She has to settle some of her stuff there, followed by a new year into her studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, where she is studying English Literature & Art History.Janelle is one of the ladies conducting the DreamCatcher Creative Writing Programme that my two girls are attending for FREE!.
Together with her best-est friend Sara, who is studying at the University of Queensland doing International Relations... they both pack a powerful Creative Writing Programme for children residing in the vicinity of the North during their summer vacation, here in Singapore.
It has been our greatest pleasure to have had the opportunity to sign our two girls up for their programme.
Why powerful?
Because in just mere short weeks into the programme, the ladies can inspire the children to write and I mean really write. Now we all know how (most) children dislike writing. But these two ladies did it. Apart from that, they have rekindled my passion for writing. Sara & Janelle make writing interesting and almost effortless.
Before she left shortly after last Christmas, I managed to grab hold of her for a short chat cum interview. LOL! Technology these days are superb that interviews can be done via any mode one prefers or the kind one has time for. *wink*
This had always been on my mind (since I first found out about this gem of a programme...
Me : Can you share your motivation why DreamCatcher was set up and the objectives you girls hoped to achieve?
Janelle : We want to share our love of writing with the simplest of minds because we believe that children possess an immense capacity to imagine-a-purity of mind that ebbs away with age.
We wish to catch these special moments and put them on paper so that these thoughts may have an opportunity to be expressed.
Of course on a more philosophical note, the pen is always mightier than the sword. If there is any hope for the world to achieve a semblance of harmony, we have to start with our children. That's the gist.
On a personal level, besides making fruitful use of our holidays, we want to reach out to the various levels of society and to provide a platform for writing to take place with as little restraints as possible - either monetary/environment restrictions are no excuse.
Besides, as friends, I think we meld together on many levels and above all, we have a lot of respect and regard for each other's opinions.
We wouldn't imagine doing this without each other!
We miss you tons, Janelle! 
We miss your beautiful luscious long locks that is so advertisement-worthy..
your infectious laughter..
your warm and effervescent candour..
your profound acceptance and understanding of every child's unique writing ability..
oh well.. just miss having you around.. Period.
Here's the little trinkets DD2 left for you.
She really hopes you like them.
We wish you well, ALL THE BEST in everything
you do and promise promise promise to
stay in touch, ok?
Pweeeze?
Hello girls (& my lovely little boys)
ReplyDeleteI am in the midst of moving, so pardon me for the delay at EVERYTHING! I am literally bawling my eyes out reading this. I really did not expect anything to come out from the workshop. I am sure Sara too (by the way she shared my sentiments in that interview, in fact she contributed half of what's up here). I am moved by this blog. Looking at the support and the enthusiasm, just the effort at writing a post on every lesson makes me know that what we are doing is worth it.
The next summer, Sara and I promise to have a serious chat about continuing the workshop.
Take care my WRITERS! Love from down undah!
THANK YOU FOR THE GLOBE! AND THE CARD. THEY ARE GOING UP ON MY STUDY SHELF! Pictures ahead....
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