Thursday, January 25, 2007 Older Editions

The wordless power of masks

By April Guilmet

When Evelina Kolchinsky visited the Great Wall of China, she spoke no Chinese.

But, as a group of Wood Hill Middle School seventh-graders learned last Friday, it's possible to communicate without saying a word. Kolchinsky, a native of Russia and longtime Andover resident, spoke to the students as part of the "Power of Disguise: Masks and Carnivals" program for students in Norma Villarreal's Spanish class and Zee Soffron's art class.

This wasn't her first time visiting the school: Kolchinsky offered a similar programs to Latin students last fall. But since she plans on spending most of next month volunteering in a Mexican orphanage, Kolchinsky was back again, hoping to get students involved in helping the orphans.

"It teaches them to help sustain others, to benefit someone else's life," she said.

Kolchinsky is leaving for Mexico Feb. 8, and plans to spend four or five weeks volunteering at the orphanage.

Her visit to Wood Hill Middle School last Friday included a talk about more than just Mexico. With visual aids, she told the students about a recent trip to China and how she was not prepared for the freezing weather.

"But then I saw something very familiar," Kolchinsky said, motioning toward a screen that showed a Chinese woman knitting. "I watched her. She saw me and handed me some needles."

Although the Russian method of knitting differs from the Chinese method, the two woman had, nevertheless, managed to communicate despite the language barrier. The Chinese woman even brought Kolchinsky a thermos of hot tea.

"What do you think brings compassion?" she asked the students, encouraging them to look for things we all have in common.

"As humans, we've changed very little as far as wanting safety and comfort," Kolchinsky said, pointing to film footage of the Maasai people in Africa.

She discussed with the students how this particular group uses "masks of mercy" for a young warrior to hide feelings of pain. Later, the students learned how to make masks of their own as Kolchinsky demonstrated the process on one of them.

"Is this like putting me down?" joked student Jake Watson, as Kolchinsky slowly covered his face with plaster strips. Assuring him it wouldn't hurt, she encouraged him not to move his face.

"Don't make him smile; it will break the cast," she warned the captivated students.

Soft Spanish music played in the background. Within 20 minutes, Jake held his fragile likeness in his hands, wiping Vaseline out of his eyes.

Several students said they found Kolchinsky's presentation exciting.

"The pictures were really cool. It's interesting to see how people live so differently than we do," said Izzy Campbell. "The Maasi are really resourceful. But we're not."

Her classmate, Carmen Antohi, agreed.

"They have so little, but they know how to make the best out of things," she said.

According to Villarreal, the students will not only make masks, but will write creative pieces about them and present a community event, "maybe a carnival celebration for the residents of a nursing home." They also will think of a way to help the Mexican orphans Kolchinsky will soon visit.

"Some ideas we've thought of include having a dance to raise money, but we haven't solidified any details yet. We're waiting for the children's input," Villarreal said.

The masks project is run by the foreign language and art departments as part of the school's Expeditionary Learning program.

Grants from the Andover Cultural Council and the Andover Fund for Education helped supplement the program. Although it's not always possible to integrate community service into the projects, that aspect is an important part of the Expeditionary Learning program, Villarreal said.

"What's also innovative is the collaboration between foreign language and art," she added.

Kolchinsky plans to return to Wood Hill tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 26, for another interactive presentation and mask-making lesson, this time focusing on Mexican masks and carnivals.

She'll return to the school Feb. 2 to assist students in working on their own masks.