Two Gambian children, Omar Sanyang and Alex Gomez of Old Jeshwang Lower Basic School, received awards on Wednesday for their participation in World Schoolchildren’s Art Exhibition. The event was held from the 16 - 31 October 2007 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Omar Sanyang received the Bronze certificate award while his schoolmate Alex received the selected certificate award.

Presenting the awards to the winners at his office in Kanifing, the Taiwanese Ambassador to The Gambia, Dr Patrick Chang, described the event as significant as it seeks to bring together Taiwan and participant countries. He also congratulated the winners and encouraged more children from The Gambia to take part in the 39th exhibition, which takes place next year.

The Taiwanese envoy also presented cash prizes to the winners and their teacher instructors.
Mr Tu, the Taiwanese Minister of Education, and Mr Long-Rong Wu, the Chairman of the organizing committee signed the awards.

The World Schoolchildren’s Art Exhibition aims to promote cross-cultural understanding among the younger generation. The annual event is organized by the Association for Education through Art, Republic of China and the Association of Formative Art Education for the Republic of China.

To be Eligible for participation in the next event school children must be aged between 6-15 years. Over 70 children have participated worldwide.

The art works presented this year included oil paintings, water color, wood cut prints, pencil sketches, crayon drawings, pastels, collages, etching and graphic designs.