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 42 L O C A L | april 16