Amsterdam Initiatives	Currently Reckoning has 2 locations for our initiatives.  Kunst en Kijk, Slotermeer Pauluschool, Bos en Lommer We are collaborating with SKC, YWAM, and NewLifeWest in these initiatives.
How we do it	Reckoning has developed a technique of building character and everyday leadership skills using art-making. We see personal transformation as a process, realzing change happens slow in the life of a person and in a community. It takes patience, love and dedication to build trust and create safe places for people to learn deeply. Read some of our stories to see the impact it is having. You will be encouraged!

•   Kunst en Kijk, Slotermeer, Amsterdam

Art Showcase finale

Ben, our videographer, noticed that the kids came dressed up
for this party. There were so excited and eager to help set up and prepare for
the party. We had too many kids and not enough for them to do (what a great
problem to have!)

After we got the room set up, we set out the food and ate
and talked. We were expecting the mothers to come shortly and then have some of
the students act as docents and share what they had made. Well unfortunately,
only two mothers came. We needed to shift gears and find a way to channel all
the energy in the room.

We decided to have the children share with each other the
art pieces they had made. For the next 30 minutes or so, the students stood up
and shared one after the other - what they had made, what they learned, and
what they liked. It was really special.

Ben was interviewing them with the camera and they could not
get enough. When it was over, we told them they could take home all they had
created. The room was nearly empty. They were so proud with what they had done.

We have three versions of Kunst en Kijk. You have got to see
it!

Kunst en Kijk - music only

Kunst en Kijk - English voice over

Kunst en Kijk - Dutch voice over

• De Stichting voor Kennis en sociale Cohesie (SKC) in Amsterdam 

March 4th, Shawna started training the mentors within SKC. These mentors meet with the same group of students every week for an entire school year. These students are identified by the school as those who need extra help. These are usually the "problem" children in a schoo. We spent the first week focusing on the importance of character development as we are coming at character development in a very different way. Each week, I take the mentors through the art-making activity and then they lead the students through it in the afternoon. You can read about each week on the blog page.

• Upcoming Initiatives in Amsterdam and Abroad

• The next batch of grants have been written for our next round  of Kunst en Kijk which we hope to start in the middle of May.
  This will take us to the end of the school year.

• The SKC project at the
  Pauluschool will be completed at the end of April with our Art showcase on 29
  April.

• SKC is now writing grants to expand this pilot in September,
  which means Shawna could be training many more mentors and Reckoning will be present
  in many more schools in the fall. Our goal is to get into the school day,
  training teachers and perhaps some art teachers who could come in and do the
  art component for the regular teachers. We would like to train the teachers in
  character education as well.

• Reckoning is also going to South Africa! We are working with
  the AICS, where Ari (Shawna's son) is attending. We will be training the DP students,
  (juniors and seniors) who will participate in this trip, in our method, which
  they will implement with afterschool programs with over 400 children in
  townships in Cape Town! Local staff and local teachers will be trained while in Capetown by Reckoning as
  well.This will further ensure a sustainabe initiative that they will be able to continue. The great thing about
  the training is that they will be able to adjust it to fit into thier personal giftedness, so it can be personalized to the various volunteers or teachers. It is an
  embedding method and transferable to fit the culture and talents of others.

• We are preparing the training materials, and will
  begin fundraising before the school year is over. We have a lot of money to
  raise and there is much excitement and enthusiasm with the teachers and
  students. If you would like to contribute to this project or any of the other initiatives you have read about, that would be greatly appreciated. We are working with impoverished communities with limited funds so any and all contributions make a huge difference!