Translator: Maria Kumakola Reviewer: Denise RQ
I would like you to close your eyes.
Imagine that you are on a ship.
You are on the ocean.
You feel the wind in your hair.
You hear the birds screaming.
It's warm. The sun is shining.
It's nice
Someone asks you if you would like to have a drink.
Would you like to have champagne? Wine?
Lemonade for the children? because they aren't allowed to drink wine.
It's nice.
You can open your eyes now. Did you enjoy it?
My children liked to be on a boat too.
They are 9 and 10 years old
and sometimes, in the holidays, we go on a ship,
we are sailing, we are going to an island.
They enjoy it.
And in the evening, we come home and watch television.
The news on the television show boats too,
but they are a different type of boat.
The boats are full of men, women, and children.
And they are in danger.
They are refugees.
For example, from Syria.
I watched television, and I didn't like that situation,
and I [wanted] to do something about it.
I thought to myself, ''What can I do?"
Many people say that they are fortune seekers or terrorists.
''What can we do? It's their problem.''
I looked at the situation,
and I found out that one of the problems is oil.
The war in Syria is about oil also.
And we are using the oil too,
so it isn't only their problem, it is also our problem.
And I wanted to help the people.
I sent blankets to the refugee camp.
I am writing and painting, so I also sent pencils and clothes.
But I thought I would like to do more.
With my co-author, Elsbeth de Jager, I wrote a book,
A book for the children in the refugee camps
because those children have a lot of traumas.
They have been in a war.
They have heard bombs.
Their cities are ruined.
They have been in a lot of situations
that I don't want children to be in.
I told you already, my children are 9 and 10 years old,
I really don't want my children to be in a war.
That's terrible.
This is the book.
The first one is Jamil and Jamila.
The second one is Jamil and Jamila Heimwee.
This book was also translated into Arabic, of course,
and it was sent to refugee camps
in Syria and near the Syrian border.
My co-author Elsbeth and I went to the Syrian border
to bring the books.
We talked to the children and the teachers
because we wanted the book to help them with their traumas.
With the book, they could paint and read.
The children in the refugee camps couldn't read anymore.
They can't count anymore.
They don't know the colors anymore.
This book can help them with normal things.
I'm not talking about little kids who are four years old,
I'm talking about kids who are nine or ten years old,
and who can't count, who don't know the colors.
I can't imagine children who can't count or know the colors.
This book helps.
We went there, and the children were very happy
because it brought them hope,
that someone on the Earth thinks about them.
This is one of the pictures that we took there,
with the children and with Elsbeth
I was happy to do that.
Then, they asked me to do another project.
The refugee camps consist of a lot of tents.
In the winter, it's very cold.
In the summer, it's very hot.
In the autumn, there is a lot of water in the tents and in the school.
They asked me to paint, to illustrate walls of big containers
that will be used as a school in the refugee camp.
But I don't know much about Syria
I've once been to Israel, but that's a different country.
So I googled it, and what I saw was this.
Only ruins
I thought that these wouldn't be very nice
to illustrate containers with,
so I looked further and found monuments in Syria.
At that moment, the monuments still existed.
This is Palmyra; it was also bombed.
This is one of the illustrations that I made on the containers,
with the help of Syrian refugees.
I went again to the Syrian border to paint with the refugees
on the walls of the containers.
It was a lot of work, but it was very nice,
and it brought the people there together.
They were alone, but with my help they became a team
painting together and making containers for the school.
This are the finished containers.
And now these containers are in use in a refugee camp in Syria.
And I'm very happy with it.
When you want to do something, it is possible.
It doesn't have to be big,
it can also be small parts.
I think we have to do it
because I don't want kids to be in a war.
My opinion is that kids must be allowed to be kids.
They have to play.
We can help the children,
we can educate and give then peace.
Thank you.
(Applause)