“This the first time Help-Portrait was held in the Province of North Sumatra,” writes Maruli Juara Aritonang, the Event Director for Help-Portrait Pematangsiantar, Indonesia.
Maruli first heard about Help-Portrait through Fauzi Hermawan, a local cinematographer. “I told him, ‘We should do this in this city. No matter how many personnel get involved, we must execute this.'”
Together, they recruited a team of photographers, cinematographers, make-up artists, hair stylists and volunteers, “as many as we could get,” says Maruli, and held the event at the Orphanage Taruna Melati.
“When taking a picture, their happiness and smiles in front of the camera were contagious to our hearts.”
Team Help Portrait Siantar 2016, together with children of Orphanage Taruna Melati. (Photographer: Fauzi Hermawan)
Maruli met Dania, who at 7-years-old is the youngest girl in the Orphanage. “She is holding a board saying Help Portrait Siantar as her way of saying thank you to Help-Portrait.com. Because of this moment, she said, ‘now I have photograph for the first time and I will show this to my mother when I meet her someday.'” (Photographer: Budi)
“The first team from Help Portrait Siantar Pematangsiantar 2016. We smile because we gave the orphan children one reason for them to always smile.” (Photographer: Dhev Bakkara)
Adds Maruli, “We hope that this activity of sharing love and joy to the needy through Help-Portrait will not stop in this city, but will be contagious to other cities… so that more people can have a reason to smile.”
– Maruli Juara Aritonang, Event Director for Help-Portrait Pematangsiantar