Glasgow art exhibition raises funds for Tsunami children

An art exhibition was held at Tramway exhibition hall in Glasgow, Scotland recently to raise funds for children affected by the Tsunami in the South of Sri Lanka.
It was organised by the Scotland Buddhist Vihara under the patronage of its Head Monk, Ven. Kamburawala Rewatha Thero. Ms. Nelum Arrachchige, an artist who lives in Glasgow, was instrumental inmaking this event for a worthy cause a reality.
A member of the Scottish Parliament, Minister for International Development Tourism and Culture, Patricia Ferguson, opened the exhibition.
Ven. Rewatha who addressed the gathering on the topic, "Sri Lanka Today - Two Years After Tsunami", said the Scotland Buddhist Vihara helped a large number of tsunami victims with the support of the
Scottish Government and Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotlan.
He said that they built houses for displaced families, provided toilets and sanitary facilities and arranged scholarships for the Tsunami-affected children. A medical surgery session was held with British doctors. Dancing classes were also organised for Tsunami children.
"We are now in the process of building an orphanage which is expected to be opened in December this year", he said.
Thanking the Scottish people and said nothing could have been done without their help.
The prelate said that when he went to Sri Lanka he found out that there were Tsunami-affected children with long-term illnesses. They could not be helped with the financial assistance he received which were meant for other projects. Therefore, an art exhibition was organized to raise funds for these children.
Artist Nelum Arrachchige said that they held an art competition among the Tsunami affected children and selected 50 paintings which were put up for sale. She also has donated some of her own paintings to raise funds for the Scotland Buddhist Vihara Foundation.
Minister Patricia Ferguson said, "I think it’s important that people don’t just look at them and appreciate them as lovely works of art. They should think about the people who painted them, think about the situation that they may be experiencing and hopefully dig deep and spend some money."
Ven. Rewatha told the Sunday Island that they collected more than Three Thousand Pounds by selling these paintings over four days. "This money can be spent for Tsunami affected children with long-term illnesses".
Sujeewa Nuvunhella

Buddhist Programme at the University of Glasgow

Date: Thursday, October 12, 2006 : 10:00 - 17:00

Venue: University Chaplaincy Interfaith Room

Takes place every Thursday

Programme:

10:00-10:30 Buddhist Service

11:00-11:30 Mindfulness Meditation

13:00-13:45 Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme

14:00-14:45 An Introduction to Buddhism

15:00-15:45 An Introduction to Buddhist Meditation

16:00-17:00 Share your faith (An open discussion among the members of all faith groups)

This programme will be conducted by Venerable K Sri Rewatha Thero (Head Monk of Scotland’s Buddhist Vihara)

Artworks created by children caught up in the Asian tsunami are on display in Glasgow

Artworks created by children caught up in the Asian tsunami are on display in Glasgow. The exhibition at the Tramway aims to raise funds to help those affected rebuild their lives and give the children a way to express their feelings about the disaster.

It was one of the world's worst natural disasters and caused untold devastation. Now almost two years on and on the other side of the world drawings by some of the youngest affected are going on display to raise the necessary funds to help rebuild their lives.

The paintings in this exhibition are far removed from the TV and newspaper pictures of Sri Lanka we remember from the Boxing Day tsunami. Bright and colourful, they represent a different image of the country but what's interesting is that none of the children's illustrations include the sea.


Artist, Nelum Arachchige, said: "Our judge was going through all the paintings, I was there next to him and it was amazing that we could not find any of the paintings with sea. I had one child who was really affected by tsunami and he's scared to sleep in the night and the mother said he really enjoyed doing the painting and to receive a certificate."

It was a recognition that many children were still struggling to cope which triggered the project.

Venerable Rewatha, Scotland's Buddhist Vehare, said: "Children are suffering a lot in the refugee camps so we thought to do something just to get rid of their trauma like counselling and also so many activities and we introduced art therapy, so as a part of art therapy we conduct an art exhibition in Sri Lanka, we encourage children who live in refugee camps to draw more and more about the nature, just forget about the tsunami and forget about the disaster."

As International Development Minister, Patricia Ferguson is heavily involved in the Executive's several reconstruction projects in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Patricia Ferguson MSP, International Development Minister, said: "I think it's important that people don't just look at them and appreciate them as lovely works of art, but also think about the people who painted them, think about the situation that they may be experiencing and hopefully dig deep and spend some money."

The exhibition at the Tramway runs until Sunday night.

http://www.stv.tv/archive/news/20060918/Artworks_created_by_children_caught_up_i