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“The first time a child sits in your lap and looks up at you,
you’re dead,” says artist
Mark Krieger,
who met the children in small impoverished village of Honduras
known as
Flor Azul.
For the past eight years, he has traveled to the country with
Hope for Honduran Children Foundation
and brought back sketches, in hopes of helping viewers
understand and relate their lives.
“The moment you land you know you’re a different world,” said
Krieger. He illustrates the internal struggle he felt. “My hope
for my drawings is that these young faces can speak to us about
what may well be the central fast confronting the 21st
century; address the imbalance between the unsustainable
abundance of our lives and the burdensome poverty of theirs.”
Twenty eight of them are on display at
Intown Club.
The opening reception held on Jan 13, 2012 drew in more than 70
guests who marveled at the larger than life faces, chuckled at
the stories and found themselves relating to children far away.
He feels a calling to this project: “If I drew enough of these
kids and drew them good enough, I can make a difference,” he
said. Krieger realized the impact of the large sketches while
negotiating funds for a specific project. Laying them out on the
table he sensed the dynamics shift; “It was like having the
children in the room with us,” he said.
Krieger makes an effort to
capture the pride in their appearance, the neatly braided hair,
the little trinkets of jewelry, laundered clothing.
“These are universal,” said Ingrid Angel of the
portraits, “You will find a child who looks like this anywhere
in the world: Palestine, Mexico, and even here in Cleveland.”
Accompanying each portrait is an eloquently written caption that
brings life to each—from the tale of two sisters abandoning an
abusive household who walked more than a 100 miles to find
refuge with the Foundation run village; to the
seventeen-year-old boy burdened by the second unexpected
pregnancy of his younger sister. Some sketches are void of any
background, while others capture the environment, and the hidden
lives of many children with every stroke.
“I don’t like using photographs,” said Krieger, and the two
hours or more he spends with the children brings unusual meaning
to their lives.
Karen Donovan Godt,
founder of
Hope for Honduran
Children Foundation
said his sketches are a sense of pride for the children the
respect and time he gives them validates them for the wonderful
people they are, letting them forget the hardships they endured
before arriving to Flor Azul.
Eighty percent of Hondurans live in conditions of extreme
poverty, and children are often neglected, abandoned, or
orphaned.
History of foundation
The foundation was formed seven years ago when on a trip she
and friends discovered 25 abandoned children struggling to
survive; “We decided we could not walk away from that.” In
partnership with
of Sociedad Amigos De
Los Niños based in Tegucigalpa, the foundation’s mission is
to serve the abandoned children through healthcare, education,
but often more importantly, shelter and food.
The foundation also provides an opportunity to travel to the
village and experience Honduras first hand. “We want to immerse
people in the culture and get to know each other,” said John
Godt. Every six weeks, the foundation arranges a one-week
tour to Honduras, taking care of lodging, transportation, and
air fare.
Krieger is retired from a 32-year career as an art teacher, and
wants to increase the portfolio of portraits to 100 – 150 to
exhibit. When asked of the impact these portraits have made on
his students, Krieger said many simply cannot relate, “Our kids
are very busy,” he said. He is amazed by the spunky,
intelligence, and gratitude of the Honduran children, “They look
you in the eye.”
He joked he often had to remind himself after returning to the
U.S. not to look teenagers in the eyes and smile, “They would
roll their eyes, or suddenly get very uncomfortable.”
He said people often feel the call to help as much as they can
while there, “But you always leave richer, you can never repay
them for what they give you in return.”
Portraits are priced between $350 to $950. To learn more contact
Krieger at:
markkrieger@sbcglobal.net
To learn more about the Hope for Honduran Children Foundation
visit:
markkrieger@sbcglobal.net and
www.hopeforhonduranchildren.org/index.php
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