The vibrant paintings have a somber message. Based on each letter of the alphabet, the 26 pieces highlight a different country suffering from rampant injustices that plague the world’s children.

    “The realization that I have a responsibility, not just to my own family but to this life that I’ve been given, has become my inspiration,” says artist Caryn West.

    Children peer through the colorful acrylic paint, their innocent eyes having witnessed nightmares we can’t conceive.  Each painting is coupled with a poemwritten froma child’s perspective, depicting that country’s unique horror: sex trafficking in Vietnam, sweatshop abuse in Oman, the pandemic of AIDS orphans in Kenya, unpunished violence in Guatemala, and the list goes on.

    “The children behind these issues compel me to reach farther and to work harder,” West says.  Her project, a book entitled, “The Trouble with the Alphabet,” began in 2006 as paintings she created from photographs. The pieces evolved into a book to engage readers while exposing the crimes against vulnerable children. Today, the project has grown into an awareness campaign. A multi-media exhibit will travel across the country in museums, malls and children’s hospitals in the hope of educating and encouraging people to make a difference.

    “I hope that it is incredibly successful, and in some small way changes the world for the better,” says Robin Leach, TV host and producer who has advocated the project since day one.  In her book, West delves deeper into each highlighted country’s issue by writing the poems in a child’s voice.  West imagined she was an Ethiopian child when she wrote, “Mommy, can you help me?  My mouth is really dry.  I just need a little drink.  I promise not to cry.  You say there is no water.  You say there is no food.  I don’t understand, but I promise to be good.  I’ll close my eyes.  I’ll go to sleep.  I promise that I’ll try.  I am just a little girl. I do not want to die.”