LOCAL Houston | The City Guide APRIL 2016 | Page 42
COMMUNITY
THROUGH THEIR EYES
MOMENTS PHOTOGRAPHED BY SYRIAN CHILDREN
Imagine if the HISD shut its doors today, leaving all of its 200,000
students without access to education. An entire generation of Houston
children wouldn’t learn to read and write or learn their times tables,
and would never make it through algebra. They wouldn’t head off to
college to study law or medicine, art or business. Those students
would struggle to simply function in everyday life and the ramifications would be felt across the city for decades to come.
That’s the heartbreaking reality for Syrian students, but on a much
larger scale. Inside Syria, 2.1 million students don’t have
access to regular education and in the surrounding countries
of Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, over 800,000 Syrian refugee children
aren’t able to enroll in school. Which is exactly why UNICEF started the
No Lost Generation initiative in 2013, designed to provide education,
protection from trafficking and a sense of normalcy to millions of children, in a heroic attempt to rescue Syria’s lost generation.
When the team behind this month’s charity art auction at the Deborah
Colton Gallery saw footage from inside Syrian refugee camps, they
knew they had to act. DINA ALSOWAYEL, VERONIQUE PRENTICE and RANIA
DANIEL have put together an evening where all proceeds raised will
be donated to the No Lost Generation program.
Alsowayel explains, “The art auction will feature 33 pieces from 22
prominent, emerging and established contemporary Syrian,
Lebanese, Palestinian and Iranian artists. Many of these artists are
represented by world-renowned galleries,” in places such as Beiruit,
Dubai, London and Paris. The online auction will be hosted online
with Paddle8, with a preview beginning April 8 and bidding open
from April 15 to 30.
Arabic music will be provided by the Frequencies Ensemble featuring
vocalist RADWAN KTECH, who starred in the Arabic version of The
Voice, and violinist ANDREY MUKADDASI, a graduate of the Higher
Institute of Music in Damascus. The auction will take place on April
30, from 7–10pm, at the Deborah Colton Gallery at 2445 North
Boulevard in Houston.
For more information or to book tickets, please contact LISA LAGRONE
at 832.463.2828 or [email protected].
By Emily Westbrooks | Photography courtesy of Zakira/UNICEF | Photographed by Syrian Children
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| april 16