On Saturday morning, June 1st, 2019, Children of Vietnam Charitable Fund held a closing and awards ceremony for their painting programme; “Give a Child a Chance in Life” – Season 2, which ran from September 15th, 2018 to April 30th, 2019. More than 50 young artists who created 89 paintings came to the ceremony with their families to receive awards on the 3rd floor hall, F building, in FV hospital. These are significant gifts for them on International Children’s Day.

Judges, including; Ms Nguyen Thi Le Thu – Director of the Children of Vietnam Charitable Fund, artist Thanh Le, and journalist Hoang Thang, all felt moved when  contemplating and giving marks to the children’s efforts. After considering carefully and discussing in depth, the result was concluded based on performing best with the programme’s assessment criteria, i.e. age, idea, and the message the child wanted to share.

Below are the list of results from the programme, including the names of the paintings, artists and their ages:

One representative of the judging panel, artist Thanh Le shared: “The biggest surprise in this painting programme (season 2) is that some kids don’t study at any painting class, but they can still create very nice paintings. Their ideas as well as the way they show it is also skillful and detailed as if the paintings were done by an adult”. It’s very joyful as the painting programme “Give a Child a Chance in Life” works well in its role as a platform for children to cultivate and develop their painting skills.

Talking about the first prize painting – “Dreamy Age” by Vu Ngoc Mai Phuong – Ms Nguyen Thi Le Thu fell in love with the emotion Mai Phuong was sharing in her piece: “The 13-year-old girl painted an emotional drawing containing thoughts and feelings at her age and soul. She is a pure and dreamy girl and she is full of love”. Ms Thu also remarks that she hopes those children whom Children of Vietnam Charitable Fund focuses on have a happy and innocent childhood much like the painter as well as the girl in the painting. It was known that Mai Phuong completed it within 2 weeks. Mai Phuong’s father – Mr Vu Truong Ca commented: “I think this programme is very useful and significant, so parents can encourage their children to join in. I also want to take part in the auction programme to help the disadvantaged more”.

Vu Ngoc Mai Phuong and her family

Ms Tran Truc Quynh – Painting Programme Manager was happy to be with the kids when they received their awards.

Artist Thanh Le was particularly impressed with two paintings about the sea. In “Me and the Ocean” by Ly Phuc Nguyen, there was a turtle on the bottom of the seabed which looked as if it was 3D and as a result felt as though it was absorbing the viewer in an amazing adventure. Another piece, “A Dancing Shoal of Fish”, appears to be whisking foam freely and excitingly. Both showed the children’s innocence, and their love for nature and the environment.

Other highlights included, “Deer” by Nguyen Doan Van Anh which attracted people due to its cute brushwork and her method of combining yellow and green together. While, “Living with Cats is so Good” by Bui Nguyen Vu demonstrates peoples’ love towards animals through an image of a family of cats. Every emotion and action of each cat was emphasized in detail thanks to the artist’s brushwork. The piece of art also made people think about the famous cartoon “101 Dalmatians”. In addition, “My Family Eat Watermelons Together on a Hot and Muggy Day” by Pham Hoang Oanh (8 years old) brought in viewers interest from the title which she then brought to life in her art. Hoang Oanh shared: “The title is too long because I think it’s long enough to describe the image of my family eating watermelons together in a hot and muggy day. And the character in my paintings all have very sharp-pointed teeth because…I was toothless”. Children’s insight in the world always reveals something cute and different! Another interesting aspect of the painting programme (season 2) was the appearance of some multiple relating paintings as a set, which really showed the creativity of the painters. One to note was a set of paintings named, “Penetrating Eyes” by Hoang Minh Sang (12 years old).

Pham Hoang Oanh – painter of “My Family Eat Watermelons Together on a Hot and Muggy Day”

Overall, each painting had its own unique beauty, so it took the judges a while to contemplate and appreciate all the styles and messages the children had created. All the paintings will be exhibited and auctioned on the ground floor of the F building in FV Hospital, for everyone to see and bid on. Money from the winning bids will be all donated to the Children of Vietnam Charitable Fund. And for the losing paintings, 50% of the money which had bids on them will be donated to Children of Vietnam Charitable Fund too, and the remaining 50% will be refunded to the painters.

The manager of the painting programme, known as the “Green Fairy”, like in fairytales, Ms Truc Quynh, said: “My job overwhelms me with joy. I can live in the colorful childhoods of the kids. Thank you for contributing your talent to help the disadvantaged and disabled have a chance to be medically supported and help to spread love”.

The painting programme “Give a Child a Chance in Life” is a fundraising activity for the Children of Vietnam Charitable Fund. It was founded by FV Hospital in 2006 to perform surgery or treat children who are under 16 and live in poverty. A lot of parents are happy when they know the meaning behind this programme and encourage their kids to join in and help not so fortunate children. The kids were highly enthusiastic to participate and wanted to see their painting exhibited in FV Hospital. As a result, the 3rd season of the programme started from May 1st to November 30th, 2019, and you can send your paintings to us now.