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FLY CANVAS Day: What Do You Carry in Your Heart?

It’s no secret, we love working closely with small, grassroots organizations. One such organization is Project PEARLS, a volunteer-run, non-profit that coordinates outreach efforts in impoverished areas of the Philippines.

Led by Melissa Villa, the groups is currently focusing their attention on the small slum of Ulingan which rests atop a dumpsite surrounded by charcoal factories. To paint a quick picture, these factories emit pollution and residents have no access electricity, toilets or even sanitation options. The village children and their families have no choice but to live amongst soot, garbage, mosquitoes and vermin each and every day.

Since the start of our partnership with Project PEARLS, we have been supporting their mission of educating the youth of Ulingan. We do so in hopes of helping these young children to take control of their lives to better their circumstances and respective futures firsthand. In addition to our ongoing support, we felt it was time to take things up a notch and have a little fun in the process. We thought, why not coordinate something different and participative for the children to have fun with on a given day. We could call it FLY CANVAS Day.

The goal with FLY CANVAS Day was simple: bridge the gap. With our beloved mantra Everyone Carries Something in mind, we sought out to shed light on what the children of Ulingan carry. No, not physically, but rather immaterially, in hopes of revealing what these they carry on the inside- in their hearts.

We worked with Project PEARLS to create a classroom activity for the kids that would showcase their amazing ambitions as well as introduce a spark of creativity and story telling into the mix. On a school day, volunteers led a session where the students were encouraged to talk about and write down what they carry in their heart as a way of showcasing their personal aspirations and dreams. They were each given art supplies so that they could draw pictures to illustrate their stories.

Here are a few photos our favorite photographs from the day courtesy of Project PEARLS volunteer photographer Sidney Snoeck:

Soon we will be incorporating these inspiring drawings, stories and photographs into the second volume of FLY CANVAS booklets, the ones that come wrapped up in every good we make.

Until then, you can see more images of this incredible day by checking out our full album on the FLY CANVAS Facebook page @ www.facebook.com/flycanvasgoods.

To learn more about Project PEARLS and their outreach programs in the Philippines, visit www.projectpearls.org and www.facebook.com/projectpearls1

Questions? Drop us a line in the “Reach Us” Box to the right.

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