Student Voices · Letters from the Club
Art as Antidote: Voices from Lavington Girls
In 2024 Unity brought an art club and gallery field trips to Lavington Girls Secondary School. Students responded with handwritten letters of gratitude, discovery, and transformation.
The feeling running through them is expanded possibility. Art is a language for emotions, a tool for environmental awareness, a builder of confidence, a source of peace.
In their own words
Nearly every letter expressed gratitude and new confidence. Quotes are lightly cleaned, with the original spirit kept. Students are named by first name only.
Gratitude & Opportunity
“I want to say thanks for bringing art club in this school. I have learnt a lot... I swear I am glad to showcase my talent.”
“Thank you for all the resources that you have brought to our school... we all aspirate.”
“We never thought that we would ever get an opportunity like this in our lives. You have carried Unity Club and it has shown us that art can unite and express a feeling.”
Confidence & Identity
“I feel that the art has brought me from the dark to the light.”
“Some of us we did not even know that we can beautifully believe in our own drawings but ever since you came you have encouraged us.”
“Ever since I joined ‘unity art club’ it has build up my self-esteem. When I used to tell people that I want to be an artist, they used to laugh at me.”
“This art club has help me to have confident in myself and believe that I can do what I never expected to do.”
Emotional Well-being & Safe Space
“The art club has actually offered me a safe space and a love-filled environment... My days can be stressing but the brushes and paint have a way of filling my mind with extra-ordinary peace.”
“You taught me how to reduce our anger by drawing something in mind rather than fighting.”
“Art is one thing that I love doing because it helps me get rid of boredom.”
“So far since you guys came am off depression and am kind of a new person now.”
Learning: Art Is Bigger Than Drawing
“Art is not drawing alone... I learned that we can use any waste product to come up with a beautiful art.”
“Art does not mean only to draw or paint, it’s all about creativity... My best artist was presenting about pollution of the environment.”
“I learnt that art was not only about drawings and paintings... anything that lies around me is art, even the look of how a tree is shaped.”
Students cite colour theory, hatching and cross-hatching, composition, wall murals, and creating from soap, wax, plastic and scrap metal.
What they saw at the galleries
Field trips to two Nairobi galleries, One Off Gallery and Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute, put students in front of working artists:
- Jared’s work with plastic opened conversations about pollution and reuse.
- Elias’s historical and community work showed how history shapes landscape and identity.
- Sandra’s ceramics and paintings explored people and nature.
- Maggy’s mentorship: “be teachable” — dreams start from nowhere.
Many students now see art as a career path, and several want to become professional artists and inspire others. The environmental thread links to our sustainability work.
What art changed
Emotional Regulation
Brushes and paint as a way to find peace, calm anger and step out of a stressful day.
Confidence & Agency
Students who were laughed at for wanting to be artists now believe in their own work.
Expanded Definition of Art
Art becomes more than drawing: waste, plastic, history and the shape of a tree.
Environmental Literacy
Plastic pollution, recycling waste into art and a duty to protect the environment.
Belonging & Unity
Painting a wall as a team, and friendships built in the club.
Fund the next programme
Sponsor or partner a school programme
Help bring art club sessions and gallery field trips to more students. Message us on WhatsApp to sponsor or partner, or give directly by M-PESA.
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