Tonight: Middlebury Arts Walk

The Middlebury Arts Walk is tonight, 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Drop by 51 Main to view photographer Pam Quinn’s Treasures Among Trash: The Children of La Chureca Garbage Dump, Managua, Nicaragua.

Pam Quinn graduated from Middlebury College in 1988. She has a lot of things in common with Brad Corrigan ‘96 and Dave Campbell ‘09. Aside from graduating from Middlebury College, they were all involved in Middlebury athletics; they have a life-long friendship; and, they have all fallen in love with the children who live, work, and play in a garbage dump in the city of Managua, Nicaragua.

La Chureca is the name of the dump that is home to around 1,500 people. These
portraits of a few of the children were taken over Thanksgiving in 2007. What a
place to learn how to be thankful. Although these children have little in the
manner of material goods, they have a tremendous amount of energy,
determination, and heart.

When Pam walked into the dump on her first day there, the smoke was thick from burning trash. Vultures perched nearby, and she saw a pile of discarded syringes. However, all of that became insignificant as a child ran up and jumped into her arms, smiling and welcoming her as if she were a long, lost friend. In a place of such destitution, relationships become the most powerful possessions. It did not matter what she owned or what she looked like or where she went to school; it only mattered how open her heart was. She has never had such a sense of peace…ironic since she was standing in what looked like a war zone.

Brad (formerly of Dispatch and currently of Braddigan) started a foundation called
“Love, Light and Melody” to help direct funds to the people of La Chureca. He has
made documentaries that are phenomenal and that can be watched on his site. The “Dia de Luz” film is about the yearly concert that Brad puts on in the middle of the dump.

Brad and Dave (both Midd Lax alums) are now generating another project called
Lacrosse the Nations. They began in La Chureca, teaching the children how to play
lacrosse and being “ambassadors of hope”. The response from the kids was
overwhelming. Watch the documentary and learn more at www.lacrossethenations.org!

May these children remind us that if we look beyond the material representations
of a person, we may find something unexpected and wonderfully fulfilling!