Using Art to Soar Like Birds

Earlier this month Cultural Canvas Thailand and Art Relief International were lucky enough to host seven students and one professor from a University in Utah, USA. The group are spending three weeks in Chiang Mai as part of a Global Studies Program which encourages students to visit a country outside of the USA to immerse themselves in a different culture and broaden their experience as global citizens.

 

The students had a very tight schedule whilst in Chiang Mai, and could only spare one day to spend with our team. It is generally quite difficult for CCT / ARI to do anything that demonstrates clearly the work we do with our partner organisations in such a short amount of time. We usually require even temporary visitors to undergo a solid orientation to our organisation, our mission and objectives, the population groups we work with and the methods in which we facilitate our workshops.  Given the issues our artists are experiencing, our primary consideration is always their wellbeing, and whether what we are doing with them is of benefit.

 

In this instance however fate intervened, and whilst considering what we could do with this group of American students beyond a typical information session, we received a phone call from the manager of Baan Nokkamin, a home for young girls who are either homeless or from unstable family situations, asking if we had the time and resources to help them paint a bright and happy mural on all four walls of their common room. This is a big project, but with extra hands we could potentially complete this in a day. We quickly spoke to the Utah student’s tour coordinator, who quickly agreed to assist us, and two weeks later all twelve of us crammed in to the CCT van and headed out to Mae Rim where the home is located.

 

After a quick introduction and ice breaker with the group and the twelve or so girls, we paired off the students with the artists and got to work by first drawing the mural on to the wall using led pencil, allowing for any mistakes to be quickly erased. The girls had requested birds, butterflies and other flying creatures, symbolising their new found hope and freedom through the support they received at Baan Nokkamin. It was no real surprise that some of the artists (and the American students) were gifted artists, and some of the drawings of birds, trees and flowers were very cute, typifying the feeling of the warm and welcoming home.

The final result, whilst possibly needing some very small and final touch ups (we did indeed run out of time, just), was absolutely beautiful, and the girls (and the manager) were very pleased. What was even more pleasing however, was the seamless way in which students, artists and ARI staff collaborated and worked together, sharing ideas, colours and smiles throughout the day despite the perceived language barrier. A big thank you to participating students from Utah, and of course an even bigger thank you to the staff and artists at Baan Nokkamin for hosting us and being so hospitable as always.

Dan Hales 

Hi from Laura!

I’m Laura, a new volunteer for Art Relief International! For the past 5 months I’ve been living and teaching in Sukhothai, Thailand. In my time here, I have learned a lot about this wonderful country I have come to love. I have always believed in the healing power of art, so I am very excited to spend a week as an *independent volunteer with ARI!

Ever since I was young, I’ve always been interested in making art. My experiences visiting different museums and learning the history behind the pieces led me to study Art History and Visual Arts at Fordham University. 

Since I was a sophomore in college, I have been volunteering with Free Arts NYC, a non-profit arts mentoring organization that works with underserved families and children in New York City. Free Arts NYC uses educational arts and mentoring programs as way to help channel these children’s energies into positive self-expression, resiliency, and confidence building, while also using art as a vehicle to develop stronger communication and problem-solving skills within families. Volunteering with Free Arts NYC completely changed my career path and my goals. I saw various families and children completely change their moods from the beginning of the session to the end of the session, because they felt a sense of pride and accomplishment in what they had created. 

I know how important it is to have the opportunity to creatively express oneself, and I am really looking forward to seeing how art inspires the participants in the workshops at ARI!

*Independent volunteers are volunteers who are already in Thailand and therefore do not require a volunteer package deal. They generally have their own accomodation and insurance and bring their own food to work. Instead of a package, they join the Art Relief Program for a minimum of one week for a small fee, but still get to plan and faclitate art workshops with our numerous partner organisations. Thanks Laura for joining us for the week!

 

Change is Afoot at CCT

Cultural Canvas Thailand and Art Relief International recently bid a sad farewell to its Art Director (ARI) of the last two years, Sarah Lovett. Sarah has been a much loved member of the CCT team and has brought lots of passion, enthusiasm and creativity to the ARI program, not to mention structure and strategy. CCT has been lucky to have her, and we wish her well in her return home to the USA to continue work on her own arts outreach NGO, Paint The World (www.paint-the-world.org). We'll miss you Sarah!

But with sad endings comes new beginnings, and CCT is very excited to introduce its two newest members of the team, Emma and Dan, in the respective roles of Art Director (ARI) and Assistant Director (CCT). Here's a little bit more about them...

Dan Hales

Hi! I'm Dan, from Adelaide, Australia.

I originally completed a Bachelor of Social Work in 2004, before undertaking roles in community development and counselling, predominantly with young people, the LGBTQ community and within HIV Prevention.

Having completed a Graduate Certificate in Tourism (Festival and Event Design and Management) in 2009, I have more recently been working as a Project Coordinator within the arts, festival and community cultural sector.

I am also a qualified Yoga Teacher and a trained dancer.

I volunteered for three months with Art Relief International in 2014, after falling in love with Chiang Mai during previous visits. I enjoyed my time so much I couldn't help but apply for this position when I saw it advertised.

I am extremely passionate about social justice and human rights, and I plan to continue to forge a career in community cultural development and theatre outreach. I also love travelling, the beach and macadamia ice cream!

Emma Gabriel   

Hello, my name is Emma Gabriel and I am the new Art Director for Cultural Canvas Thailand's Art Relief program. I come from Newfoundland, a small island in Eastern Canada, and am happy to call Chiang Mai my new home.

Making the decision to move here has been exciting, as I love to travel and adapt to new settings, learn new cultures, and meet new people!

I have a background in languages and visual art, focusing on an array of media throughout my studies, though my favourite being stained glass and pen and ink drawing. I also love experimenting with new media and have a current fascination with street art, stencils and spray paint.

The other aspect of this position that I love is the ability to help people in using art as therapy. It feels so amazing to create a sense of inclusion and community and to empower, inspire, and educate through art. I couldn't be happier to be a part of this team!

Cerebral Palsy & Blindness (Stacey Braun)

Visual impairments can result from problems with any part of the visual system, including the eyes, eye muscles, optic nerve or areas of the cerebral cortex that process visual information (Book et. al). Because cerebral palsy frequently affects the visual system, children with CP are more likely to have visual problems than are other children. In fact, according to a study conducted by Black, "up to 75% of children with CP are impaired".

One such of these specific impairments is labelled cortical visual impairment. Cortical  visual impairment or CVI results from injury to the brain's visual centres on the cerebral cortex (Book et. al). A child with CVI is thus able to pick up visual information with their eyes but the child's brain cannot process and interpret the information correctly. It is analogous to an imperfect computer chip which cannot fully process the input from the keyboard.

Generally speaking, the most common CVI symptoms presenting in children include an abnormal light responses, inconsistent visual responses to the same stimuli, and decreased responses to visual stimuli when auditory stimulation is present (Giord et. al). But the loss of vision does not only exhibit itself in symptoms directly related to the field.

When a child is blind they have lost one of their basic senses - they are under stimulated. Many of these children resort to other behaviours and forms of self stimulation to compensate for this under stimulation. These behaviours can include head banging, poking, rocking or staring at sources of light (Edelson). It has been reasoned that the head banging may even provide a form of pleasure related to movement titled kinaesthetic drive.

Though these behaviours can be a negative influence in many spheres, developmentally these behaviours are important for blind children as connections are made in the brain where the body is (Coots).

In fact, in the past two months I have witnessed the importance and predominance of these behaviors. In specific, one CVI-blind child at Hope Home fully engages in these actions, though there are two additional CVI children at the home.

However, though these children may seem lost in their world of behaviors that are difficult to comprehend - these children have NOT lost all of their senses: they still have viable feelings remaining. Most importantly, these remaining sensations need to be exercised to promote development. Presently, at Hope Home the developmental pursuits revolve around two core senses: sound and touch.

Stimulating the sense of sound is one experience that is constantly integrated into these children's lives. A variety of genres of music are being incessantly played on the stereo or sung. In addition, at times the children actively engage in creating their own music using instruments such as tambourines, bells, and drums. Therefore, not only to they to revel in the therapeutic auditory sensation but they also get to experience the tactile stimulation associated with banging ones hand against the firm surface of the percussion instrument.

Similar to the sense of sound, the sense of touch is almost effortlessly innervated into each of the three children's our times. In conjunction with the unintentional "touch" lessons, such as putting on clothes and feeding, toys such as a ball-pits and sensory boards provide opportunities to optimize each of these children's development.

Overall, though their condition has robbed their sight from them like a thief in the night - not all is lost. And this can be no more clearly than in this smile below.

More Than Just A Set of Wheels (Stacey Bruan)

According to the AARP, it is estimated that only 5-15% of people who need wheelchairs actually have them. That means that spanning the globe and its seven continents, as many as 350 million people are lacking the support, accessibility and mobility that these devices provide.

In the year 1967, Joni Eareckson Tada became one such of these persons who required a wheelchair. After misjudging the shallowness of the water in Chesapeake Bay, Joni became a quadriplegic at 17 years of age. Following years of struggle and rehabilitation, she founded an organization called Joni and Friends.

Since the year 1979, Joni and Friends International Disability has been dedicated to assisting people affected by disability and those around them. One of the organizations means of doing this is through their program called "Wheels for the World". As according to the program's mission statement, this project "provides FREE wheelchairs to children and adults affected by disability around the world".

As can be extrapolated by the immensity of that goal, this is not a single link chain of delivery but instead it is a step-wise process. Overall, it can be defined by the following steps: drop-off, transportation, restoration and distribution.

Initially, donated chairs are dropped off at specified locations. These chairs are given for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the donor's condition has changed and they require a different chair or no chair at all. Sometimes the donors outgrow their chairs. But regardless of the reason, the chairs are collected. Following collection, the chairs are transported to shipping ports. These ports serve as hubs where each piece of equipment is routed to a different restoration centre.

Currently, "Wheels for the World" operates restoration shops at correctional facilities across the United States. Inmates are trained to restore the chairs to "like-new" conditions. After each of the individual wheelchairs have been mended, they are shipped internationally to various distribution centres. Interestingly, the Kingdom of Thailand is one of these sites.  Though their movement spans the geographical range of the country, Chiang Mai is one site within the country where dispersal occurs.

In fact, on November 11, 2014 I was on hand at an event that occurred at Payap University's Faculty of Nursing. At this event, there were 3 special guests in the spotlight. Two of these guests were selected cerebral palsy children from Hope Home and the third was a foster child affected by Dushenes Muscular Dystrophy.

In a room filled with occupational therapists, physical therapists and mechanics, each child was fitted with a new wheelchair. Firstly, this process began with a subjective interview with the therapists gathering information about the condition and lifestyle of each child. Questions posed ranged from range of motion to the arrangement of each child's home. Progressively, as increasing amounts of information was acquired, the focus was shifted to a more objective view. During this time, measurements were taken. For example, these tabulations included hip breadth and chest width. Subsequently, it was these numbers that were used to determine specifications such as the size of the seat and seat back. Lastly, once all sizes were gathered, the appropriate chair was then selected and the mechanics then altered each chair to fit the child as best as possible.

Though simply owning a wheelchair is imperative, having a proper fitting wheelchair may be exponentially more important. A proper fitting wheelchair can slow the rate of degenerative conditions, prevent scoliosis, eliminate pressure sores and many other secondary disturbances. However, a wheelchair is important for more than just its role as a sponge for medical jargon.

The query of "what does a wheelchair mean to a person" is impossible to intricately answer. Each individual is defined by a unique set of circumstances and variables that would cause infinite variation in their responses. Nevertheless, from an observational perspective I can generally state that a wheelchair means so incredibly much.

A wheelchair can mean that a child previously unable to feed without being physically held, now has increased independence and self-actualization by feeding in the chair. A wheelchair can mean that a child heavily impaired by hypo sensitivity now has an environment that accommodates learning. A wheelchair can mean that a previously confined child now has the tool necessary to experience adventure and personal discovery. Overall, a wheelchair is more than just a set of wheels. A wheelchair provides hope for a fulfilling future.

Movement Physical Therapy (Stacey Braun)

 The earliest documented origins of actual physical therapy as a professional trade date back to a man by the name of Per Henrik Ling (Chartered Society of Physical Therapy). Through the years, this practice has morphed and changed until its current form in the 21st century. It is this form that is instructed at Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Associated Medical Science Physical Therapy Department to their students. And it is these students that implement their new knowledge on Hope Home's children with cerebral palsy weekly.

As illustrated by children with cerebral palsy, neurological disorders often cause increased muscle tone - or too much tightness. In the muscles of the arms and legs, spasticity results from increased muscle tone, limiting movement and joint mobility (Verschuren et al.).Therefore, the therapeutic goal of physical therapy for children with cerebral palsy is largely focused around "improving ones ability to walk or perform other functional activities" (Verschuren et al.).

Chiefly, passive stretching is the major component of the children's program at CMU. By definition, passive stretching is when "the stretch is performed by another person and the child does not actively participate"
 (Wiart et al.). Notably, this type of stretching is integral to the physical therapy for Hope Home's children. This is because the children who have cerebral palsy at the home, have severe cerebral palsy. The number of controlled muscle movements they are able to perform is extremely limited. Ergo, applied external force is required to complete any stretch.

Foremost, after arriving for our weekly session the physical therapy students started with each child's upper extremities. Initially, a gentle soft tissue massage was completed by each therapist. This was performed to loosen up the desired muscle group and to promote a convivial connection with the child.

Subsequently, each therapist then moved to performing palm extension exercises. These exercises are salient for children with cerebral palsy. For these children, the clenched fists come from the damaged brain sending improper impulses to muscles causing "excess flexion" (Soon et al.). Accordingly, the physical stretching of the palm helps relieve this tension.

Following several minutes of these types of exercises, the students shifted to bicep flexion and shoulder rotation. Overall, in our group this is commonly met with a rousing chorus of grunts, groans and tears. Due to the children's inability to communicate verbally, the reason for the crying cannot be completely understood. The child could be feeling pain resulting from their stuff muscles being elongated. Or if the child has experienced damage to their cerebral cortex, their ability to perceive  their world could be hampered (Gerztiman et al) . Therefore, the child could be perceiving a fearful situation.

Following the choir of cries, the physical therapy students focus shifted to the lower limbs. Largely, a similar routine was performed as on the upper extremities. However, the physical therapy students did preform a new type of exercise to each child's legs that was not performed on the child's arms.

Accordingly, prolonged stretching is when "positioning is used to achieve a longer duration stretch of a muscle group (Wiart et al.). Often this type of therapy is completed with the assistance of splints or braces. In respect to our physical therapy session, 3/4 leg braces allowed the physical therapy students to stretch the major lower extremity muscle groups while simultaneously assisting the child with sitting or standing. Overall, there is something exceptional about seeing a child stand who cannot do it individually. It is almost as if you can see the pride fill their eyes and confidence seep out of their pores. I do not believe there is a better education for the students than that image right there.

Not only are these children living models for the students to practice their craft on, but they are also tangible models of life lessons. Walking should not be taken for granted. Siting should not be taken for granted. Life un-assisted should not be taken for granted. Though confined by their disability - they are not defined by their disability. And that in itself may be a lesson for more than just this small student  sector of Thailand.