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AFD, Urunwa Art Raise Awareness for Out-of-school Children
The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) in collaboration with Urunwa Art organised an Art exhibition recently at Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja, with the goal to meet the need for basic education through access to arts and culture.
The project named ‘Catch Up’ which is aimed at reintegrating out of school children into the school system, brought 30 street children (20 girls, 10 boys), selected from two communities in Abuja; Lugbe and Mpape back to school.
The process involved a series of workshops, aimed at introducing the children to drawing, painting and collage. At the end of the project, at least 15 children participating in the full program (of whom 10 are girls) will benefit from a school grant for the year 2022-2023.
Xavier Muron, AFD Country Director, stated that the project was part of AFD’s METIS initiative that aims, through the mobilization of the arts and the use of emotions, at promoting transformations that will enable societies, and in particular, the most vulnerable populations, to build their future with pride, dignity and commitment.
On the inspiration behind the Catch Up project, Chidimma Urunwa, Artist and Director of Urunwa Art Studio, disclosed that “it stemmed from creating more awareness on the need for kids to be removed from the streets and back to school and impacting knowledge on the younger generation.”
The exhibition featured works from established artists such as Chidimma Urunwa, Uche Uguru, Odogwu Moses, Emmanuel Bamaiyi and those of the children benefiting from the program. It also gave the public an opportunity to appreciate and purchase the artworks.
According to the organisers, funds raised from the sale of the works will be put back into the re-schooling fund.
Sharing her experience, Onekanma Christabel, a 15 year old, SS2 student of Dobbie School, Tudunwada, Lugbe Abuja, stated that “at first I was scared of painting but with the Catch Up exhibition, I learnt how to take control. Although I’d love to read Economics, I would also like to make art a career because art is a great form of expression and with art I can talk to the whole world.
