One of the projects we learned about during training was community murals, a large painting in a public place, and in my case, with an environmental theme. I decided this was a good project to do with my new Brigada Verde group, and after securing paint donations (and lugging them home in a box on a bus, then on a motorcycle - every little thing just takes way more time and effort in the campo!), we met yesterday to do our mural. After finishing the lettering today, it's more than I could have asked for - a beautiful example of a group effort at environmental awareness that will be seen at one point or another by everyone in the community. The process that got us there, however, was interesting to say the least. So here are the things I learned on mural day:
-It's very hard to keep 17-23 year old Dominican males on track in public places where females are consistently passing by. Who knew girls were more interesting than painting an environmental-themed mural?
-The less qualified they are to paint (a.k.a. younger), the more they want to.
-The paints will get mixed, and debris will get in the cans. Better to give up stressing. Also, bodies, plants, electric poles, etc. will all be painted, regardless of how much you preach of wastefulness.
-There's never enough water to clean properly (esp. when the aqueduct isn't currently working), and instead fingers, sticks, and plastic bags bear the brunt of the job.
-If you start in the late afternoon (thought you were smart avoiding the heat of the day?), the sun will go down before you're done, even on long summer days.
-When it's time to leave, you may find yourself, previously the popular paint lady, suddenly friendless with a bag of gooey trash and 6 sticky paint cans to deal with, not to mention brushes that will be stiff as cardboard for the rest of their lives.
-If you can pull it off, it's very rewarding - and makes for a great photo-op.!
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