Maya Gvili, with the US Ambassador to Israel, Mr Richard Jones, her mother Adena and grandmother Lynn Pressman.

"Ima, Maya won an art competition that was sponsored by the U.S Embassy to commemorate the fifth anniversary of 9/11."   Adena went on to explain that a ceremony would be held at the U.S. Ambassador's residence where the winning pictures would be displayed.  There were five winners, all between the ages of 5 and 10.

Since I had never heard about Maya's artistic abilities, I asked what her picture was all about.  After much prodding, I was told that is was a dove of peace with an olive branch.

I asked what was so special about the dove, perhaps it was smiling or doing something different.  The response from Maya, 8 years old was that it was just a dove with an olive branch.  Well, I would just have to wait patiently to see the picture.

The children were going to be asked to say a few words about their pictures.  "Yikes," I said, "it will be like a beauty contest where everyone will ask for world peace.  Let her decide what she wants to write." So Maya, my very precious granddaughter immediately sat down and wrote, "My picture, the dove is a small symbol of something which is very large – peace.  I think peace is love/unity between people.  It is essential to make peace the work of the presidents and the prime-ministers and also the people who must teach to cooperate and compromise at a young age, as the children in the kindergarten where my mother is director (YMCA) – where children who are Jews and Arabs are friends."

Maya Gvili’s award winning picture

The children were invited for a separate award ceremony held at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.  There, mounted on easels were the five winning pictures with their names and cities printed under them

The Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Richard Jones greeted us warmly.  He told us that the pictures had been on display at the American Corners in Beersheva, Yaffo and Karmiel.  He then said, "We were pleasantly surprised by the impressive artwork we received from all over Israel.  You, the winners of the competition have been chosen not just for your drawing skills.  Just as important are the extraordinary ideas behind the paintings.  It's clear that you put a lot of thought into your paintings and that they come from your hearts."  He then invited each child to come up to receive a certificate and some small gifts.  He called on Maya Gvili who explained her picture – the dove of peace, and the five colors representing different kinds of people.  Then we were all invited to have refreshments and meet the "artists."