VietNamNet Bridge – An exhibition of more than 30 art works depicting children’s wishes for Christmas and the New Year are on display at HCM City’s Equatorial Hotel.

Sailing in the goods: Santa Claus rows a boat instead of driving a sleigh in a painting by Thu Phuong, 14, of Thai Binh High School.

The gouache and watercolours were painted by former street children from the city’s Education and Vocational Training Centre for Teenagers (EVTC) and students at the Thai Binh High School.

The works are part of a display of 100 paintings created by children aged eight to 15 years.

Most of the paintings are about simple subjects that children see every day in their hometowns.

“Although Christmas and Santa Claus are a Western tradition, we have encouraged our students to put something Vietnamese in their creations,” said painting teacher Nguyen Hoang Thinh Tri.

In one work by Thu Phuong, 14, of the Thai Binh High School, Santa Claus can be seen rowing a boat instead of riding a sled.

Tri said 13-year-old Anh Kiet, who attends the EVTC, painted lights on stacked straw instead of a traditional Christmas tree.

In other paintings, the local influence can also be seen through a countryside cottage with a Vietnamese-style palm leaf roof and a Santa Claus wearing a conical hat and farmer’s cloth.

Despite different family backgrounds, all of the children were creative and imaginative, Tri said.

“However, the way the former street children see and feel is quite different. They seem to be more pessimistic than those from ordinary families and tend to use dark or grey colours instead of pink and red,” he added.

“The reason is clear because they’ve had to earn their living very early and experienced how hard it is to struggle to survive.”

The Christmas paintings cost US$45 each, with all proceeds supporting underprivileged children.

In addition to co-organising the painting show, Equatorial Hotel will host a free Chirstmas lunch buffet for 50 underprivileged children.

Organised by the hotel, the EVTC and the Thai Binh school, the exhibition can be seen through December 31 in the hotel’s lobby at 242 Tran Binh Trong Street, District 5.

In a related matter, 200 needy children from HCM City’s SOS Village and Tan Binh Orphanage have received scholarships worth VND1.5 million (US$95) each from the American insurance company ACE Life Viet Nam.

(Source: Viet Nam News)