The Cause

The single most important way to encourage girls and women to stand up for their rights is education.
Nicholas Kristof, Half the Sky

Cynthia and Gabriel with women of Ariang My name is Cynthia Davis and I am a decorative artist and a Carl Wilken’s Fellow for the class of 2011. The Sudan Canvas Project is a grassroots effort that stems from my passion for working with Gabriel Bol Deng, One of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Gabriel founded the organization Hope For Ariang to bring primary education to his war torn village in South Sudan. I met Gabriel in 2008 and became a board member of Hope for Ariang, I have worked tirelessly to help him raise the funds to build his school. Watching the development in Ariang has been life changing for me; beginning with seeing the villagers have clean water for the first time, to having their first protected area in which to learn. The children will be the first literate generation in Ariang. I truly believe that the empowerment of their mothers will bring the biggest change to the village. Many of these women have lost multiple children to war and the terrible living conditions for decades after war. Their young children ran or were enslaved and some have never returned. These women would walk hours barefoot for a needle and thread as they are hungry for education and skills.

The Mission

This project has two missions. The first is to create awareness of victims of genocide through our art by exhibiting the artwork received by our participants. The second is to raise funds to empower the women of Ariang. The Sudan Canvas Project is not a 501c3. The money raised for the project will be donated to Hope for Ariang, Inc and designated for trade education for the women of Ariang and the surrounding villages.

Hope For Ariang is not a large organization but one whose founder, Gabriel Bol Deng, can be trusted to use the funds in the right way, directly for the people and who will show each of us the results. By giving the women of Ariang and surrounding villages trade or craft skills, I know they will flourish and gain the strength they need to become new leaders as South Sudan becomes an independent country in July of 2011.

We can make a difference, one woman at a time.

A man goes out on a beach and sees that it is covered with starfish that have washed up in the tide. A little boy is walking by, picking them up and throwing them back in the water. "What are you doing, son?" the man asks "You see how many star fish there are? You'll never make a difference." The boy paused thoughtfully and picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean. "It sure made a difference to that one", he said.

Hawaiian Parable