Letter of Appreciation
ROAN BALAS MCNAB, WCS GUATEMALA
AVENIDA 15 DE MARZO, FLORES, PETEN, GUATEMALA
Tel/Fax: 502-926-0569
EMAIL: wcspeten@gua.net
PROYECTO PETEN PROGRAMAS PARA MESOAMERICA Y EL
CARIA:
8 July 2002
To Whom it May Concern,
As Director of the Wildlife Conservation
Society’s Guatemala Program, I would like to declare our
appreciation for the ArtCorps project promoted by the New England
BioLabs Foundation. Over the last seven months, our community-based
conservation project in the village of Uaxactun has provided both a
home, and a canvas, for an excellent Chilean ArtCorps volunteer named
Natascha de Cortillas. Natascha was assigned to us by Ms. Martine
Kellett to help us transmit an environmental message to the youth of
the village.
Since arriving, Natascha has worked with over 100
youth (of a total population of 800), providing individual instruction
and creative stimulation for the youth, many of which have never had
the opportunity to receive schooling. The creative projects conceived
and executed by Natascha include youth paintings on the front doors of
their respective houses, homemade photographs of daily events in the
lives of the youth, visits of all her art classes to Tikal National
Park, and a massive mural painted by the youth on the fascia of the
community salon. In addition, she developed a poster transmitting a
message of sustainable wildlife use in support of the village
Hunter’s Committee, has supported the village doll makers (women)
to increase the aesthetic appeal of their dolls, and will soon
terminate a new project to design an attractive T-shirt to be sold for
profit by the local village institution (OMYC, S.C.).
These myriad projects, impossible without the
unique collaboration of the NEBF and ArtCorps, have all helped the
Wildlife Conservation Society and the village of Uaxactun. By wedding
our message of conservation to the medium of art, Natascha has
motivated the leaders of tomorrow (the children), while improving today
for all the village?s inhabitants. Natascha’s eye-catching
graphics have gotten our message out much better than the spoken word
or printed paper. WCS is also indebted to ArtCorps for the appreciation
we have received from the village adults, for supporting their youth,
and for providing healthy and stimulating activities that expand the
children’s horizons.
Finally, let me say that I would never have
thought of art as a way to work in the village. This was Ms.
Kellett’s dream, and a fine one it was. I thank her for this bold
innovative idea, and for offering us the opportunity to test ArtCorps
in our challenging environment. If ArtCorps worked in Uaxactun village,
I am sure it will have a bright future wherever it goes. It may, in
fact, find itself in great demand! Our greatest hope now, for example,
is to be able to continue the project in the future.
Please feel free to communicate with me for any
additional information.
Sincerely,
Roan McNab
