For a child's smile

A charity auction in Phnom Penh

2010-11-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

On Friday the 5th evening, I got dressed up and got a ride on a little fast bike to the fanciest eating venue in Phnom Penh, Topaz Restaurant, to join about 100 people and the French Consul, to wine and dine for charity. The main charities benefiting from the event were PSE and SIFAR.

I auctioned a painting that fetched US$4000 dollars for PSE. I was chuffed for the result and thankful that I have managed to do something substantial for the kids. I also had the wonderful occasion to meet Christian and Marie-France, the humble and charming founders of PSE. I was overjoyed. They greeted me with the traditional Khmer greeting with their hands together and a little bow and thanked me repeatedly and whole-heartedly. It was awe-inspiring and I returned to my wife with a big overflowing heart full of joy.

The painting of the Mural

2010-11-08T06:44:00.000-08:00

On Friday the 5th of November 2010, I was introduced to 45 students from about 6000 students of the huge PSE school in Phnom Penh. We spent several hours together getting to know each other and to paint a mural. One of the school teachers helped with the communication. Not many of the kids spoke english. And I speak neither Khmer or French. The kids, whose ages ranged from 12 to 18, painted 45 separate small paintings with a little guidance.

It was a good day. I felt great. I hope the kids did not think of the work they did with the mural as a chore. They were all so polite and wonderfully behaved. They looked delighted to have me there. I felt needed. It made my day. There was something almost spiritual to that morning. I will do it again.

In Cambodia

2010-11-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Arrived safely in Phnom Penh. We start painting the mural tomorrow. It seems to me that PSE is a sort of a celebrated charity organisation here. Most people I have spoken to seem to know it.

Thursday 4th of Nov

2010-11-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

The day has arrived. I travel to Phnom Penh with little Rekha. We shall be there early. The mural project starts early tomorrow. I am delighted to be part of something bigger. Something with no immediate returns but wonderful prospects for the future. Not a future that burgeons my own pockets but one that looks after our future as a race. Not just by helping a few kids away from the detritus of society, but one that ensures some of us continue to be more human than animals - creatures with an infinite capability for love and compassion.

The wall

2010-11-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the picture of the wall in the school in Phnom Penh which has been allocated for the mural project.

I know little about Phnom Penh. From the photograph above, I see a new building, modern with an Asian slant in its architecture. Newly painted perhaps. Earthy colors that mirror the clay courts in the foreground. The black and red grids for the windows are interesting along with the boxy banisters that frame them.

I am planning to work along a similar theme for the mural. A grid of about 60 to 75 boxes will extend the length of the wall under the windows. Each box will be separately painted by a participating artist student with a little guidance. There will be a kind of symmetry in the work.

I am yet to decide on the palate of colors though. Flourescent green will be ghastly for instance. I shall leave it to Thursday when I am there to figure that out.

What should the kids paint? What can you get the kids to paint? Getting them to paint will be an exercise in itself? Poverty can be a real bugger. It makes you believe that art is for the dilettante, useless and not a healthy pursuit if one wants to entertain half a chance of escaping the debilitating grip of indigence. Perhaps the kids I will meet will be open to the idea of creating something... forgetting for 45 minutes.the grinding daily drudgery of their lives

It is all ahead of me and I look forward to it.

The stage is set

2010-11-03T02:05:00.000-07:00

The stage is set for my first visit to Cambodia and to PSE. I shall be exhibiting for the first time in Phnom Penh. I will be showing my Curio series of paintings.

I am excited about the opportunity to meet the founders of PSE and beyond that the kids at one of their schools. I will be collaborating with the young ones to paint a mural. It will be quite the experience.

5 to 10 junior classes will participate in the painting of the mural. I will have the joy of getting to know about 50 children for at least 45 minutes. The art will set a stage for a meeting. The colors and shapes will bring joy. The participatory act will make for a glad heart. I look forward to the tinkle of nascent artists, the shine of brave hearts, the rush of new friends made and new experiences had. The unfathomable peace that comes from creating something. I have known this and I want to share it.

What can a painter do?

2010-10-26T16:38:00.000-07:00

I am a painter. It is a full time profession. I exhibit around the world. This year I have participated in several different auctions for charity. There was UNIFEM, NUH, Room to Read and several others. I was happy to contribute a painting when asked. I t was never an active choice and never one that I was entirely subscribed to.

With PSE, For a Child's Smile, I want to choose and I want to become involved. It is not a one off thing. I want it to continue. I want it to be lifetime project if possible. One that captures my heart and passion.

How can my art help?

2010-10-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

Art has the capacity to reach out and touch hearts, change minds and seed movements.It can move you into action. It can illuminate the crisis of a people whose children grow up and around rubbish dumps, who have intimate knowledge of Phnom Penh's castouts.It can illuminate that which is ineffable - that which escapes the rational mind beyond subjectivity and perceived meaning. It can touch you where it counts.

I want to go see it for myself. Know the rubbish kids of Phnom Penh first hand. I want to know. I need to see. I will be there on the 4th of November.

www.pse.asso.fr

2010-10-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

The PSE charity or association can be located on the net at www.pse.asso.fr

The association realises that education as a principal activity comes hand in hand with many support activities mainly catering to the daily needs of children still scavenging in rubbish dumps for food. Accomodation, meals, healthcare are requisite to a programme to educate a child, to promote a life away from rubbish dumps, rotten food and precarious living.

My heart is filled with woe for we live in a world where our children are treated such.. where the ravages of poverty violates our most fragile little people. And I am filled with genuine joy for associations such as the PSE that are the conscience of our race and the frontiers of insurgency against our failed prevailing systems.

For every child that eats the discarded remains of our bloated meals, there is a little less love in the world. Soon, mark my words, there shall be none..

Education as priority

2010-10-25T03:24:00.000-07:00

My first step - get in touch with PSE in Cambodia. PSE stands for Pour un Sourire d'Enfant which translates to 'For a Child's smile' and is committed to helping children.

PSE's focus is on education which coincides with my believe that education is vital in transforming lives. It has the power to change the world especially in the hands of children.

And in the able hands of the des Pallieres, who founded the charity in '96, PSE takes care of more than 6000 children every day.

I hope to help in whatever way I can. This is my commitment and I make it as I relish the smile of my little Rekha.

A new chapter

2010-10-25T02:20:00.000-07:00

Today I begin a new chapter of my life. A chapter that began with my own little baby girl and the wonder of her smile. A chapter that will lead me to Cambodia and to its kids and in the hope for a thousand more smiles. A chapter that is rooted in my firm belief that art can and does make a difference.