I'm still visiting the Raphael Centre every Wednesday for our classes. Things are going well, although the number of women has recently dropped. The last few weeks there have only been four women, but we still enjoy our time together. This past Wednesday we drew then spent almost a half hour just talking.
This week we drew our dreams for ourselves. When I came in and told the ladies that I wanted them to draw their dream for their lives one turned to me and said, "it's too late for me to have any dreams." I reassured her that this wasn't true and the three women proceeded to draw their dreams. Two of the women had the same dream, to have a nice house to live with their family. They both drew elaborate houses with their families inside. "Where would you want this dream house to be," I asked the women. "It doesn't matter," one replied, "as long as I'm healthy and with my family." She couldn't be more correct. The other woman drew a limousine-like car. Packed into the vehicle was her large family. In broken English she told me that she wanted a car big enough to fit all of the women in her family. "I want to drive with my daughters (two twins, age 12 and one daughter age 28), my mother and my sisters," she told me. "Where would you go," I asked. "Anywhere we wanted," she answered.
This time I hadn't drawn alongside the women, instead I drew them a color wheel to help with their beading project. When they finished showing me their drawings one asked me, "What's your dream?" I had to think for a second before realizing that I was virtually living my dream. "My dream is to spend my time between Washington DC and South Africa creating artwork with HIV/AIDS patients and their families, like I'm doing right now. My other dream is that one day I will not have to create artwork with HIV/AIDS patients because there will be a cure," I told them. They all smiled at me and one began asking me questions about my motives for working with the HIV/AIDS population. I told her about the AIDS Walk and my experience with Teen Pep. I told her about the differences in the population worldwide and how I think that art can help. "Drawing with you helps me forget," she said. "Forget what," I asked. "Forget that I'm sick," she said. Dreams do come true, I guess...
Last week when I was with the women I was slapped in the face with the reality of working with the HIV/AIDS population. The same three women and I were sitting at a table outside drawing. Since I keep all of their drawings and bring them every time I asked if they wanted to see the first drawings they did. They were excited to see the first work they did with me, so I started showing them the drawings from the beginning. They laughed at each other’s drawings. On top of the pile was my favourite, a drawing that I wrote about here on my first day of class [link]. The image is of a traditional symbol of a heart along with a narrative. The narrative discusses the woman’s wish to have God keep her alive long enough to see her son graduate. I looked at the picture and I was touched all over again. One of the women then asked to see the picture. I handed it to her and a strange look came across her face. “She died recently,” she told me. “What?” I asked. I knew that there was a funeral lately, but I didn’t realize it was a woman I knew. The woman hadn’t been back since the first class, but women in my classes come and go. The saddest part was that her wish never came true. Her son will mostly likely graduate in November and she’s not here to witness it. I have now decided to dedicate the exhibit to her and will have the image displayed. I also hope to get a copy to her son if possible.
The festival is around the corner and I’m trying to prepare as best I can. I’m waiting for some important packages to come, but everything is held up in customs. It’s annoying, but that’s the system here. I will be handing out the cameras soon, but I’m waiting for more. I also am having trouble finding Xhosa translators. I finally heard from Kodak and they will be printing the photos at a steep discount. They’re printing a set of photos for each woman as well as fifty 8”x10” photos for 1000 rand, which is excellent. I’m very excited. Now I just need to get everything else prepared.
On Monday the women will begin beading which will be very exciting. I’ll be going on Monday to see how they’re doing. I hope to purchase something for myself, which will obviously hold a lot of meaning for me. The ladies are very excited and I’m excited for them!
I’m also working on planning an exhibit at home and at school for the summer and fall. I hope that works out.
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