An interview with the author and illustrator of The Remarkable Maria:

Patti and Tara, by Ryan (Age 10)

1. What was the inspiration for The Remarkable Maria?

Patti: I was first in Paramaribo, Suriname in 2004, working on a project with five organizations that helped people affected by the AIDS crisis. These organizations were quite small—especially the ones working with children “infected or affected” by HIV/AIDS. And they had many challenges.

I was saddened to learn that people thought the housing needs for children affected by AIDS would grow 10 times in the next five years. Ten-times! And there were incidents in the newspapers where parents were complaining about having children from one of the orphanages in school.

Where did the amazing children’s drawings in The Remarkable Maria come from? Tara and Patti travelled to Paramaribo in June 2005 to work with the children of SMART (Suriname Art) on the illustrations for Maria.

Jetty Helstone, founder of SMART, organized the workshop. There was a great response! Over 30 children from all over Paramaribo came to the art workshop. The children took their art very seriously, and showed in their drawings great compassion and understanding for the issues facing children affected by HIV/AIDS.

That was remarkable.

Thank you to Jetty and Maikel. And thank you very, very much to Marten for helping on the first day of class.