I remember sitting around a friend’s dinner table one evening, discussing difficult families and vexed childhoods. “Drama saved my life” she said, and others concurred. This is not the first time I have heard that participating in the arts is life saving.  

Art gives people a place to belong. A place to be yourself, to express and find sanctuary from what overwhelms in daily life. It is the place to shine.

This photo is of a Nepali boy who has Down Syndrome. Although he looks very young, we were told he is in his mid-teens. Nepal is a very poor country; with few good educational opportunities for many children and almost no specialist education for children with special needs it is difficult for children who have a disability to thrive.

This boy attended the Unatti Art Centre and was a committed member of our 2014 MAKE DO TELL Project there. We passed by his house on the way to the centre and walked there together, hand in hand.

He thrived in the creative boundaries of the art and drama program. He learned to work co-operatively with other children and they learned to be more inclusive with all children in the group.