|
|
|
Library Decoration Since the library was the place where all the teaching about Malawi was to take place- to say nothing of coordinating the fundraising through there- it made sense to decorate it to look as much like Africa as possible. Furthermore, I hoped that any media attention the project managed to draw would also have something to focus their cameras on. With these objectives in mind, I set to work. Since so much money was needed for the project, I minimized how much was spent on room decoration. Because kids love exotic animals, I got pictures of African animals and used an opaque projector to throw their enlarged images on butcher paper up on the wall. I traced their lines with magic marker and pulled them down, to be colored in with crayon later on. When finished, these animals were cut out and put up all around the room. A really nice touch involved dried grass and weeds that I harvested from local fields. This was stuck in place using wide library tape. That may not seem like much, but it sure gave the room the feel of an African savannah.
The mud huts were a challenge. Eventually I went and got a large piece of styrofoam, cut it in half and bent the two pieces into a U shape. These I fastened with string. Then I coated them with glue with a paint brush. After this I sprinkled several dustings of dirt on them- who knew you could glue down dirt??? The roofs were made with a foundation of chicken wire and an overcoat of dried palm branches, shaped with scissors. What a mess. Still, it made a passable 'village' foundation.
A couple of fellow staff members lent me some African artifacts. These were great and out of my reach since I had such a limited budget. I did buy some material and a friend sewed together a life-sized flag.
All this sounds fairly easy, but it took literally months to cover all the walls. (It's a large room.) Was this worth the effort? I'd give that an unqualified yes because it focused anyone who came into the room on the project and lessons. It was also made for quite a nice environment to work in.
|
|||||||||||||
