On Wednesday December 16, 2016 Bol Aweng participated in the dedication of his art honoring students and advisors of Strides 4 South Sudan Club (S4SS) at Upper Arlington High school. The painting honors the students who through a Service Learning program raised over $56,000 in the past six years to improve maternal and child health through the Buckeye Clinic in South Sudan. High School Principal Andrew Theado welcomed the group which included the four past presidents of S4SS, other past UA students, and the club advisors. The program was organized by Jeanne Gogolski, Career Development: Service Learning Coordinator and was also attended by the UA Schools Superintendent, a School Board Member, and members of the Buckeye Clinic Steering Committee.
Quote from Bol Aweng:
[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”3″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails” override_thumbnail_settings=”0″ thumbnail_width=”240″ thumbnail_height=”160″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ images_per_page=”20″ number_of_columns=”0″ ajax_pagination=”0″ show_all_in_lightbox=”0″ use_imagebrowser_effect=”0″ show_slideshow_link=”1″ slideshow_link_text=”[Show slideshow]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]“The painting has many significant features. The light bulb is the first electric light seen in Piol since the beginning of the village. The villagers call it a “sign of hope and development”. The electricity also runs a refrigerator that keeps vaccines cold. When the refrigerator arrived, the villagers were so curious about the “cold” that they lined up to dip their hands in it to see what cold felt like. More than 600 children have received a vaccinations at the Buckeye Clinic; this is important since in South Sudan, only one out of five children live to age five. The window looks out into the village to remind the person viewing that this is in South Sudan. All these changes came because of the dedication of Upper Arlington students, teachers, parents, and friends.”