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Drawings of Love
An exhibition of art created by children from around the world for the young victims of the boxing day Tsumani of 2004 was recently hosted by the National Museum of Indonesian in Jakarta. It was attended by ambassadors and dignitaries from several participant nations.
The exhibition was inspired by the First Lady of Indonesia, Madam Kristiani Herawati Yudhoyono, who called on the children of the international community to send messages of love for the 8,000 children orphaned by the tsunami. Her request led to the Drawings of Love project initiated by The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles Worldwide Humanitarian Service. This has become a truly global undertaking. The three day exhibition displayed 3,000 of the 22,000 drawings received from children in 33 countries including Indonesia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, America, Australia and New Zealand.
The Indonesian Minister of Communication and Information, Sofyan Djalil, attended the ceremony where he officially opened the Drawings of Love exhibition. Also the Minister in charge of the reconstruction of Ache, Mr. Djalil said, "It was a great pleasure for the Government of Indonesia to have this exhibition of children's paintings from around the world. It is a very proud moment for us."
Ambassadors and representatives of embassies from eight countries attended the opening ceremony. The dignitaries were invited to sign the guest book and then participated in the hand painting of a large banner with messages of support. The Ambassadors who attended were from Russia, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, New Zealand, Russia and representatives came from the embassies of Germany, Japan and the US.
The ceremony included children's singing performances and a traditional Aceh dancing demonstration.
Mr Kumar Abhishek, Director of The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles in Indonesia said, "The purpose of the three day exhibition in Jakarta is to remind us all that the orphaned children in Aceh need our love and support—and will continue to need our love and support for many years to come."
Sri Chinmoy, the founder of The Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles Worldwide Humanitarian Service, sent a personal message to the orphaned children of Aceh which was read out at the opening ceremony by the director of the New Zealand branch of the organisation, Mr. John Marshall. It follows:
"God has very special Love, Affection and Compassion for each and every orphan. Indeed, the tears of an orphan-heart enter straight into the Compassion-Heart of God. I also happen to be an orphan. I lost my mother and my father at a very early age. May the sweet and helpless orphan-children of Aceh be inundated with God's most precious Happiness-Love in and through countless caring and sharing human beings here on earth." - Sri Chinmoy.
To view a sampling of some of the beautiful artwork gathered from many parts of the globe for this project, please visit Kids to Kids - Drawings of Hope.
