“Sour Green Apples”
When children are exposed to the harsh realities of life, we all have a collective responsibility to offer something to them to ease their suffering.
This is what Eng. Claudia Al-Khen replied in response to a question from Syria Times e-newspaper about the motivation for her recent experience that targeted children with cancer in Damascus aged between 4 and 15.
“ I did not know the type of the shock that I would face from this experience that I decided to undergo. My team and I took cartons, colors, and feathers to the Al-Bairouni Hospital in Harasta area and to the Children’s Hospital in Al-Mowasah area to hold workshops for Children with cancer after we received the ok from the BASMA Association for Supporting Children with Cancer in ,” Eng. Al-Khen said.
She went on to say: “Children with cancer spend their time in the hospital and the hours go past very slowly there when they receive chemotherapy treatment. So I asked myself: why don’t we offer something useful to these children to spend their time in the hospital doing something that makes them happy?”
The main goal of the workshops was to offer psychological support to these children to make them feel that someone loves them, stands by them at their difficult time and believes in their capabilities, according to Eng. Al-Khen.
She and her 12-member- team, which include distinguished students and professors and graduates from the Faculty of Arts , who believe that they can make a change in the life of a child, held 8 workshops that lasted 45 days.
Around 60 children with cancer took part in the workshops that will remain in their memory for a long time.
“We laughed , danced, and cried with them.. Their suffering showed us how weak we are and how strong they are despite their disease…. One of the children told me at the beginning of the workshop that he likes to draw green apples and his friend asked him if they are sour? He replied: yes. So I entitled the exhibition that was held at the Art House Gallery after the workshops “ Sour Green Apples”,” Eng. Al-Khen clarified.
When Rashid drew the painting of a green apple, he was suffering from the pain caused by receiving cancer drugs. He was a professional in drawing it.
On the 18th of September, the exhibition was held after the children completed the workshops with the aim of encouraging them to dress well and to move from the Bairouni Hospital and the Children’s Hospital or their houses to their exhibition and to meet people ….. Regardless of the love that we give to them and they give to us, all people who came to the exhibition loved them. The children became known in Canada, the US, France, Greece and the UAE through social media and stories and videos that were posted on Eng. Al-Khen’s Facebook account.
“Before choosing the place for holding the exhibition, about 50% of Children’s paintings were sold. I selected the Art House Gallery to show the paintings because this place is as pure as children,” said the engineer, who studied Interior Architecture and Design at Fine Art and graduated in 2011.
“This experience is the first step for many works that will be done in the future. I am preparing a workshop with the same team in the Faculty of Art to pave the way for them to be known inside Syria and abroad,” she added.
The engineer concluded by saying: “All of us suffer from problems and pressure, but everyone is able to offer something to bring a smile to a child.”
BASMA Association for Supporting Children with Cancer Support has effectively contributed to all the details of the life of children with cancer, their families, therapy and their stories of overcoming the disease to become one of the pioneer civil associations in Syria.
Under the slogan “Resist to Restore a Smile”, the association was established in 2006 to improve the health and social situation of the children with cancer in Syria, and to provide the physiological and moral support to them and to their families during the therapy, according to BASMA’s website.
Interviewed by: Basma Qaddour