Drawing Class Reaches Out to Cameroonian Youth via the Memory Project

Art Teacher Fran Bennett’s Upper School Drawing class shared their talents with children residing in orphanages in Cameroon by participating in the “Memory Project.” The initiative connects youth around the world through art to help build cultural understanding and international kindness.  

After learning about Cameroon and the challenges the children faced, students selected a photo of one of the Cameroonian orphanage children ranging from 9-13 years of age to draw. The photos listed their name, interests, and adjectives to describe them. They created the portraits using pastels and colored pencils. They worked on proportion and realistic shading on each drawing. When finished, they traced their hand, included a photo of themselves, and provided a message on the back of each portrait. The portraits were sent to the Memory Project founder, who will deliver them to each child in Cameroon. The portraits will brighten their day and will be hung in the Cameroonian childrens’ rooms to enjoy. The MFS students will receive a video of the distribution of the drawings and will be able to view students receiving their artwork. It has been an inspiring project which showed everyone how art can communicate love and empathy. 

Together we used art to reach a distant destination: a kinder world in which all youth see themselves in one another regardless of differences in their appearance, culture, religion, or circumstances.

–written by Fran Bennett, MS/US Art Teacher