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Donna Backues

Arts in Healing
July 4, 2016
Final Application Project

Art Camp for Health & Resilience


Intended Audience
The Art Camp for Health & Resilience is a curriculum developed for a four-day camp
developed for children specifically from the western half of the island of Java, in Indonesia. The arts
portion of the camp consists of two hour lessons each day targeting 20-30 children age 7-11 who have
been raised in deep generational poverty. The lessons be adapted for children in other parts of the
world. However, two hours without a break might be too long for children from the West, but for
children from Indonesia, it is appropriate.
Although the lesson will touch on healthy habits for the mind, body and soul, the main focus will
be on the subject of cigarette smoking which has become a huge problem among the poor communities
of Indonesia. In the past 20 years the number of children aged 10-14 who smoke has doubled and for 59 year olds it has tripled (Duhmieres, 2015). This is due, in part, to a lack of education but also because
of the powerful marketing put forth by American cigarette companies to target men and teenage boys
(Rabinoff, 2006, pp. 147-148). Unfortunately, teenage boys too often offer cigarettes to very young
children who idolize them. So, although the lesson is taught only to children age 7-11, the hope is that
as the children are empowered, they in turn might have an empowering effect on the rest of the
community considering the fact that it is a societal problem (Kaplan, 2007).
Metaphor of the Palm Tree
The theme of the camp would be strengthened using the metaphor of a healthy coconut palm
tree. Coconut palm trees are everywhere in Indonesia and function as a sort of tree of life in Javanese
mythology (Literary representations of the coconut palm in Old Javanese kakavin poetry1, 2015). They
are known for their ability to bend with the wind without breaking. Even when the huge tsunami hit the
Indonesian island of Aceh, a remarkable number of palm trees survived the magnificent force of 90 foot
waves while every other kind of tree was completed destroyed. Palms have many short roots that
radiate out from the trunk in the top layers of the soil which allows the tree to hold a huge amount of
soil creating a strong anchor. The trunk is made of bunches of wood fibers (like wires bunched together
in a telephone wire). This makes the trunk flexible and able to be bent 40-50% without breaking. The
leaves are only at the top. When there is no wind the leaves can spread out creating a canopy that can
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soak in the sun. However, in high winds the leaves, shaped like feathers, close together against a central
rib and often remain intact (Ask A Biologist, 2013).
Although there are many risk factors for the children in West Java, there are ways to prepare for
crisis ahead of time to be strong, be flexible and to creatively use available resources to navigate
through transitions and difficulties (National Aboriginal Health Organization, 2009, p. 68).
Therapeutic Intervention Goals
Safe Space Class time will have an opening and closing ritual, established boundaries including
crossing the threshold. Students and teachers will collaboratively create and reinforce rules while
keeping the space clean and well-ordered. Children will know what is expected of them at all times
fostering a sense of security (Tursunova, 2008; Bath, 2008; Malchiodi, 2008).
Cognitive-Perceptual Time for student inquiry will be woven throughout the lessons. Children
will be given the opportunity to really think about and analyze what they are seeing, feeling, doing and
learning. They will gain knowledge about the effects of tobacco and why they are marketed to
Indonesians by creating two sets of lungs healthy and sick. They will role-play about how to apply
their knowledge after the camp is over (Malchiodi, 2008).
Affective skills & Creativity Students will have the opportunity through percussion music,
movement, breathing exercises and visual art experiences to practice modulating their feelings and to
respond creatively. They will also feel a sense of well-being as a result the art-making and collaboration
(Bath, 2008).
Social Competence, Behavioral Skills & Self-Efficacy The rules and reinforcement of the rules
during class time will teach students behavioral skills & social competence. The collaborative efforts will
allow the students to practice these rules and skills while in the midst of art making. Role playing will
reinforce behavioral habits to be used outside the classroom and will increase self-efficacy (Malchiodi,
2008).
Attributes of Hope
Will-Power:
The students will display will-power when they initiate ways they choose to contribute
to the collaborative percussion session, the painting, the collage work and the group role-play. They will
experience positive expectations before every class and every activity which will be well planned, very
stimulating and enjoyable. They will also look forward to how their collaborative music will sound and
how their collaborative painting will evolve. The color-mixing activity will be very exciting since many
underprivileged Indonesian children have never used paints before. The role-play will give them a
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future orientation and as a community member an opportunity to be intentional in their desire to keep
each other accountable (Malchiodi, 2008).
Way-Power:
The students will exercise relational behaviors in their collaborative art experiences and
will have a willingness to connect with others. They will also experience a sense of transcendence as
they practice future behaviors and decisions through role-play designed to prepare them and give them
hope for themselves both individually and collectively (Malchiodi, 2008).
Interconnectedness The collaborative nature of the music, movement and visual art activities
as well as the role-playing activity will bring the students a sense of interconnectedness. Not only will
they feel this during the experience, but the future-oriented nature of the role-play as far as it includes
the entire community outside the classroom means that the students will continue to feel
interconnected as they attempt to empower their family and neighbors (Bath, 2008; Malchiodi, 2008).
Protective Factors
The establishment of a safe space with structure and discipline and the attention and
connection with at least five caring adults will be strong protective factors that will help in promoting
resilience. The collaborative activities with peers will promote positive social involvement and
potentially create new peer connections for the future. Even the fact that the interventions and the
protective factors are being linked with creativity is in itself a pathway to resiliency (Morrell, 2008;
Malchiodi, 2008).
At the end of the 4-day camp most of the students will be able to say they have gained
knowledge about how to be healthier, how to resist smoking and they will have new art skills and
friends and caring adults from their community who will help them stay strong. The students will also
be able to say they are stronger, capable and creative and they will be able to say that they can help
their friends and the wider community to become healthier (Grotberg, 1995).

References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
(2011). Principles of Community Engagement Second Edition. Retrieved from The Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry:
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/communityengagement/pdf/PCE_Report_508_FINAL.pdf
American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium. (2010). Bulletin of the World Health Organization:
Tobacco is a global paediatric concern. Retrieved from World Health Organization:
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/1/09-069583/en/
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Ask A Biologist. (2013, April 5). Why don't palm trees fall down in tsunami? Retrieved from Ask A
Biologist: http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/answers/viewtopic.php?id=9758
Bath, H. (2008). The Three Pillars of Trauma-Informed Care. Reclaiming Children and Youth Vol. 17 No. 3,
17-22. Retrieved from Reclaiming Children & Youth: www.reclaiming.com
Carey, L. (2006). Expressive & Creative Arts Methods for Trauma Survivors (Kindle Fire ed.). Jessica
Kingsley Publishers. Retrieved from www.amazon.com
Department of Human Resourses. (n.d.). Protective Factors: Tools you Need to build a Strong Family.
Philadelphia, PA.
Draper, M. M. (2001). The Nature of Music: Beauty, Sound, and Healing. Riverhead Books.
Duhmieres, M. (2015, March 23). The number of children smoking in Indonesia is getting out of control.
Retrieved from Global Post: http://www.globalpost.com/article/6500641/2015/03/23/numberchildren-smoking-indonesia-getting-out-control
Grotberg, E. (1995). A Guide to Promoting Resilience in Children: Strengthening the Human Spirit.
Retrieved from Eaarly Childhood Development: Practice and Reflections:
www.resilnet.uiuc.edu/library/grotb95b.html
Hall, J. (2013, November 18). Ardi Rizal: Two-year-old Indonesian boy who shocked world with 40-a-day
cigarette habit kicks smoking but now, aged only five, he is a 'demanding', junk food addicted
market trader. Retrieved from Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/ardi-rizal-two-year-old-indonesian-boy-whoshocked-world-with-40-a-day-cigarette-habit-kicks-smoking-8946861.html
Kaplan, F. (2007). Art Therapy & Social Action. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Literary representations of the coconut palm in Old Javanese kakavin poetry1. (2015). In J. Jkl, Humour,
baroque and nature: the image of the dawn in the Somavallyognandaprahasana (pp. 43-58).
Australia: Pandanus.
Malchiodi, C. A. (2008). Creative Interventions with Traumatized Children. Guilford Press.
Morrell, E. S. (2008). The Role of Creativity in Models of Resilience: Theoretical Exploration and Practical
Applications. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1-25.
National Aboriginal Health Organization. (2009). Community Resilience: Models,. Journal of Aboriginal
Health, 62-117.
Rabinoff, M. (2006). Ending the Tobacco Holocaust. Santa Rosa: Elite Books.
Tursunova, Z. (2008). The Role of Rituals in Healing Trauma and Reconciliation in Post-Accord
Peacebuilding. Journal of Human Security, vol. 4, no. 3, 54-70.

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