Mission Statement Purpose, Goal & Direction

Empowering and stimulating creativity and spontaneity in children, young people and young adults. Helping to solve hunger in schoolchildren in a natural and effective way. Creating and developing awareness about our individual and collective responsibility to live in eternal balance with nature and the climate.

Vision

Here at ArtKids Foundation, we see a future where African youth en masse embrace their talents as a means to support themselves and their families. It is therefore our vision to discover, stimulate and promote the talents of our young people.

Who we are and what we work for

Artkids Foundation is a Dutch-registered, internationally operating non-profit organization or NGO, with a special focus on discovering and developing talents. The Artkids Foundation is active in Igboland in South-East Nigeria, where young talent is everywhere on the streets. This region is also known as Igboland, or the land of the Igbos

May we use this opportunity to thank our various donors and direct/indirect supporters, most of all our Spiritual Pillar-Ya’huwah~Ala (Chi’Ukwu).

Objectives Rebuilding & Restoration

ArtKids Foundation has developed a concept in which the following goals are pursued based on the formulated basic vision:

1. To empower and stimulate creativity and spontaneity in children, youth and young adults around the world by working on talent development in the broadest sense of the word, including the painful self-sufficient requirements to enable structural talent development. Helping to solve hunger in school children naturally and effectively, named the youngest in most African primary schools.
2. Create and develop awareness about our individual and collective responsibility to live in eternal balance with nature and the climate. Project-based highlighting of specific local situations of imbalances, teaching and applying structural cultural problems that bring new generations to life in this balance.
3. Taking all further actions that are related to the foregoing in the broadest sense or that may be furthered by it.

The foundation tries to discover its purpose by, among other things:

• Providing social, cultural and educational platforms and projects (both physical and digital) that bring together our target groups and consumers of their creative products, to stimulate self-development and make (the prospect of) economic self-sufficiency part of our platforms. Through agriculture and vegetable gardening, ArtKids wants to work with sufficient food producers to feed school children in Igboland West Africa. ArtKids Farm’s farm products are used to prepare meals for the youngest school-aged children in the ArtKids Food On Table kitchens. This helps them to identify and explore the knowledge perceived to them.
• A minimal burden on nature, culture and climate is achieved by working locally as much as possible and stimulating awareness of self-reliance from the grassroots up. A substantial part of the work and communication is done remotely digitally, which means there is minimal traffic for a lot of travel traffic. Recycling, purchasing and renting locally as much as possible, encouraging close proximity and working from home are other examples of how we achieve that goal.
• Generating funds to make the goal possible (worldwide).
• Collaboration with partner organizations, specialists, consultants and especially volunteers and training a mentality of self-reliance.
• Division of tasks delegation through collaboration with local and regional organizations and projects in different countries.

Basic Vision Child & Creativity

1. Importance of creative expression of the Child

   1. Creativity & Intelligence

      The use of Creative (art)forms to express emotions, in combination with thinking about it, is a continuous practice of on the one hand to become more aware of emotions and on the other hand to use expressive art as a mean to apply solution oriented thinking. Consequently this cultivates the development of creativity, intelligence and the ability to have and express empathy.

   2. Personality-/Identity development

      Every internal experience or emotional and rational processing is every time completely unique and personal. With that one such expression is an observable conformation of ones self. The child hence grows confidence in coming out for ones personality/identity and with using it to dare to manifest ones self. Furthermore the child is able to both express and develop personality/identity over time, because it of a growing self understanding.

   3. Critical Observance

      The process of the realization of an expressive (art) representation of something is a challenge of meticulous observance, and therefore works to the advantage of the development of the ability of critical observance.

2. Child and parrent/family

   1. Parent-child relationship

      From the subjects previously mentioned in point A). about de direct importance of creative (art) expressions of the child the conclusion can be derived, that personal involvement of parent(s) in this process can be of utmost importance. After all: on the one hand parents can hereby exert a stimulating influence and on the other hand ‘affirmative’ actions towards the child. This can be of great importance for the advancement of warm (positive) parent-child relationships. Such an relationship is necessary for a child to develop ’emotional attachment’ and a sense of ‘basic safety and security’.

   2. Parental sentiment

      Genuine interest of parents for the creative expressions of their child and the importance of these expressions, contributes to the appreciation and esteem of the parents towards their child. In addition this on itself contributes to a good parent-child relationship. The same applies to contingent family members.

3. Child and Society

   1. Social behavior and empathy

      Al the subjects previously mentioned in points A en B will work, provided that good accompaniment, advances the development of social behaviors and the ability to to have and express empathy towards the child.

   2. Emotional balance

      Al the subjects previously mentioned will contribute to an emotionally balanced child.

   3. Emotional restoration

      Development of social behavior, of the ability to have and express empathy, of emotional balance and of critical observance, form the counterbalance against for example manifestation of ‘symptoms of estrangement’, destructive fears, superficiality, extreme prejudice, escapism and feelings of emptiness, uprootedness and inferiority.

4. Natural, conscious and spiritual

   Every choice influences personal development and self conditioning. ArtKids Foundation commits itself to upholding human innocence by informing parents about all positive and negative influences of which a child is confronted. We hereby apply de basic spiritual laws of the Creator of all that exists as manual.

   1. Protecting the Child against negative influences

      Because of the so called ‘western standard’ that has been imposed on the world through politics, religion, education, advertisement and entertainment, a child is exposed from birth to violence, aggression, ego, sex, materialism, total loss of respect, discrimination, bullying, vandalism, unhealthy living, laziness, boredom etc.. In many if not all movies and TV-series, and in the world of advertisement children and youth are targeted to be sublimely influenced in their behaviors through exemplary negative characters and images. This negativity is promoted as the “New Norm” of which in the end, only the industry profits. By learning to understand and identify these negative influences, parents can help to protect their own children.

   2. Appropriate use of technology

      Children and adults are more often in different dimensions because of digital platforms. Children and Youth who use computers without accompaniment have the tendency to focus on games and social media, looking for mindless or shocking subjects on the Internet. Even though these same computers provide the ability to create music, edit movies, create digital images, write stories, the ability to search and discover life changing information and more. The trick is to let the child experience that modern technology has many more interesting things to offer than just games and pastime, also children must realize that there is life besides the on/off switch.

   3. A natural way of life

      The world is becoming more and more fake and crazy. Realizing that children are our future, it is of utmost importance to learn the child that not everything that happens around us today, was considered as normal or appropriate behavior in the past. Many allergies and behavioral disorders are relatively easy solved by adopting a natural eating pattern and increase physical exercise. Through informing and educating parents and children, awareness is created on what we eat and drink, what we consider as ‘normal’, and what consequences these ingredients have on body, mind and spirit. What influence the eating of unclean meat has on our physical and mental health, why natural food is better than chemically treated and genetically manipulated food, why fruit and nuts can and should replace candy, cookies other unhealthy snacks to change lives, what impact it has to replace soft drinks with natural and fresh fruit juices homemade lemonade, tea and water. And why it pays of to grow your own vegetables, even when we think there is no garden or space to do it. A natural way of living brings happiness, health, energy, positivity and so much more.

Method of working Facilitating & Funding

To offer platforms (both physical and digital) and projects that operate within our vision that put our objectives into practice. To raise funds that make these platforms en projects a reality. To Build Partnership and cooperations with organizations and specialists that posses knowledge, experience and means that contribute to our objectives. To acquire involvement of volunteers and interns and society in broad sense. To implement core funding of local platforms and projects in a way whereby they can self-sustainable grow and expand.