I met David Chatowsky a couple of weeks ago down at the Open Eye Cafe. There was my friend Judi, pouring her milk and sugar and I hadn’t seen her for so long; just the person I wanted to talk to, too, she’s a good writer, has an attitude on her, what would be good for the site. And next to her was this dashing & tall fellow, just passing through town, her brother David from back in Rhode Island. I’m always happy to meet a fellow New Englander.
As I pitched Judi on contributing some genius, out comes this story of her bro’s trip to Miami, how he’s flying on to Nicaragua and teaching art to kids at a new poor school, then the words “clay angels,” and “David likes to write, too,” and “oh?” and “yeah,” and “bring it.” Like that, we have our premiere outside contributor!
The day his first entry arrived by email, I made a thankful and encouraging reply, and had the thought that this must be what it feels like to be in publishing, to be an editor, to shepherd your client, to nurture talent, to wear a vest indoors, to hold a newborn.
This Saturday, March the 14th 2009, I will be flying into Managua. When I get there, I hope to be picked up by my good friend and interpreter, Jairo Cortez. A native Nicaraguan, Jairo and I have been steadfast allies in our war against poverty ever since we first met.
I first went to Nicaragua to help out in a school for poor children. The school is called Suenos de Luisa (The Dreams of Louise), and it was founded by Louise Brunberg. Besides my mother, Louise is as close to a Saint as I have ever known. We first met in the Fall of 2006. Louise spoke about her school in a church I was attending. After the service, I introduced myself and said I would be honored to go down to Nagarote and help out at her school. She looked at me with a bit of surprise in her eyes and said “Well come on down!”
That winter I saved up as much money as I could, and when March of 2007 rolled around I flew to Nicaragua and helped out at Louise’s school. I was sitting on the steps in front of Suenos de Luisa when I first met Jairo. He walked up the steps and said to me “Whats up, bro? Are you David?” I knew then and there we would be good friends. To this day, I have never heard another Nicaraguan introduce himself by saying “What’s up, bro?” And I doubt I ever will. For the most part, they are very modest and formal people.
The following March, in 2008, I again left the United States to help out at Louise’s school. This time, I taught the children to make angels out of their native clay. Then I sent the clay angels and some paintings to the Latino Art Museum of America (LAMOA) in Pomona, California. In June of 2008, the LAMOA exhibited these angels and the proceeds from the sale went back to the Nicaraguan children-artists. Thus, the Angel Art Program was born.
Now, this Saturday, I will be flying back to Nicaragua to see if I can do it all over again. This time, though, I will be teaching art at the Suenos de Luisa school, the San Isidro Elementary school, and in remote mountain villages around Somoto, in the northern part of the country near the Honduras border.
Will I be able to get the children to create the art for more museum exhibits? Will the Angel Art Program succeed or fail? Time will tell. If you are interested in seeing any of the events described above for yourself, please go to http://www.youtube.com and type in “david chatowsky” in the search box. You will not only meet Jairo, Louise and myself, but many more colorful characters, and most importantly the wonderful Nicaraguan children. If you are interested in helping out contact me through email: davidchatowsky@hotmail.com …Peace
Find all of Davids reports from Nicaragua here at the index.
The rainy weather around Chapel Hill is like politics. The Bush years seemed like they would never end, back while we were in it, but now look what’s blooming.
All rain is local. The personal is the precipitate. Folks are going to get soaked. There will be huge profits made during the Bailout Era, for some of the same reasons there will be great advances made by the current government in the wake of the previous, disastrous one. It will be interesting to follow the latest Executive Bonus Outrage, to see which payouts the feds try to abrogate and which are simply undiggable bloomings.
Similiarly (which is one of my favorite words), I don’t take seriously talk of an Obama-led permanent Democratic majority in American government. Just a few election-cycles ago, there was a lot of noise about just such a lock-down on power by the GOP. Not so much, eh? In fact, by the time the sentiment had become widely understood, it was already being eulogized.
At my house, by the time I really realize that I’m soul-soaked and cabin-fevered, the blooms are twinkly tweeting…
Focii on Locii 
