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Source: Jordan Times, AmmanSept.self storage 13--MAFRAQ -- To dispel the dreary image of sand and desert commonly associated with the Zaatari Refugee Camp, four international artists recently worked with the camp's children to add more colour to their surroundings."We thought that it would be really great to bring a bit of art, colour and smiles into [the] Zaatari Refuge Camp," Suranga Mallawa, ACTED deputy area coordinator (north Jordan), told The Jordan Times in a recent interview in the camp.She said the idea came after they heard from other countries that Awareness and Prevention Through Art (AptART) has been doing a "great job" with children on health and hygiene promotion issues."The idea was to cover 12 walls in the camp. Sometimes we worked with 30 to 50 kids each day and sometimes more," said Samantha Robison, AptART's executive director."They enjoyed the event, and the families liked the idea, because their children had an activity to do since there are not many activities in the camp," the 27-year-old added."We did a hand painting and added some colours to the washroom as well. It was fun," she told The Jordan Times as she supervised the work.Mallawa said the project not only facilitated the messages, campaigns and hygiene promotion activities they were doing, but gave the children an opportunity to express themselves."Such activities do not really happen in the camp on a daily basis," she noted.Thirteen-year-old Khaled Ahmad, who was painting on a wall at the camp, said he was thrilled when the artists gave him the chance to spend his free time painting."I was really happy when I began painting and drawing in the camp. Most of the time, I sit in my family's tent doing nothing. I drew a lamb and a snake," he told The Jordan Times as he showed a friend his art work.Khaled was one of several children who joined the artists to paint washrooms, a number of trailer迷你倉, tents and some of the camps' walls.Luc van der Walt, an artist from South Africa, said the children learned about hygiene in interactive workshops where they expressed themselves through drawings."For example, they learned about washing their hands and the reasons why, so we turn the bacteria into monsters. The kids went crazy about the colours," he added.The 33-year-old artist noted that the workshops helped the children use their imagination."For example, the theme which we were working on at one tent was 'art of this world', and the children were drawing crazy animals, things that you cannot even find on the planet," Van Der Walt said."Sometimes they drew things from the jungle, subjects they saw on TV. There were a lot of aliens, stars and spaceships, and it was mostly entertainment, but a lot of the time we try to bring in hygiene issues and educate them about this topic," he added.Mallawa said art was a way to influence people to change the way they were dealing with hygiene issues in the camp."The message always gets across better if you do it with fun and games," she added.Mallawa noted that they worked in partnership with UNICEF, which funded the project, and also approached other partners in the camp, including UNHCR and Oxfam."They lent us facilities to help finish doing this project," she added.Van Der Walt said parents and older people in the camp joined the kids in the activities sometimes.Mallawa noted that this was the first time a street art event took place at the camp and was visible to everyone, adding that the feedback from the residents was positive."We hope that we will receive more support from donors to have the artists back soon and try to continue this work," she added.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Jordan Times (Amman, Jordan) Visit the Jordan Times (Amman, Jordan) at .jordantimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services文件倉