Using their foreign language skills and a little creativity, a group of FLEX alumni in Dushanbe, Tajikistan hosted an art auction, raising over $1,000 to support children with disabilities at the Hissor School Orphanage in the capital.
Drawing on a sense of civic service from their FLEX exchange years in the US, the alumni started volunteering at the Hissor School over a year ago. With acquiring a second or third language an increasingly important skill in Tajikistan, every Saturday, the former FLEX students take turns volunteering to teach English at the Hissor School Orphanage. Still, the alumni wanted to help even more.
To that end, the teachers brought in a professional artist to help the 40 young Tajik students create artwork for a live art auction. The students were encouraged to draw their dreams and were filmed chatting about their hopes and goals.
The children's artwork, accompanied with their video interviews, was auctioned off at the Live Art Auction on February 14th at a downtown hotel. Many members of the international community attended including the US Ambassador to Tajikistan Susan Elliot and bid on the children's artwork.
The children's artwork didn't disappoint; every piece created by the students of Hissor School Orphanage was sold. In order to raise additional funds for the students, the FLEX alumni offered services such as beginner Tajik language lessons or traditional Tajik cooking classes to the international community.
For the Hissor School Orphanage children it was a day of self-expression, entertaining the audience by singing in Tajik and English, performing local dances, and playing the tablaq, a traditional musical instrument.
The US Embassy in Tajikistan, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Tcell, Bactria, and the Serena Hotel generously sponsored the fundraising event.
The funds raised at the art auction will support a future event a celebration of the Persian New Year for the students as well as contribute to providing more resources and English classes for the Hissor School Orphanage.
About the Future Leaders Exchange Program
Sponsored by the US government, the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program is for secondary school students from 10 republics of the former Soviet Union (Eurasia). The program offers scholarships for students to travel to the United States to attend high school for a full academic year while living with a host family.