It's hard to believe there are only a few short weeks left in 2017! I don't know about you, but I feel like this year has flown by!
It's been a busy few months for us over here at Vikara Village. Just a few weeks ago we finished up our fall sessions of The Body Love Yoga Project at Numi Yoga in College Park and Sligo Middle School in Silver Spring. The girls participating in those programs have learned healthy ways to cope with stress and many have even added yoga as one of their chosen methods to deal with stress. We will be returning to Numi Yoga and Sligo Middle School this winter, and we hope to have more dates and locations available for you soon!
Our H.Y.P.E program uses hip hop and yoga as a tool for empowerment and transformation. The students participating in H.Y.P.E at Albert Einstein High School in Silver Spring, wrote, recorded and starred in their own original music video about their community of Wheaton! Our partnership with Gandhi Brigade Youth Media and funding from the Arts and Humanities Council allowed us the opportunity to produce a high-quality music video to share with the community.
On Saturday, December 2 we were one one 15 honorees at the College Park Community Foundation Gala! We received a grant from CPCF to award six scholarships to girls participating in The Body Love Yoga Project at Numi Yoga. If you know someone who could benefit from this scholarship, our winter session is open for registration.
Vice Board Chair Tyeesha Dixon and Executive Director Hannah Davis represented Vikara Village at the Gala.
As I sit here on this chilly afternoon reflecting on our fall sessions, I am reminded of how insightful the students we work with can be. The young people we work with are so smart, talented and thoughtful! As active partners in our programs, they demonstrate time-and-time again that they are wise beyond their years. Just listening to the lyrics of "Success," you can hear the challenges these kids are experiencing. You can also hear the love and hope they have for each other and their community as they sing, "We live in a community that means so much to me. You see so many colors on the street, you know that's called diversity."
Today, I thank you, for helping to make the afternoons and evenings I spend with these teens learning, teaching and growing together possible. Without your generous gifts and continued belief in Vikara Village's mission, this work would not be possible.