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Ulrike Kösters is currently in Okakarara with her husband for 3 months and is involved in the steps project, among other things through “art classes.” As a trained art teacher and art therapist, she draws on a wealth of experience. She reports:

“No, I wouldn’t call them art classes…. I paint and draw here in Okakarara with the children who come to steps for children. In the mornings, they are preschool and kindergarten children, and in the afternoons, schoolchildren from grades 1 to 7. A total of nine groups attend my “arts room.”

This room is an aluminium-sheet hut in the yard, which has so far mainly been used as storage. Thanks to the donations collected by a former volunteer, tables and a storage cabinet could now be bought for it. I brought paints and other art materials with me from Germany. The pupils and my colleagues at the secondary school Zum Diek in Haan near Düsseldorf, where I otherwise work, gave me their deposit bottles. I used the money to buy the materials. Thanks also to Air Namibia, which, on request, gave me an extra baggage allowance for this purpose.

After breakfast, half of a preschool group always comes to me with the assistant Emily, who translates my English into Herero. I noticed that the children who are supposed to be able to write their names by the end of preschool still have a lot of difficulty with printed letters. Based on my experience with shape drawing, I select exercises that support the children’s motor skills. I begin with large arm movements in the air. My explanations and gestures are accompanied by sounds; sometimes they are little stories, such as one about the crocodile I saw on a trip. After the “required task,” the children can draw a picture of their own that includes the shapes they practiced beforehand.

The schoolchildren come to me in the afternoon, once their homework is done. Here I give little instruction; I want to support their creativity and show them different forms of artistic expression. On a fixed day of the week, each year group comes to me. I work with liquid paints, pencils and coloured pencils as well as charcoal and chalk.

As it quickly became clear that all the children like painting elephants, I started the Etosha project. Using my own photos, copies and other templates, I provided a selection of animals that live in Etosha National Park. In all groups, painting and drawing were done enthusiastically. In the end, a large group artwork by all the children was created.

The atmosphere while painting is always focused, and many expressive works are created. I really enjoy working with them. And now many children throughout Okakarara know me!

[:en]

Ulrike Kösters is currently in Okakarara with her husband for 3 months and is involved in the steps project, among other things through “art classes.” As a trained art teacher and art therapist, she draws on a wealth of experience. She reports:

“No, I wouldn’t call them art classes…. I paint and draw here in Okakarara with the children who come to steps for children. In the mornings, they are preschool and kindergarten children, and in the afternoons, schoolchildren from grades 1 to 7. A total of nine groups attend my “arts room.”

This room is an aluminium-sheet hut in the yard, which has so far mainly been used as storage. Thanks to the donations collected by a former volunteer, tables and a storage cabinet could now be bought for it. I brought paints and other art materials with me from Germany. The pupils and my colleagues at the secondary school Zum Diek in Haan near Düsseldorf, where I otherwise work, gave me their deposit bottles. I used the money to buy the materials. Thanks also to Air Namibia, which, on request, gave me an extra baggage allowance for this purpose.

After breakfast, half of a preschool group always comes to me with the assistant Emily, who translates my English into Herero. I noticed that the children who are supposed to be able to write their names by the end of preschool still have a lot of difficulty with printed letters. Based on my experience with shape drawing, I select exercises that support the children’s motor skills. I begin with large arm movements in the air. My explanations and gestures are accompanied by sounds; sometimes they are little stories, such as one about the crocodile I saw on a trip. After the “required task,” the children can draw a picture of their own that includes the shapes they practiced beforehand.

The schoolchildren come to me in the afternoon, once their homework is done. Here I give little instruction; I want to support their creativity and show them different forms of artistic expression. On a fixed day of the week, each year group comes to me. I work with liquid paints, pencils and coloured pencils as well as charcoal and chalk.

As it quickly became clear that all the children like painting elephants, I started the Etosha project. Using my own photos, copies and other templates, I provided a selection of animals that live in Etosha National Park. In all groups, painting and drawing were done enthusiastically. In the end, a large group artwork by all the children was created.

The atmosphere while painting is always focused, and many expressive works are created. I really enjoy working with them. And now many children throughout Okakarara know me!

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