Hairdressers of the World against AIDS, a program co-launched by UNESCO and L'Oreal, is organizing an exhibition at Beijing's Xu Kai Hair Studio through December to showcase a dozen paintings by 12 children from families affected by AIDS.
The Hong Kong based NGO Chi Heng Foundation (CHF) invited the 12 children from Zhumadian, Henan province, to paint the pictures, after taking classes at the Summer Camp for the AIDS Orphans, co-launched by L'Oreal and CHF in 2007 and 2008.
The event is in conjunction with UNESCO's theme of this year's World AIDS Day, "Universal Access and Human Rights."
"I interpret the human rights part as being able to live with dignity. The children from AIDS affected families should have the same opportunities as normal kids and enjoy life as well," says Chung To, founder of CHF. For 11 years, the banker-turned AIDS activist, with his team, have been supporting over 10,000 AIDS-affected children from poor families in the mainland.
UNESCO and L'Oreal started the program in 2005. In China, they also run an outreach program, encouraging hairdressers to get involved in events such as planting trees with AIDS patients, and help run summer camps for AIDS orphans.