In September, Art Club and students in Ms. Knight’s Drawing and Painting class started working on portraits for Orphans from Cambodia, Southeast Asia.

“I like this project,” junior Brian Welker said. “It gives people in Cambodia hope, and a friend in a different continent.”

The foundation that this is made possible through is called The Memory Project. The Memory Project is based in Wisconsin. The foundation was started in 2004, and has nearly created 50,000 portraits for children ages 0-18. The foundation sends participants a photo of an orphan, and then the participant can recreate the photo using any type of utensil they would like such as colored pencil, crayon, paint, etc. When the participant is done, they send it to the foundation, who sends it to the orphan. When the orphan receives the portrait, the foundation takes a picture of the orphan with the portrait, and then sends the picture of them to the participant who made the portrait. The Memory Project does this because children who are in orphanages often have few items, especially from their childhood. When someone makes a portrait of them, they have a way of seeing a picture of themselves.

“I love this project,” Allison Lewis said. I think it’s a great way to help kids who didn’t have a childhood have a picture of themselves, and they get to see their faces,”

This is Francis Howell North’s first year participating in the project. FHN is in charge of making 24 portraits.  The students received the pictures of the orphans on September 27, and are expected to finish before finals start.

“I plan on doing this in the future, it’s a good idea,” Art Club sponsor Michael Leistner said. “Kids seem to enjoy it, and it’s a good thing. Everyone benifits.”