Art Mentorship for Poor Vietnamese Children

It’s Sunday morning and the kids have been up early. It’s hot and humid in the small village of Cam Duc, Vietnam, but the kids in our art program are on their bicycles heading to art class.

The kids enter through the large metal gates in front of the schoolhouse, and through the beautiful wooden doors, where Thang and Tuan, our teachers have laid out all of the art supplies, opened the wooden windows, and prepared for the kids to arrive.

Trang, one of our high school students, has just ridden a very long distance to take class, she is always there, and determined to learn new techniques and improve her skills. Trang is such a wonderful, very talented young girl, and we have given her a small job to keep track of and organize the art supplies at our school, she is saving her money to be able to go to college in a year.

Thang, our art teacher has been teaching the kids a new Vietnamese art form, called rice painting. This art form was developed only about 10 years ago and has steadily becoming popular in Vietnam.  With a pencil, students create a drawing and then take grains of rice that have been roasted to create natural colors, and meticulously apply each grain to the canvas.  What do you think of this artwork?

Every day, as the kids arrive, there is the joyful chatter of friends greeting friends and the joy of being in a place where they can just let go and have fun, talk about school, talk about family, make new friendships and simply relax, away from their daily difficulties.

Although teaching art is a wonderful thing, there has always been an ulterior motive to starting this non-profit and providing art and music programs to poor children in the village, and that has been to provide space and the creative freedom to kids who have very little in their lives.

 The programs have done just that, the kids have bonded as friends and support one another long after the classes have ended for the day. We often see and hear of the kids spending time together outside the school and this makes us very happy, knowing that this supportive community is carried on outside the gates of our little schoolhouse.

 Remember that this art program would not have been started without you volunteering your donations and putting your trust in our organization. You have supported the artistic and personal growth of these kids that will be carried throughout their lives.

Best to all of you,

Sara (Founder-Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s Fund)

Please email me at: sara@rockpaperscissorchildrensfund.org  if you have any great art ideas for our program that you would like to share or your own artwork that you might like to share with our kids. 

Links:

• Article on the Founder of Rock-Paper-Scissor's Children's Fund
• Our website
• Join us on Facebook