Painting Away....

The Community Tile Painting Workshop on Saturday was a huge success! The good news is there are more Tile Painting Parties to come in June. We will keep you posted with exact dates and locations, so be ready to pick up a paint brush and let your creative side emerge. It may just be addictive....

Thank you to all who participated and shared your artistic messages for the children at the Bupala School in Uganda. Also, many thanks to local business who have been supportive, spread the word, and are excited to host their very own Tile Painting Parties.

Looking forward to capturing the looks on the faces of our pen pals when they see the latrine and tiles made just for them. A memory that will last a lifetime and one that we will all cherish. 

Pen Pal Uganda Project

TILE TALES COMMUNITY TILE-PAINTING PROJECT

       For the past several years, students at RMS & RHS have been pen pals with students in rural Uganda.  Last year, a very motivated group of sixth graders raised the funds to build a new restroom for their pen pals, and this summer, we're going to Uganda to see this new latrine completed.  We are planning to decorate the inside of this latrine with hand-painted tiles, decorated by members from our community as a gift to the kids at the Bupala School.   We’d love for YOU to participate in this effort.

 

  Tile Tales workshops will be conducted throughout the township during the month of May & June.  Please join us and send your message of love and hope to our friends in Uganda.  Start planning your design.  Each tile is a 6” x 6” bisque tile; there will be a variety of colored glaze to apply to the tile with brushes.  There is a $10 donation for each tile.  If you are unable to attend one of the workshops but would like to design a tile, some of the talented pen pals at RMS and RHS will execute your design for you.  If you would simply like to donate a tile and leave the decorating up to the students, we’re happy to oblige.  Thank you for supporting this wonderful initiative.

           

How it all began...

Once upon a time, there was a class full of kids in Radnor who wrote to some kids in Uganda.

Then, the kids in Uganda wrote back to the kids in Radnor.  That was probably the most exciting day of school. Ever.

The kids exchanged booklets about their lives, then the kids in Radnor created a poetry anthology and the kids in Uganda sent a poetry anthology back.  Their poems were very different, but very touching.  It made the kids in Radnor consider how challenging it must be to have to consider life and death issues as a teenager.  

The following year, another class began to correspond with other kids in Uganda. When the kids in Radnor learned that their pen pals didn’t have a restroom that gave everyone some privacy, they committed to helping to build a latrine, because they felt that privacy was a basic human right that every adolescent deserves.  They also learned that many girls drop out of school when they reach puberty because they feel too embarrassed without a private bathroom.

 So, the kids in Radnor planned a Move-a-Thon to raise money.  They also got the teachers in their school to sell Homework Passes, and parents to make fruit smoothies and popcorn.  They found an amazing Zumba instructor and an inspiring yoga teacher and some of their favorite teachers and student teachers to move nonstop one day after school. 

The next day, their teacher was congratulating them, but the kids weren’t satisfied; they were only halfway towards their goal.  They wanted to know how they would raise the rest of the money.

So, the Zumba teacher connected them with a local health club, and the health club sponsored a giant Zumbathon and Pool Party.  It was a blast, and they reached their initial goal for the latrine construction.

Meanwhile, the students continued to create and exchange beautiful handmade books about their lives.

And some people decided it would be compassionate to actually go to Uganda with some student ambassadors from Radnor to help with the final stages of the construction of the latrine.  And, once again, the community is invited to join forces with the kids to help forge a deep and meaningful connection between Radnor Township students and the students of the Bupala Primary School.  We would love for YOU to be a part of our Pen Pal Project.