Events June, 6th 2011 by Paul Wilcockson

The Children for Peace Gala 2011

The Children for Peace held their second annual gala at Hotel Villa Padierna Marbella, last Saturday evening, 4th June.

The President, Debbie Mace and vice-president Lamia Khashoggi, had organised to bring over some Palestinian children to perform and remind the glamorous guests of just one of the causes that The Children for Peace support. ” Children are caught in the wars of illiteracy, of armed conflict, of hunger, starvation, illness, and of isolation from opportunity. Although the task of remedying such situations is great, and often, to others, impossible, we know that the only way adversity is overcome is to confront it head-on and take all necessary actions to create change. It is with this in mind, that The Children for Peace was founded.” Other projects include an orphanage in Ethiopia for children abandoned by their AIDS-infected parents. The Monserrat Caballe Scholarship was also created to help children in Ethiopia. The “Mujeres Solidarias” have been joined by The Children for Peace in Mali, where under-nurishment is still at a staggering 90%,illiteracy is 87% , and genital mutilation of girls aged between 6 and 8 is 100%. Vaccination of children is 0%.

I first met Debbie Mace last year, after photographing the annual event at Incosol Hotel. The work of The Children for Peace, her selfless determination, with her team of supporters, made its mark on me – I work with thousands of children and, from the experience of my own children, I strongly believe that ” every child deserves to smile.” The Palestinian children have been staying at the Benalmádena International College in their purpose-built accomodation for permanent borders and visiting groups of students. They had been rehearsing their dance routine before arriving in Spain last Friday, and Manuela Veronese, from FAMA Dance Academy in Fuengirola, incorporated their dance with that of her own talented young students.

Dario Poli’s music Corazon which is the music used by the charity, was presented in a spectacular introduction of the event by the children carrying flags of the world, choreographed by Manuela. It was also a real pleasure to see Becky Tate sing again, flying over from England especially for the occasion. Steve LLoyd Morgan also made a special trip to sing for the second year running for The Children for Peace. His performance can be seen now elsewhere on this site.

In the early part of Saturday evening, I had a prior commitment to photograph a wedding in Sotogrande, a wonderful opportunity for me to repay the kindness and loyalty of someone who has supported my work for many years. During my absence, Diane Sutton filled in for me, and I am very grateful to her for producing some images which will help in promoting the future work of The Children for Peace. Below is a small selection of our images, the remainder will be published shortly. Model, actress, writer and humanitarian, and UNESCO Artist for Peace, Marisa Berenson was the Honoray Chairwoman for the evening, and Ana Obregón once again delighted those who came to support The Children for Peace.

http://www.thechildrenforpeace.com/chi_siamo.htm