From Passion to Project...

by Lysaye de Windt

Class Routine

Me: “Ok class, let’s see if you remember… When I photograph a subject from and very low angle, how will it appear... class: “Larger than usual”… Me: “And if I take the same photograph from an high angle, looking down at the subject, how will it look now? Class: “Much smaller!”

The Beginning...

About a year ago, Mrs. Dulcie Goedgedrag had mentioned that Mrs. Roline Sillé, principal at the Van Houte School, might need some help with photographing some pupils of her school. She suggested I get in touch with Mrs. Sille. Little did I know, this project would become such an amazing journey including photography, teaching, learning, sharing, volunteering and a main motivation for what is today, Curaçao Cares.

Mrs. Sillé shared that; “I’ve noticed that some of my students have a low self-esteem as they are continuously being teased about not being pretty enough etc. I would love for you to photograph them, so they can see their natural beauty, and build their self-confidence.”

I started thinking how much more of an impact it would have to not only photograph these kids, but to also teach them how to view their surroundings from a different perspective through a lens; teach them about photography. The mission: to teach circa 90 pupils of this special education school about visual art and to enable them to use photography as a medium for self-expression. In developing their social and creative skills the students would also have an opportunity to increase their self-assurance. Ultimately, the Van Houte School pupils would participate in a number of photography classes, photography excursions, photo review session, mixed-media classes and in the end an exhibit showcasing their talent.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do SO MUCH.”
Maduro & Curiel's Bank was looking for a project in the Brievengat nieghborhood in which their employees could participate as volunteers. When they found out about the visual arts project, they were excited to participate.

MCB volunteer in action - photo excursion in Fleur de Marie

The MCB volunteers joined the photography classes and shared their love for photography and left the students with useful advice in preparation for their photo excursions. They joined the students on several field trips to Fleur de Marie, Sint Annabaai harbor, Landhuis Bloemhof and Parke Tropikal, based on the school’s curriculum, ranging from topics like Punda, the harbor and nature. With each click of the shutter to capture their images, students were encouraged to answer two questions: First, 'what inspired you and why did you choose to capture it from that particular angle'?

Photograph by student @  Parke Tropikal
Curacao Zoo & Nature Reserve

We could see the students self-confidence grow as they saw their photograph projected during class. But as creativity is endless, the project did not end there. Giovani Zanolino gladly accepted the invitation to share his mixed-media skills with the students. The student’s favorite photograph was used as part of their collage masterpiece. As the MCB volunteers helped the students cut and glue their collage together, Giovanni guided them in bringing their collage to life. Last but not least a third element was added the work; the element of paint.

Giovani Zanolino volunteering
during the collage sessions @ van Houte School

The exhibit
After many hours of planning and organizing to crystalize this project, the best part is yet to come. On Saturday July 6th 2013, we invite everyone to 'Ban Topa den Punda' as Curaçao Cares together with MCB will host the van Houte School student art exhibit at Plaza JoJo Correa, revealing the students photographs and mixed media collages.

A very special Thank You goes to Saskia de Rijke from Connect Business Advisory for volunteering her consulting and writing skills and Maduro & Curiel's Bank for generously supporting to realize every single detail of this project. We could not have put this together without the commitment of MCB volunteers!

It was all a dream...

That's how most things start in New York, don't they? Well that is certainly how our journey started, even though our dream ultimately had nothing to do with New York. For all the accusations of being an 'impersonal' place where all you do is get lost in a crowd of strangers, New York had taught us both one thing: that no matter how busy you are running from train to train, job to job, you can, and should always find time and ways to give back! 

Precisely that, giving back, was the topic of discussion one faithful afternoon in the summer of 2011 when I, Deva-Dee Siliee and friend and now co-founder of Curaçao Cares Lysayé de Windt were sitting around the coffee table in New York with family members that were visiting. Precisely how would we give back to Curaçao, and how can we encourage and inspire others to give back?  

We both had quite some experience getting hands-on in community service projects around the world. I had rolled up my sleeves to reinvigorate the city a few times, had spent weekend-days teaching and organizing seminars for underprivileged students in New York and had shared smiles and tears with juvenile detainees in Tanzania. Lysayé had traveled the world, visiting over 10 countries, volunteering almost everywhere she went with numerous local NGO's, even if it was just for a little while.

Why and how were we able to do all of that? The answer is simple: elsewhere volunteering was made accessible, flexible but still meaningful! But when we thought about Curaçao, we were left clueless as to where we could give our time, talent and skills, and we suspected that there might be more people looking for information on volunteer opportunities finding that this information is hard to come by. 

And so the dream was born to establish Curaçao Cares, a volunteer and project management foundation. Curaçao Cares is proud to join Nederland Cares and New York Cares as an affiliate of Handson network, the largest and most successful international network of more than 250 volunteer action centers in 20 countries. Our mission is aligned with that of the network: to put people at the center of change!

Since our official establishment on October 19th, 2012, we have been working day and night (with the help of many others!) to get the engine started and to ensure that we will be here to serve our community for a long time. 

We hope that you join us on this journey, simply because change....begins with you!