The special children at the Lokvishwas Prathisthan, Ponda, are learning something different these days. As part of a weekly project, Inspire Trust having had a lesson in the Indian sign language, conducted its second workshop for these special children. ‘Art for a Cause – Colour Heroes’ is the weekly project held every Wednesday as part of a oneyear- project to develop an art manual, exhibition of kids works and catalogue of their work. Each session lasts three hours at the children’s section at Lokvishwas Prathisthan which has 155 hearing impaired students, 29 visually impaired students and 75 mentally impaired students and 25 students at the vocational centre. “This week we started to work with the visually impaired children. With them we started with some fun games, followed by an introduction round, rhythm exercises and a drawing exercise,” says Vinesh Iyer, Co-Founder and Director of Inspire trust. A similar programme was held for the hearing impaired children. “With the hearing impaired children we continued with the theatre/ movement games from the previous week, followed by a drawing exercise,” says Iyer. “The introductory sessions are very important and aim to encourage children to bring their own ideas and interests as well as provide opportunities to experience a wide range of materials and allow all children to access different approaches to making art work,” says Sophie Moerbe, Inspire Trust Coordinator and Project Manager. “The idea is to use tools to overcome the fear of the blank page, and to create greater understanding of the materials/surfaces and how to use them,” adds Moerbe. “The next stage would be identifying the children who are interested and inclined towards art and paintings and work with them in different groups – depending on what kind of art they are interested,” said Darryl Noronha, Founder Trustee of Inspire Trust. At these weekly workshops, guided by various artists, the children are introduced and exposed to various forms of art expressions and craft using the learnby- doing methodology, centred around colour and painting. Inspire Trust aims at encouraging each child to explore their world of imagination with personalised guidance and support ensuring a memorable learning experience by keeping their interest alive. “To express thoughts, feelings and dreams is one of the most important abilities in one’s life and art education is an integral part of the development of each human being,” added Moerbe. Inspire Trust also has with creative workshops at Atmavishwas, Verna, a school for special kids and holds regular workshops on Recycling Art at TukTuk Margao on Saturdays. Inspire Trust members have been conducting art workshops through projects for children for the last six years in Goa. “The feedback and insights have been overwhelming and inspiring. We sensed the urgent need to contribute and add value to a child’s life intellectually, emotionally and spiritually,” says Iyer. Inspire Trust works with artistes, painters, sculptors, installation artists, musicians, instructors and facilitators for its workshops and activities. It partners with various organizations and artists from around the country and abroad to promote and organize events, shows, workshops for the artistes at different venues in the country.
