Virtual Exhibition: “Faith in Action for Children”
With a commitment to providing safe spaces for children and young people to raise their voices, we invited them to help us understand how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted their lives.
More than 150 children and youth from 33 countries responded with messages, artworks, and multimedia projects produced in six different languages. Through their work, they invited us to remain faithful and united as one human family, despite the challenges. They urged us to join them in action to overcome this crisis and build a better world for all children.
The exhibition was the final result of a campaign led by Arigatou International – Geneva to commemorate International Youth Day. The campaign invited children and young people to share how the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted their lives, what their dreams and hopes for the future were, and their recommendations for collective actions to face the crisis together.
The project resulted in an innovative and dynamic virtual space curating not only the voices of children and youth but also presenting those of religious leaders, representatives of civil society and faith-based organizations, United Nations agencies, and governments, who shared their commitment to creating a better future for children and young people.
Highlights:
Thenula - Sri Lanka
Abraham, Mexico
Ana Maria - Romania
Yassin - Peru
Nina - Bosnia & Herzegovina
Akane, Japan
Karissa - Indonesia
Khadija, Uganda
The picture of my further
by Bertsy, child from Cameroon
As I wake up every now and then,
Wishing for my further to amend,
But wondering what my further will look like,
I see the fear of my further worries,
But hope they someday fade away
I see my further dreams of peace, joy, health,
unity and good fortune becoming a nightmare today
and hope they someday go away.
And ln my present, feeling like my nightmares have turned into reality,
Where ignorance just makes me wanna be academic,
Where nature’s cries just make me wanna be bionomic,
Where poverty shatters our daily economies and our young dreams and makes feel like being macroeconomic and philanthropic,
Where the picture of marriage and family is ruined makes me wanna be a builder
Where the idea of religion, Christianity, charity, unity and many, many more are misinterpreted, makes me feel like being an interpreter,
Where pain, hate, jealousy, misery, fear, pandemics and epidemics take over, and makes me wanna be a medic.
See, all this just makes me wanna be dynamic.
Renovar y quitar el polvo
by Sam, child from Mexico
Espacio para descansar, pensar, sentir, hablar, hacer, escuchar, recordar, desempolvar. Al estar en casa, tranquilos y sin más, podemos retomar aquel proyecto de cuando teníamos 10 que nunca pudimos culminar, fabricar ese regalo de cumpleaños que tienes en la mente desde hace días, abrir el corazón como no habías podido hacerlo con anterioridad, reencontrar amigos de lejos y cerca que hace mucho no podías escuchar.
Actos viejos y actos nuevos. Ver al cielo y sentirse libre aún con un cristal al frente. Podemos volver a tomar las riendas de nuestra vida y transformarla, es la oportunidad, la pausa que tanto habíamos anhelado para tener un momento reflexivo y decidir que eliminar, que mantener y que agregar.
Abrir esa caja de sueños y deseos que teníamos en el rincón, quitar el polvo y darles otra chance de florecer.
From our team
“I took on this project with my whole heart because what I saw, listened, and read from the children was too inspiring and too powerful not to share with the whole world. This was a very meaningful project and it was a privilege for me to be in charge of it.”
Ms. Sandra Yepez,
Program Officer on Child Participation,
Arigatou International - Geneva
