Teachers at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Junior High for blind children in Hanoi say their wards tend to lack self-confidence, but they have unlimited imagination.

The idea of tapping this imagination inspired the “Art House”, a project sponsored by the Lion’s Club chapter in Sweden.

The project allows students to express themselves through sculptures.

Statues and reliefs made by students over the last four years or so are found all over the shelves and walls of the 70-square-meter house.

Bui The Thanh, one of the students, said he put all his memories of the world into his sculptures.

Thanh began losing his eyesight since he began going to school at five years of age. Now the 20-year-old sees almost nothing.

He stands out in the house, completely silent and focused on his work. He was working on a statue of a girl to gift his girlfriend Kieu, who has strong eyes.

“Kieu is like me, she’s enthusiastic and would try her best when doing anything,” the youth said.

He edited his work many times and only realized he’d been working for a long time when a friend asked him to stop for lunch.

Another student, Phung Van Minh, said he’s good at making vases.

After three classes, Minh has managed to locate the center of the turning table.

His teacher Pham Anh Duc, an artist from the famous pottery village Bat Trang, said only a few people in the village could do that.

Dao Huu Tung said he’s interested in reliefs, Nguyen Thi Mai likes the image of the heart while Le Huong Giang likes star shapes.

Teachers said the students had been given more than a year to touch different kinds of shapes and good sculptures before they made their own.

Since the class opened, the students have been taken on field trips to many pottery craft villages like Bat Trang or Phu Lang so they could learn different techniques of pottery making.

Source: TN