Unimos el barrio

Two weekends ago, I woke up early on a Saturday morning and tried to decide which of the slim selection of clothes I'd brought with me were painting clothes. None of them were. But now, I am in possession of a complete painting outfit.

That happened over the course of six solid hours of sanding, priming, and painting with an organization called Jab Valparaíso. They are a charity composed of young people who literally paint social change.  Their entire philosophy is based in the belief that indifference feeds poverty. Slowly, brush stoke by brush stroke and building by building, they are transforming the neighborhood of Viento Sur, a cluster of low-income housing units on one of Valparaíso's outlying hills.

On the day that I painted, over 30 volunteers from my university (exchange students and Chileans) jointed with volunteers from the organization and neighbors to paint two giant blocks of apartment building.

Here is a before picture:

From Jab: Valpo (I can't take credit for having the foresight to bring a camera)

After a safety talk in their cramped office, harnessing up, adjusting helmets, and absolutely not introductory lesson for those of us (me!) who has never sanded, primed, and painted a building before, my group of six climbed the scaffolding into the bitter-cold wind and began.

Things I learned:

- When sanding on a lower floor, you must not look up if you want to avoid an eyeful of dust from above

- Painting clothes imply shoes, so don't wear your only pair unless you are fully prepared to embrace the given color (my sneakers now have lovely creamsicle orange accents)

- A unhealthy lack of fear of heights will earn you major points with your Chilean supervisor who doesn't want to paint the top floor

- A giant speaker balanced on the sill of an open window of a neighboring apartment is the best sound system

- There is nothing better than a hot cup of tea to warm your hands as you admire your hard work

All in all, the day flew by. I loved the small interactions I got to have with the people of the neighborhood who painted with us, made the entire group a wonderful lunch, and blasted salsa music for us all day. 

And seeing the end result was moving. With some paint and collective effort, we'd generated a complete transformation in not only the way the neighborhood looked, but how it felt. The energy of the place had changed completely and I will never forget the smiles I saw on the children's faces.

Here's the end product:

At the end of the day, needless to say, I felt on top of the world. Or at least, very much a part of it.

Love to all.

(Unimos el barrio means "we unite the neighborhood," the slogan of Jab Valparaíso)