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Hello from the Philippines!
This trip was only realized about three months ago, but I have been waiting earnestly for the day I would return to Southeast Asia. I am actually here to continue my studies in Peacebuilding, which is what I kind of fell into when I returned to University studies in the fall of last year. I was given a small scholarship to help with the cost of the trip by the Irving K. Barber foundation back home in B.C. I will be taking an Arts Based Peacebuilding course in Davao city at the end of this month, where I hope to share my love of the hula hoop and the flow arts with the other Peace Warriors that are coming from all over the world to study at the same institute. I decided that I wanted to implement a mini-project while I was here: sourcing materials, building the hula hoops, and finally giving them away to families and children in need. I have decided that I am going to name all the projects and initiatives to spread the hoop love (and the flow arts in general) "Peace in Motion." The aim is to provide access to toys (hoops, poi, etc) and teach others about their uses and how they contribute to create healthy, peaceful individuals and cultures. These art forms are beginning to take the world by storm, and everyone should be aware of the power of the Arts to heal and inspire. Thanks to the internet, I have been able to get into contact with the flow arts community here in the Philippines and am so lucky to have Bernadette Yu, of Hoopaholic Cebu, to help me with my project! Today we are going to get the materials for the project--- its going to be a crazy few days here in Cebu as we make as many hula hoops as we can manage. Then I just have to figure out how and where exactly I am giving them away. I just flew into Cebu last night, after 3 days in Manila. I must say that unlike true fashion (for me) I haven't even taken any pictures of the country yet! I've been busy catching up on sleep due to jetlag, and also preparing more details for my trip and my project. Believe me, sitting in front of my computer for hours every day is not exactly what I want to be doing right now, but before I left Canada I was so busy and so rushed with so many things to do. So today marks the day where I have FINALLY started building www.travelkitty.org --- a web domain that I have owned for 3 years now, but have not found the ambition or time to get it going.. until now. So over the next few days I will be building hoops and getting into contact with the communities here that are going to help me get my project off the ground. I hope to take many pictures so I will have lots of content to draw from as I regularly update this site, and my new site as well. Travel Kitty is a website that I will use to post all my travel stories and pictures, as well as all the information related to hula hoop projects that I hope on implementing as I travel the world over the next few years. I'm even going to get my arse in gear and post a section for older travel shots and stories that I never got a chance to share before--- from Africa and Asia. I hope you enjoy looking for the updates, and I encourage you to "share" them with your family and friends and repost on facebook. The flow arts are something that I am greatly passionate about because they have changed my life and have helped me to connect deeper to myself and to so many others throughout my adventures and travels. It is exciting for me to be able to meld my passion with my academic studies, and at the same time introduce these joyful art forms to others along the way. Even if the hula hoops I am giving away only bring a smile to a child's face for a few hours, it is SO worth it. I will be posting the first stages of the project within the next couple of days on the TravelKitty website, so stay tuned! If you would like to donate a small amount of money to the project, (which will be used for the construction of the hoops) you can do so on the hoops page of this website. :) Love, Peace and Circles, Angelica. So now that I am taking Peace Studies at Selkirk College, I have found ways that hula hooping, and movement arts in general can be used as a peacebuilding tool. It allows for inner peace and transformation of the individual-- it also offers a way to transform relationships and get people out into the community together-- being co-creative beings. It works on the individual and community level to create groups of people that have an evident mind/body/soul connection, or in other words, the freedom expressed through dance-- a way in which life has been celebrated all over the world, past many cultures and centuries.
I am allowing the creatie self-expression in my life to inspire others (I hope) and am putting it to use in my courses at school. I was asked to create a service-learning project that would help a community or person. I decided that I wanted to team up with my friend Dana to offer free yoga/poi and hula hoop lessons once a week for 5 weeks straight. We have been meeting up at Selkirk College in the gym (Castlegar) every friday at 530 ( til 7 pm). All ages 14+ are welcome. Please don't hesitate to bring a friend, we really love introducing the movement arts to as many people as we can! ;) Further down the road, I will be going to the Philippines thanks to a scholarship I received from the Irving K. Barber Foundation. There I will be learning at a Peacebuilding Institute in Mindanao and I will also be trying to implement a mini project that I have set for myself --- sourcing materials, constructing and giving away as many hoops as I can! I was able to donate 7 hula hoops to the Nelson Women's Centre. I hope they get lots of use, or find loving homes :) There's nothing like giving hoops away, it makes me so happy.
Yikes! Took me way too long to get these images up, but the pictures from Sayulita are up in the 'Hoops' section ----in the slideshow at the bottom. Susan from Spin City Hoops, and I (ApsaraHoops) both made hoops with love to be donated to unsuspecting kidlets in Sayulita, Mexico.
Part of the purchase proceeds from ApsaraHoops goes towards making these hoops, and getting hoops in the hands of those who cannot afford to buy their own. :) Thank you for all the support. And big thanks to Susan and Joanna for delivering the hoops! x the hoops have landed in mexico! yay! I sent 3--- small number, but susan didn't want to have too much to carry, so with her contribution, we will have given away 5 hoops to the children of Sayulita, Mexico~! woo hoo! Pics coming soon, via Susan and Jo :)
My friends Susan and Joanna are going to Sayulita Mexico for a week. I was tempted to go, but alas, I have decided to be more responsible, and stay at home (for different reasons) this time. BUT, Susan herself makes and sells hoops (SpinCityHoops, Burnaby B.C.) as well, so we are joining forces and bringing/sending down a handful of hoops to distribute to local kids. Wahoo!
Ahhh! That at last feeling. I have been wanting to create a site for quite a while dedicated to the most prominent shape in my life..the circle! I really feel that if people open themselves to new ideas and new experiences (like hoopdance), only their Innermost potential and Happiness will follow. I will continue to build/alter this site so that it will become a good resource for people to find anything on hoops or hoopy health! Please don't be shy to post any ideas, comments, stories or questions here.
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July 2021
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