Art Class is Making Waves

The Thursday morning art class, part of an agreement between the Adolescent Program of the City of Buenos Aires and Centro Conviven has been hard at work designing a project that will beautify some of the indoor and outdoor spaces in the house. Centro Conviven already has some art on its walls in the classrooms, but the upstairs area is mostly bare of any decorations. The class started out with smaller drawings to decorate their classroom but the students found themselves looking for another way to express themselves. The larger mural-sized projects are a perfect outlet for these teenagers to show off their drawing skills, as well as practice teamwork as they design, draw and paint the decorations as a group.

Upstairs in the house there is a meeting room that serves as a classroom, two classrooms with desks and chalkboards, and a computer room that contains 12 computers. In the middle of these rooms is a large space with a library that has little to no decoration on the walls, as you can see in the photo below.

The students in the art class are setting out to change this, however. They have envisioned a beautiful ocean scene on tiles that will be placed above the shelves of the library. The photos below are the beginnings of their work on that part of the mural. 

Other projects are individual drawings that the students have made that will painted directly on the wall, and other surprises that you will have to come back to the blog to see the final product. Or, as a volunteer at Conviven you will have the opportunity to see these decorations a few times a week! 

Check back soon to see what else the students at Conviven have been up to!

Conviven Timetable

As of October 2012, the volunteers currently at the center run classes on the following schedule.

• On Mondays and Thursdays at 3.30 and 4.30 PM: English classes for children in primary school children.
• On Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 10 and 11 AM: academic support in English for a small group of middle school aged children.
• Mondays and Thursdays from 2:30 to 3:30 PM: art classes for primary school children
• Thursdays from 2:30 to 3:30 PM: music classes for primary school children
  

We will also be starting a sports program on Wednesdays. Each class has between 6 and 12 children, depending on the day and time.

We are always happy to start new classes if someone comes with good ideas and is willing to run and organise the class. Continuity in terms of timing usually makes organization easier, especially for bringing in students, so we encourage volunteers to work around the schedule we have already set up. We ask that anyone who would like to teach a class be able to commit to Conviven for at least three months in order to be able to develop a relationship with the children.

The center has many other things going on like photography, computer classes, mirco banking and music lesson. These are all run by long term volunteers or teachers at the center, but if you are interested in working with any of these subjects please let our volunteer coordinator know and we would be happy to have your help. See our article on what you can do at Conviven if you would like to see what else you can get involved in.

How to contact us?

Address: Martiniano Leguizamón 2974; Buenos Aires CABA. (Villa Lugano/Mataderos)
Telephone: +54 0 11 4686 5995
E-mail: centroconvivenba@gmail.com
For volunteers
On-site volunteer coordinator: Hannah Milton
E-mail: volunteersconviven@gmail.com

How to get to Conviven:Centro Conviven - Villa Lugano/Mataderos (main centre)
Bus-lines 80-97-103-117-141.

You should get off at Avenida Eva Peron 6000. There is a YPF station on the corner. Go to the cafe of the station, call Conviven and someone will come to pick you up. Here is a map:
Centro Conviven - Isidro Casanova (new centre)

Bus-lines 49-180.
Take either the 49 (1.75 pesos) or the 180 (3 pesos) bus from Primera Junta subte stop (Linea A). The bus journey will take approximately an hour. After about 45 minutes, the bus will drive over two level crossings. Note that the 180 bus goes on the motorway and is faster.

You should get off at Peribuy 6000, on the crossroad with Av Cristiania. On your right, looking down Av Cristiania there is a “Locutorio” telephone centre. You can wait in the Locuturio centre and call Conviven and someone will come to pick you up. Here’s a map: