Just before the afternoon session began, it started to rain—really, really hard. It was raining sideways, and, because the school is at the base of a valley, all of the water flows downhill towards it. While it normally trickled down the steep bank towards the sewage creek, the water shot out of the pipe, roughly five feet across, at a frighteningly high velocity. The water came out almost horizontally and nearly cleared the entire creek. It was almost as if created for an amusement park—only more intense. I could picture the raft full of shrieking passengers going through the torrent and over the rapids.

Some of the rain even made its way into the building, but a quick response kept it from spreading onto the nearly completed mural.

Later, in the same mural class, recently learned principles of forgiveness were put into action. The day before, a girl had to stay home for pretty severe misbehavior, but the afternoon of the storm she stayed after class to apologize and ask Leah Samuelson, Eastern University Graduate student and BuildaBridge Artist on Call, for forgiveness. Samuelson forgave her and welcomed her back.

Friday morning we passed the miners rappelling down into the creek; others were using shovels to trap debris in the creek  that they might subsequently sell.

Just before the 10 a.m. show was set to begin, no family or friends were in the room. The empty row was miserably depressing. But minutes later, the entirely female audience piled in at once. The kids opened with the theme song they had sung all week, but the words punctuated the air with far greater intensity. The chorus was at shouting level. They were definitely using their outside voices. As the teachers and our group were introduced, names prompted further screeching and clapping among the children.

The mural and making peace sign provided the backdrop for the show, hanging between the two bright orange curtains on the third floor. In each corner of the mural were the words “piensalo, hablalo, trabajalo and vivelo,” think it out, talk it out, work it out and live it out, respectively.

The bean and plate tambourines were almost drowned out during the musical performance because of the pounding rain on the tin roof—almost. After acting out their story, the kids of the drama group passed the microphone down the line, saying their names and “soy un actor/actriz,” I am an actor/actress.

Several members of the art class then spoke about elements of the mural and how they relate to peace-making.

Waving their arms, bowing and hugging, the dance class expressed peace-making abstractly and non-verbally.  

After the children received certificates and a pencil and pen wrapped in ribbon, the show concluded with the theme song.

The week had been a great success. Behavior often remained an issue, but all our teachers noticed positive changes in the children during our time in La Limonada.

Eastern University Graduate student Celmali Jaime witnessed a growth in the confidence and self-awareness of her groups. She was pleased to provide them with a non-verbal, non-violent way to communicate. Shannon Cassadayho, former BuildaBridge intern and ESL teacher, observed children that could not even say their names or a whole sentence in front of a group grow to a point that they were confident enough to perform in front of others. In the art class, Samuelson noticed a shift in her students’ abilities to take ownership and initiative in finding visual solutions on the mural. BuildaBridge Intern Erica Breitarth saw the kids in her music class go from a position in which they could not come up with or create things on their own to a position in which they could improvise and create on their own.

Following BuildaBridge’s arts-integrated camp on peace-making, there was a noticeable increase in the confidence of most of the children in the school. In La Limonada the children are often given little love and attention and are left feeling they are of little importance. Evertsz and the rest of the people working at the camp, as well as BuildaBridge and other caring organizations, work to show the children that they do matter and are capable of great things.