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In this room, children fly

ELCA partners offer children in Haiti healing activities

She's small, but her smile lights up a room. Rosedaline Revolis, 8, grins as she plays the pandeiro (frame drum) for capoeira, a martial-arts inspired Brazilian dance that is now helping Haitian children cope with change since the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Capoeira is part of a comprehensive psychosocial program offered by Viva Rio, a partner of Norwegian (Lutheran) Church Aid, which works with the ELCA through ACT Alliance to provide assistance in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Rosedaline Revolis plays the pandeiro, a frame drum, thanks to music lessons ELCA partners provide in a tent encampment in Haiti's troubled Bel Air neighborhood.

Kay Nou, the space formerly used as Viva Rio's community center in Port-au-Prince's downtrodden Bel Air neighborhood, is now a tent encampment housing about 1,600 people. Children who live there have daily opportunities to unleash their creativity into art, music and dancing, helping them deal with the stress of being displaced.

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