Art for Recovery

We kicked off our new little project for little people this week. To get the kids from our villages involved in all the fun, we decided to hold an art competition.

Although the Acehnese are a resilient bunch of people - you kind of have to be when living in a place that's been a conflict area for the last 30 years. A lot of people suffer from post-traumatic disorder and this is especially true for children. A few months ago, we were caught outside during a sudden rain storm and there were 2 kids, probably around 8 or 9 years old next to me and they could not stop shaking and crying. Perhaps the sudden downpour triggered memories associated with the tsunami waves? So we thought it would be a good idea to get a bunch of crayons and lots of paper and give the children a chance to express themselves through art. The topic is 'The Future of Aceh', but as I watched the kids this afternoon, a lot of them were drawing big waves.

Each village will select 2 drawings and then we will pick 12 of the best. We plan to hold an auction and also to create a 2006 calendar out of the 12 drawings. The Assistant Secretary of State will be coming in 2 weeks and the plan is to have him hand out the awards to the winners. What a great photo-op that'll be.