Living Streets Association | 2021 April

For the past few weekends, 3 teenagers on the street have worked together to upgrade the blackboard and repaint the blackboard fence. The 3 three friends are all at the age where they are starting to look for work experience, job opportunities, and ways to make their first income. Doing volunteer work around the community is a great way to build up their resume while gaining valuable experience and skills. Thus, they agreed to help with the this job.

One of the boys’s father is in the army, and whenever they came to paint the blackboard, he would supervise their work. He believed that, if they had already volunteered for the task, they should do it promptly and properly. This way, the two other boys also learnt about discipline, time management, and attention to detail.

The blackboard has become one that belongs to everyone, because everyone can contribute to it together, whether it be the artwork or the annual maintenance that has to be done. Thanks to the boys’ excellent paint job, the blackboard now looks very sleek, helping to make the artwork stand out more.

Children of all ages contributing to the artwork on the blackboard

One of the girls who has grown up on the street has always enjoyed coming outside during her break times to do write up new quotes or do another fun artwork. She has a great attachment to the pieces she creates, as she puts a lot of time and effort into them. This is wonderful, as people look forward to seeing what kind of new ideas she has, but it also meant that she wanted the board to be perfect each time she worked on it. When other kids also wanted to join in, she would be reluctant to share the board, in case they drew over and ruined her art. When it rained, she would be disappointed that her art didn’t last very long and got washed away so quickly.

After growing a bit older, however, she now sees the rain as an opportunity for even more beautiful art. She has also learnt to share the board with the younger children and can see that a collaboration of all different hands creates art that is even more awe-inspiring. There is something extremely special in an artwork that showcases the different talents, hobbies, and personalities of all the people involved.