It started with a canceled trip to Kenya — 60-typed letters and $3,000 later, students Skylar DeVoogd, Stuart Wieten and Devin Week were on their way to Peru.
After months of planning, civil unrest ended the trio’s original plan of going to volunteer in Kenya. Undiscouraged, they read up on places that needed help and decided on Peru.
DeVoogd, a junior film major at Cal State Long Beach, Wieten, a sophomore communications major also at CSULB, and Week, a junior product design major at Otis College of Art and Design, embarked on a 2-week trip through San Bartolo and Lima volunteering and teaching art to orphaned children.
On Saturday the three will be hosting an event, Paint Peru, with live art, a silent auction and a screening of their self-made documentary, “Glued Together,” at the eVocal gallery in Costa Mesa.
Some of the art being auctioned off are t-shirts that have been painted on by the children they worked with in Peru. Prior to the trip, the students received donated art supplies, t-shirts and shoes.
As a therapeutic way to deal with their day-to-day hardships, DeVoogd, Wieten and Week created art exercises for the children.
“We know what a good coping mechanism [art] was for us,” Wieten said.
Despite the poverty and heart-wrenching stories DeVoogd said she was amazed at the children’s positive attitude.
“I was surprised … they were all fun, outgoing, cool kids,” DeVoogd said.
The money raised at the event will go to a non-profit campaign, Not For Sale, which deals with human trafficking, and will then be donated back to the orphanage, Generacion.
“Hopefully if it all goes well we can go back there and see if the situation has improved … Show them we weren’t there for just one time,” Wieten said.
For information on Saturday’s art show go to www.myspace.com/paintperu
This is amazing! I want to applaud these three students for their initiative, and for organizing not only their trip to Peru, but also the art show. What a great example they’re setting to all of us.