Category: children's rights
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More inspiration and many thanks overdue…
I just love it so much when I come across people in my life who do so much good, have so much dedication, offer so much service without realizing how much they do. Most of the time these people do not hear enough “thank you” or “wow” or “amazing”. They are so much into what…
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Chab Chamreoun, social worker, inspiring Cambodian
Huge smile always on the ready, willingness, brightness, intelligence are a few of the qualities that emanate from Chab Chamreoun, also know as “James Brown” around the Cambodian Children’s Painting Project. He was studying for 8 years at a wat (Cambodian Temple) near Sihanoukville. There he studied and received a degree in social work. Despite…
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What gets into a humans to make them do something like this?
On the first day of my trip to Cambodia I took a morning trip to visit The Killing Fields also known as Choeung Ek, where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Vietnam War. About 2.2…
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A first care package goes to Safari in Congo
The first “by art we live” package is on its way to Safari in Congo! Safari is one of the child artists profiled by “by art we live” and his story is one that moved me so greatly. Safari (a self chosen name) is a 17 year old demobilized child soldier in the DRC. I…
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A photograph captures a lot more than a smile, a look or a moment in time
After coming back home from my trip to Congo, I keep going back in my mind to the thought of what the camera really captures. It is strange how many cultures believe truly that a photograph can capture part of their soul, and so they hesitate to let you photograph them for fear of losing…
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Children are the hope for our future but who will give them the hope?
They must have hope to give hope. They cannot be struggling for survival and be expected to carry the weight and responsibility of the future. It just goes against nature not to nurture the young and helpless. They need us who have to give. And maybe just a very small thing can change a child’s…
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They have totally made my day!!
Today was my last day in the DRC, and I had planned to visit some child artists and some centers for children of the streets. For the first time since I got here things seemed to be all going wrong. Cars coming late, information miscommunicated, child not at appointment… you name it. By the end…
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They have seen too much!
Children at the “Centre Nutritionnel Therapeutique” in Goma, arrive in a state of malnutrition and illness to receive basic nutrients and medical attention. That helps them get rehabilitated to be able to move on with their journey. Most are part of the thousands of refugees that come through the area or are affected children from…
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When the eyes open a door to the soul..
It was so moving being in the CAJED center for demobilized child soldiers. Just the idea of being with a child who has experienced trauma of that level and can yet be so resilient to want to be a child again is mind boggling. Most of these children spoke only Swahili, so when I interviewed…
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Pure power
Pure power was what met me when I walked into the CAJED center in Goma. Power of youth and children exploding right in my face, incredible force emanating in their dance, movement, facial expressions and eyes. Maybe it is Africa or maybe it is the fact that the force of these children was imprisoned during…