By Sara and Nhu | RPS Staff
Dear Friends,
In 2016 you helped us provide art classes to over 70 children who attend our art program weekly, year round. Just outside the city of Hue, Vietnam, Phuong and Tram have 25 kids who come to class every weekend. Tram, a young artist teaches the kids about color blending and how to be free with their art. Both teachers love each of the children and support them with so many things in and outside of class.
On Sunday afternoons, another one of our classes meets in the small, ethnic minority village of Son Tan, a very poor community located along the edge of the mountains in Khanh Hoa, Vietnam. The landscape is beautiful there, but poverty dampens the beauty. When our teachers Nhu and Thang arrive, the kids are waiting outside the classroom. You are helping to support 25 students here who have been in our program for two years now. The students love the classes and are happy to have the time to freely draw or paint and enjoy the love and mentoring that our caring and loving teachers provide them. Most of the children come from broken homes with very difficult circumstances.
Finally, our third art class is held twice a week in the village of Cam Duc, in the same space where our music program is held. It’s always bustling here with 20 kids taking art class and 15-20 kids coming in and out taking violin lessons with our three music teachers. The children are all sprawled out on the floor with paper and paints working hard to put their thoughts into their work. Each student is given the space to be freely creative and expressive. Below is a story about one of the young boys who we accepted into our program last year, his name is Huu. He’s an inspiration to us, and hopefully an inspiration for you to see how your donation has made a difference in the life of this young boy.
This story was written and translated by our in-country staff.
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Story from the Field~~~Meet Huu
Written by Nhu -- RPS staff in Cam Duc, Vietnam
Seeing Huu and observing him in art class I am really impressed by his passion for color. I would never believe this is the same boy who I first met before he started in our class.
Huu, who is 10 years old, was born in a poor family in Cam Duc, Vietnam. His parents were hired laborers, so they had no time at home to take care of him. After school and on the weekends, Huu wasted a lot of time going out with a gang of boys, playing tricks on other kids in the village, and being part of a young gang. Both of his parents were upset and worried about Huu’s future.
Huu joined our art class by accident. He came as a guest to our Halloween party with one of the other art students. We celebrated a lot of art activities at this party, and we realized that water color, pastel and paintbrush revealed Huu’s other side--a passion for art, so we invited Huu to join the class weekly.
After one year Huu has been coming to our art class every Wednesday and Sunday no matter what. He becomes occupied in painting and color. He has especially become friendly with the other kids and always smiles. He is passionate about class. Huu’s mom has reported that he has “become so helpful and helps me a lot with teaching his younger sister to draw…It’s amazing and we feel happy for this.”
“I am very happy to be in this art class and meet a lot of good friends. I love seeing my hands “dirtied” in color,” Huu tells our teacher, “I want to be an artist to draw my beautiful village.” I think that art is extremely great in the way it has influenced this little boy, art has brought color to his dreams and life.
Thank you again for your kind support of our programs in Vietnam. We will be taking a small group of volunteers to work with us in Vietnam during the month of July 2017. We need talented artists, either adult or high school age. Please email me to learn more, or if you are interested: sara@rockpaperscissorschildrensfund.org
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