HOL Artists' Group | NOW

HOL Artists' Group Chairman, Carole Choucair Oueijan wrties.....
 
Please welcome to our group new member artist Tania Baban-Natal.   

Tania  grew up in Beirut and received her B.A. in Communication Arts from Otis College of Arts & Design in Los Angeles. She is a graphic designer and a book artist. Her artist's books are held in private, institutional, and international collections, including those of the Getty Research Institute. She co-founded Conflux Press, a small press that publishes custom trade books, and is the owner of Atelier Baban, an art and design studio specializing in handmade invitations and art cards. She also worked in the field of commercial graphic design and advertising for more than two decades, including 13 years as an art director and designer for the National Football League Creative Services.

 www.atelierbaban.com              www.confluxpress.com

We also visited HOL Artists' group member and fashion designer, Georges Assaf's home in Mounsef, Byblos and we tasted all his the fruits from his garden... Thank you 
 

 

HOL Artists' Group | NOW

 

 
The Legacy Tiles and the Jarra mosaic project is done!

This was a fundraising project at the 2011 Beyond Borders Art Exhibition. The generous donations of many board members and individuals allowed the artists group to have it's second Beyond Borders Exhibition. Thank you Reem for making all the ceramic tiles with the names of the donors. Thank you Carole for your beautiful mosaic design on the jarra. The Jarra will be on display at our new home at 4800 Wilshire Boulevard.  We look forward the the 3rd annual Beyond Borders Art Exhibition in the Fall of 2013.

 

Gift of Sight  

To a Child In Need    

Dr. H. John Shammas led the ALO Foundation's medical experts-along with Dr. Khaled Tawansy of the Los AngelesChildren's Retina Institute-to restore the gift of sight to Ali Fakher El Dine is a precious five year old Lebanese boy, saving him Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy Tractional Retina (FEVR) which causes rapid, progressive blindness.

After the surgery, Dr. Shammas said, "I am deeply gratified to see how Ali's eyes are improving after surgery, and to have been able to offer this opportunity to this young boy. When I was first contacted by Wafa Kanan, her compassion and her desire to help this young boy were highly contagious. Indeed, when I reviewed his case, and received confirmation from our renowned pediatric retina specialist, Dr. Tawansy, I immediately volunteered our surgery center and all our resources to benefit Ali by giving him the opportunity to have these delicate eye surgeries.

"Although I have a constant desire to give back to our community, nothing is more rewarding then helping a young boy who is affected by a blinding disease and whose only hope is to have such delicate eye surgeries that only few centers are able to provide."

BEHIND THE MISSION

The ALO Foundation team recently returned from Lebanon with Ali, an unexpected traveling companion, who came to founder Wafa Kanan's attention during one of the Foundation's many overseas missions, designed to improve the lives of young people in need of urgent medical care.

The initial purpose of ALO Foundation's April 2012 trip was to provide hearing aids to nearly 1,000 hearing impaired people-a mission successfully completed. Yet when the team met Ali and learned about his personal history, they wanted to do even more. Ali, like so many innocent children, is a survivor of war. During the 2006 conflict in Beirut, while Ali's mother was pregnant with her son, she was struck down by an errant bomb. She recovered and gave birth to what appeared to be a normal, healthy child. Regrettably, this initial assessment proved to be wrong.

As it turns out, Ali is one of a handful of Middle Eastern children suffering from a rare genetic, degenerative, retinal eye disease that left untreated results in blindness due to lack of experience from the medical community in the region and the limited resources that family may not afford to seek international support. Ali's eyes have rapidly deteriorated to the point where he was forced to find a cure outside of his home country. In an effort to get help, Ali's family appealed to the Lebanese media hoping to find a miracle. Upon learning of Ali's situation, the ALO Foundation immediately stepped up to the plate.

"It's a heartbreaking reality that there are so many cases of children who are hampered with health obstacles that begin before they are even given a chance to spread their wings and soar in the world," says Kanan. "Some of the cases stem from war and conflict while others are a result of genetic disorder, inter-family marriage and procreation. Regardless, until our dying breath, we will help children of the world in need and find solutions to advance them, turning their disabilities into abilities through partnerships and community support.

Donations:

Anyone interested in further information or in making a possible donation, please contact the ALO Foundation and ask for Michael Lloyd at 818/421-0574.   

Foundation Background / Website:

www.alofoundation.org