Helping young genocide survivors with his lockdown art

Every day, throughout 2020 and lockdown, David created a small (A5 or A4) drawing or painting. His mission was to sell them for £10 each to raise vital funds for Rwandan charity Acts of Gratitude (AOG) which trains and supports young survivors of the 1994 genocide in setting up social enterprises.

David, who has lived in Billingshurst since 1977, volunteered in Rwanda for six months to help set up AOG’s social enterprise training programme.

The programme, now supported by the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, is responsible for training 200 social entrepreneurs who have created 1,000 jobs in a country affected by high youth unemployment.

The charity is dedicated to helping young people start businesses that will create 10,000 more. And David is determined to help them on their way.

“It was an incredible privilege for me to help develop and deliver the first Acts of Gratitude social enterprise training course alongside skilled Rwandan partners.

“I am awestruck by this beautiful, vibrant country filled with overwhelmingly positive people who continue to overcome unimaginable past suffering and hardship. Their creativity, hard work and dedication is behind every piece of art I created in 2020.”

Young people given the courage and support by AOG to set up their own businesses include pharmacists, coffee farmers and clothes designers.

David has achieved £3,500 in sales and donations since his online gallery was launched in January 2021 and has shipped his £10 artwork all over the world.

“It was a great focus for me during our first lockdown and has really been a wonderful bright spot during this (third) one.

“The feedback has been so positive, and it’s been heart-warming connecting with friends old and new.”

To find out more about Acts of Gratitude and to buy a piece of David’s lockdown art, which includes landscapes, abstracts and fantasy figures, visit: https://aogartproject.square.site/In a country where the average earnings are below £1 a day, your support goes a long way:

£10 could pay for one young person’s transport for 12 weeks to get to their training course;

£25 could pay for five of the required mentorship sessions

£50 could provide for a partial scholarship into the programme for an under-employed young person;

£150 will pay for a complete scholarship for one young person to complete the highly successful AOG three-month training course

£1,000 will help provide start-up funding for one ready social entrepreneur.

For more information about the Rwanda Genocide where more than 800,000 people were murdered in 100 days – April-June 1994 – visit: https://www.hmd.org.uk/learn-about-the-holocaust-and-genocides/rwanda/

For more information about Acts of Gratitude visit the website: http://www.actsofgratitude.org/

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