"fly with the wind on your small wing..."
Jimmy Hendrix
We traveled. With many, lots of children, we built kites, this time in Nueva Galia –San Luis-, La Maruja, Trenel –La Pampa-, Trenque Lauquen, Carlos Casares and Luján –Buenos Aires.
In each corner, a different challenge. In all of them, an overwhelming enthusiasm during the workshop. Inventing designs, trying new structures, running away to fly the models and building another ones. I could hardly match the creative impetus; when they build kites, children would keep demanding materials, ideas, instructions, models, help to cut a silhouette, to stick a drawing, to place the hoisting ropes, to fly outdoors. A tiresome though amusing and captivating challenge…
Teachers, parents, school auxiliaries, everybody came to “lend a hand”, and found themselves with both of them trapped in a construction, a design, or a flight.
Children arrived to the workshop moved by their free, personal and enthusiastic own will (the proposals of the different workshops forming the bus are introduced to the pupils the first day), and, in many cases, they wouldn’t resign to their tempestuous personality, their difficult behavior, their inconvenient vocabulary… Hyperactive, restless, difficult. Still, even under such an atmosphere, they built their models with incredible creativity and flow of ideas. Sometimes, actually struggling against their own temperament, with heartbreaking family stories, a stressing environment that deafen them with merciless and vulgar cumbia lyrics, with worthless consumption supplies, with aloof electronic appliances.
It’s really amazing to watch how children answer to a proposal that is far from any formal rail, exhibiting work capacity, concentration, multiple ideas, effort and energy, asserting themselves as protagonists of a diverging educational experience.
We used two basic patterns, very classical ones -as you may see in the pictures- that, thanks to the changes in structure, size, materials and designs, became fantastic novelties. And, thus, there began to appear fishes, sirens, bats, ghosts, vampires, giant clowns, flowers, butterflies, hearts, thousands of characters that flew well, despite their often not very orthodox constructions. I still find it hard to come back from those enchanting days, and the marvelous experience of working, laughing and flying with the children.
Very early in the morning, when crossing Carlos Casares town driving to new destinations, we were caught by a beautiful image: One of the children, an early riser, was crossing the square hugging one of the four kites he had built at the workshop, a big side ghost, waving in the fog, wanting to fly.
We shared in the bus the joy of learning that the dance, the songs, the jumps, the figures, the paints, the drums, the laughs, the kites, would stay there… so many small wings.
Lic. Maria Elena Garcia Autino
María Elena participated in Proyecto Subite al Colectivo from the National Ministry of Education, Subite al Colectivo del Ministerio de Educación de la Nación, en trips to towns located in the Provinces of San Juan and SanLuis. We were lucky to have her representing BaToCo in this venture, and were even more fortunate when receiving her tales and experiences. Thank you very much, indeed!
BaToCo Barriletes a Toda Costa Asociación Civil.
Trenque Lauquen
