancing measures in place) to educate girls and young women in the group about the virus, its signs and symptoms, and the practices to prevent its spread 

Connecting about common challenges, economic, emotional, social and collective ideas for coping and support.  

More to come on these activities soon.

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The young women and girls from the Tunaweza Portraits Project (aka M’Shujarts) come together to support each other and collaborate on creative activities.   A few weeks ago they painted this house for some extra income.  It’s great to see some of the skill sets learned during Tunaweza transferring into viable income-earning opportunities.  Here they are with one of their mentors, Feza.  

If you aren’t familiar with M’Shujarts:  it’s a Swahili and English mixed word, the name the girls have given themselves after working with us on the Courage in Congo and Tunaweza Portraits Projects.  The ‘M” stands for ‘mwanamke’ (women), ‘mwanume’ (men), and also ‘movement’ – indicating that this is a movement for women, but that men are also included and encouraged to engage. ‘Shuj'arts’ is a combination of ‘shujaa’ meaning ‘leader’ (as the girls now often call themselves and/or their group) and the ‘arts’.

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Colors of Connection Board of Directors do art together at our annual board retreat!

Post written by board member Kate Paulin Charles

Last month, the CC board had the unique privilege of getting to know each other even better at our annual retreat run by our co-founders Laurie and Christina. One of the best parts of being on the board of directors for Colors of Connection is the opportunity to collaborate with people who come from different fields and backgrounds. My profession is marketing so it's only through this board experience that I get to be in a professional environment with people who are in education, legal, social work or artistic fields among others. Our retreat was a 1/2 day affair that was thoughtfully curated by Laurie and Christina to cover topics ranging from better understanding the upcoming strategic priorities to learning how to make the most of our board meetings by understanding each other's strengths and weaknesses. 

One of the highlights for me was the art ice breaker that Christina used during the most recent Tunaweza Project in Goma, DRC where each of us were assigned a different person in our group to research and 'draw'. It encouraged us to get to know each other outside of the context of the board and articulate their persona through our art skills - even if they are basic level skills like mine! 

Another memorable activity we did was taking the Smalley and Trent personality assessment on how to best work together by understanding each of our natural tendencies. I discovered I am an Otter which means that I can bring good communication skills, decisiveness, enthusiasm and a people-oriented approach to the team. An Otter can also be impulsive and fast-paced which is why it's so important to have a balance of all personality types to avoid missing details or not thinking through a plan in its entirety. Pairing an Otter with a task-oriented Beaver, for example, can be a wonderful blend of opposite types to ensure the best possible outcome. 

The time flew by as we got to know each other better and collaborate on the future. We ended the day with a workshop to develop our individual “elevator pitch" of the cause and organization to better increase awareness and funding which left us feeling inspired and motivated.

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International Day of the Girl (IDG2019)

Celebrated by M’shujarts at the Alliance Française in Goma, DRC

On a Saturday, the day following the global celebration for IDG2019, this group of young women and girls came together to celebrate and connect at the Alliance Française.

The event was organized by the girls’ mentor, Feza.  It connected young women and girls to each other and exposed them to different social issues. Through presentations and discussion, these young women and girls got to know women leaders who attended the event as women in politics, law, and academia were there to connect with the girls as role models.  

31 girls attended and met with 6 different officials!

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What kind of activities do we do in programs? 

We build different assets with participants including creative ones. For example in this version of musical chairs, participants experience a form of taking up space through their voices and bodies. The combination of movement with sound integrates the experiences into the body. The musical chairs aspect brings an aspect of spontaneity that relieves stress, self-consciousness, and helps students access other unknown parts of themselves. Sharing their experience. What creative assets are built? (1) Know that she has commonalities with others in her community (2) Know how to occupy and hold space physically, and psychologically (3) Know how to create a safe space for a group. #LikeAGirl#Assetbuilding #AdolescentGirls #CongoPositive

These creative assets have been developed with the Adolescent Girl and Creativity Network, a part of the adoelscent girls communiity of practice at the Population Council.  To learn more about the asset-building approach with adolescent girls please see https://www.popcouncil.org/research/building-assets-toolkit-developing-positive-benchmarks-for-adolescent-girls 

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My name is Ziru. I am 24 years old, I am from China. I still be starting my graduate program in public administration at the University of Pittsburg.

I have been with Colors of Connection in an internship for three weeks now.  I am so proud that this organization invests in the psychological development of youth and particularly adolescent girls. So far, this internship has made me realize that art has an invisible power to tap into children's capabilities, especially in conflict-affected regions. As I have been reviewing the videos from our last project, Tunaweza in eastern Congo, I feel touched by the smiles of the girls and the happiness they express.  I see that the girls are inspired and motivated as they engage in the projects, even though some girls are already young mothers, and are much younger than me.  Women’s empowerment can be regarded as the “soft power” of development for the 21st century, which is easy to be ignored under the rapid economic growth. Different from economic development, soft power is less visible, and takes the form of cultural communication, psychological development, youth education, and women’s empowerment, which together can promote a peaceful international order

I see how much the development of women and girls is neglected in conflict-affected areas.   I’m thankful for Color of Connection as the organization has made me more aware of the challenges in adolescent development in these conflict areas.  I can see that women and girls need to be united and can make important contributions to combat gender inequality and sexual violence if provided the opportunity.  

In the remaining month of my internship, I look forward to participating in the fundraising process for an upcoming project in Jos Nigeria.  I am very excited to see what will be achieved there.  

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In Goma, DRC this is how it looks to create a mural with 26 young women and artist assitants over a few months! Learn more on our blog about the Tunweza Portraits Project in here to learn about all they've accomplished.  Title of mural The female artist.  Text in Swahili translates to "Observe my talents"   #colorsofconnection #ArttoChangetheWorld #TunawezaProtraitsProject #StreetArt #CongoPositive

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Field Update: May 9 2019 Next Steps!

Many people ask, what will happen next, now that the project is completed?

We brainstormed with the girls and our assistants/mentors about what they want to do post-project.  Most want to keep in touch with each other and continue to meet as a group. Many want to advance their skills in drawing and painting, and to pursue house painting and sign painting jobs, including learning how to create budgets and approach clients for this kind of work. The girls also are interested to learn more about jewelry-making after their experience making their transitional objects (see our previous blog post on this).  

As a plan moving forward, the artist assistants Wisline and Salima, and psychosocial assistant Feza have offered to work with the girls on a volunteer basis every Saturday.  This is such an incredible opportunity.  It is very touching that they have bonded with the girls and want to keep playing a role in their lives.  Salima has organized the next steps:  activities will happen at the Alliance Français, a community center in the neighborhood, and supplies for activities are kept at a studio of an artist in the neighborhood who is also interested mentoring the girls in their path to become artists.  And, with a donation of some supplies for making jewelry, the group intends to use the proceeds gained from selling the jewelry to buy more supplies and sustain their other artistic activities.  

In short, we have a Girl’s Club happening in Goma! It is really invaluable for the girls to continue building their skills and also have this social network for solidarity and support.  I think that the group meetings, guidance from mentors, and free use of the painting materials left from the project will have a positive impact on their lives and their artistic development.  

I visited the first Saturday meeting of the Girl’s Club to find the music on, and the girls busy at work learning how to create jewelry from Salima, with Wisline and Feza there to support.    

I’m so excited to have this emerge as one of the outcomes of the project and looking forward to seeing how it evolves and grows,

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Update from the Field:  Take a look at the Tunaweza completed murals ! Here’s to the incredible work of 27 girls, and our team of assistants and mentors!!!! This is what community-created positive imagery of women looks like.  

Captions from top to bottom with English translation from Swahili:

"CONSIDER MY TALENTS" Female Artist, Mapendo, Goma, DRC 2019

"WOMEN ARE THE PILLARS OF EDUCATION IN SOCIETY." Mural title of same name, Mugunga, Goma, DRC 2019

"YES I CAN BUILD." Female Construction Workers, Kyshero, Goma, DRC April 2019

"WOMEN BELONG IN ALL LEVELS OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM"  The Female Judge, Murura, Goma, DRC 2019.

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Updates from the Field:  May 8 2019 Reflections on Transition and Closing: 

The end of a project is always emotional, a bit sad, but also full of positive sentiments.  Because we have been together almost everyday, the girls, the assistants who are mentors to the girls, the daily vendors, drivers, neighborhoods, and community chefs we work with have become a special community.  These repeated interactions have woven strong and dynamic positive relationships.  Another truly special aspect is how present and vibrant the girls are by this stage. I think when self-expression is encouraged everyday, when girls have the space to be themselves, to dance, draw, paint, share their experiences and overall just to be creative, their personalities, their identities become more alive, bigger and more present.  I find it to be such a clear reflection of the power of creativity, safe space and collective actions to move youth into a fuller expression of their humanity.  

One of our last activities with the group included creating a transitional object. This was incorporated into the curriculum by our advisor and art therapist Bonnie Hirschhorn.  In this activity, participants make a piece of jewelry they can wear to symbolize strength and belonging.  This object with its symbolic meaning helps the participants to remember their experiences during the project and to transition these experiences into their lives post-project.  On the advice of our artist assistants the transitional object was made from beaded jewelry.  It was a great way for everyone to spend time together talking, creating, and then at the end sharing what they want to remember as they wore their new pieces.  

- Christina