Gabriel’s story
Gabriel with Cynthia Davis, one of the Canvas Peace Project Founders
Last week we sat gripped around a small skype screen as Gabriel Bol deng told us his own harrowing story that lead him to found Hope for Ariang. It was galvanising to hear first hand of terrible atrocities and yet an unbridled faith in hope for the future of the village of Ariang. Certainly there is lots to digest.
Gabriel’s parents had always told him he could move mount Kilimanjaro, in other words; never give up and have faith. In this he was tested; whilst Gabriel was tending cattle at only ten years old, militia men attacked his village of Ariang. He managed to flee, whilst many of his friends and family didn’t. Through many hardships he managed to walk to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. At points in the story where he spoke of escaping from lions or crocodiles it felt like his situation could only get better, yet it often got worse. Having barely made it to the refugee camp he spoke of feeling angry, disillusioned, bitter and faithless. It was then he dreamt of his parents who reminded him to hope, believe in himself, and have faith to overcome any difficulties, even to move mountains. From this point he has striven to overcome his difficulties.
In 2001 Gabriel went to the United States as one of the ‘Lost Boys’ of the refugee resettlement program, where he achieved an education. In 2007 he returned to his village to find the education system in a poor state. It consisted of sitting under trees without trained teachers. Starting by selling T shirts he founded Hope for Ariang and managed to raise money to build a school brick by brick, since then running water, books and trained teachers have been added. He wants to rebuild and sustain the community, as he said ‘school is community, and community is school’.
With further funding he hopes to support micro financing businesses and in turn empower and educate the women; ‘when you empower a woman you educate the community’. It is towards sustaining the education and the community that the funding for Hope For Ariang is being directed towards. The Canvas Peace Project supports Hope for Ariang through the sale and exhibition of art, in turn bringing awareness of the awful destruction that has been wreaked in Ariang and other South Sudanese communities and their need for support.
The Canvas Peace project is spreading it’s wings and it will be the first such exhibition in Barcelona.
Canvas Peace Project, Barcelona 