Westport Au Pairs from Columbia, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada, South Africa and France helped children make origami animal puppets, color global place mats, and challenged older children to match country and capitals and find country word searches in the third annual Westport Mini Maker Faire, held Saturday April 26, 2014 at the Westport Library and adjacent Jessup Green.  Four thousand interested inventors, tinkerers, artists, crafters, scientists and others came together for the great technology, innovative craft family event.  Robots, electric skateboards, 3 D printers, drones, helicopters, synthesizers,  and more were present for the hands-on workshops and demonstrations for and by children.  The Westport Mini Maker Faire is a joint venture of the Westport Library and Remarkable STEAM, a local organization that promotes science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

Our February cluster event was held at the Westport Arts Center, where Au Pairs from Westport, New Canaan and Weston had a tour of  Lynsey Addario’s  Pulitizer Prize winning photographic exhibit  On the Wire: Veiled Rebellion, photos  of women in Afghanistan.  Lynsey Addario, a Westport native, is an American photojournalist based in London, where she photographs for The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time Magazine. In 2000, she traveled to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to document life and oppression under the Taliban. She has since covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, Congo, and Libya, and shoots features across the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. Lynsey was named by Newsweek magazine as one of the “150 Fearless Women”” and in 2010 Lynsey was named one of 20 women on Oprah Winfrey’s Power List, for her “Power of Bearing Witness”.   The Westport Arts Center is another one of Westport’s jewels!