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The Memory Project

　　(2006-2007学年第14期)

　　A young American man is giving children around the world a special gift to remember their childhood. Mario Ritter tells us about the Memory Project.

　　MARIO RITTER:

　　Ben Schumaker graduated from the University of Wisconsin in two thousand three. Then he traveled to Guatemala. He worked in a home for children who do not have parents. The conditions at the orphanage were poor. Schumaker wanted to do something to help. But he did not know what he could do.

　　After returning home, he remembered a story that a young Guatemalan man told him. The young man had also been raised in a children’s home because he had no parents. He told Schumaker about one thing that was missing from his life. He had no pictures of himself during his childhood. The man said he had no memories of what he looked like as a child. The man told Schumaker that he wished he could remember more about what he was like as a boy. The man’s story gave Ben Schumaker an idea.

　　Schumaker began taking photographs of young people in orphanages all over the world. Then he brought the photographs back to high schools in America. There, the best art students used the photographs as models to draw or paint pictures of the children’s faces. The finished portraits were then sent back to the children for them to keep. The students who created the pictures also included a photograph of themselves.

　　The Memory Project began in October of two thousand four. Since then, it has spread to hundreds of schools across the United States.

　　Ben Schumaker’s project has touched the lives of thousands of children who now have beautiful portraits of themselves. Schumaker hopes the Memory Project will also affect the lives of the American high school students. He says he hopes the project will help the students connect with children in poor countries. He also hopes the students will better understand the lives of people in need around the world and will want to work for change.

　　So far, portraits have been given to children in twenty-five countries. They include India, Mozambique, Lebanon, Haiti, Honduras and Romania.

　　Ben Schumaker estimates that four thousand high school students will take part in the program this year.

　　由“美国之音”提供