We are happy to have a special guest blog post today! Ally Root will be leaving for Ghana this weekend to spend three months as an Art Therapist at Connor Creative Arts Center. Read below to get to know her a bit!
In August of 2013, I came to Ghana to volunteer with an organization based in Kumasi called Light for Children (LIFOC). My purpose with the organization was to develop an art therapy program for the children in the community. The volunteer coordinator at Light for Children knew of Touch A Life and the great work that the organization continuously does, particularly in regards to creative arts and art therapy. Because of my background in art therapy, she thought I would enjoy seeing the site, so I accompanied her on a trip to the center. I loved the facility, children, and staff and soon began volunteering short-term at the Care Center until my departure from Ghana at the end of August.
I was deeply impacted by the strength of the children at Touch A Life. They were warm and open-hearted toward me from the start, despite the deep struggles they had endured when they had been trafficked into slavery. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to spend time with the children and create with them in Connor Creative Art Center. I felt a sense of joy and connectedness by being around such amazing children in an atmosphere where creativity and free expression are fostered. I will be now be returning to Ghana to work as an art therapist at the Touch A Life Care Center for three months. I am greatly looking forward to the opportunity to reunite with these special children. I believe that whatever it is that I have to offer them is reciprocal to what they will offer me in return.
I have a B.S in Fine Arts and a M.P.S in Art Therapy. Throughout my Master’s program and upon graduation, I have worked as an art therapist with multifarious populations in a variety of settings. I have experience working with adults, adolescents, and children in community, educational, and clinical settings. I have devoted myself to my work as an art therapist by continuously working toward bettering the lives of myself and others by utilizing my creative background as a mechanism for healing and building connections. While at Touch A Life, my goal is to build upon my existing strengths as well as those of the children. I am very excited to begin this journey.