Directly across the street from Loyola is a glittering sea of blue that is hard to miss.
In honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month, nearly 2,000 pinwheels were put up in Audubon Park, to stay there until the end of April.
The pinwheel is the national symbol for happy, healthy children and chapters of the organization Prevent Child Abuse erected them all over the nation.
Students from Loyola’s College of Law and Office of Mission and Ministry along with volunteers from the Audrey Hepburn Children At Risk Evaluation Center and the New Orleans Child Advocacy Center helped to set up the pinwheels.
Organizers from Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana worked with Eileen Johnson from the Audubon Nature Institute to pick a beautiful, central area for the display.
Lydia Cooper, psychology junior, was approached by the Office Mission and Ministry to get involved with the project and she agreed because, for her, this cause hits close to home.
“Abuse is often taught and if a parent hurts a child, that child is more likely to hurt their children, and so on,” Cooper said. “As a victim of child abuse, I wanted to make sure I stopped that cycle. Every day I look at my two-and-a-half-year-old and thank God for her. She is the light of my world and has shown me a new capacity for love. I think it’s my job to spend her whole life building her up, because the rest of the world will tear her down.”
For her, this project is not only meaningful, but essential. In addition to participating in the pinwheel project, Cooper will be working at the Audrey Hepburn CARE Center this summer.
“I think it is a child’s basic right to grow up in a loving and safe home,” Cooper said. “A lot of people say that they could never work with victims of child abuse because it would be too difficult, but I don’t think that is a valid excuse. Yes, it will be hard to see children come through [the center] who have had incredibly hard lives, but it isn’t fair to them to run away. Everyone knows child abuse happens, it’s time people speak up and help,” Cooper said.
Angela Vanveckhoven, communication director for Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana, said tourists approached the group as they were planting the pinwheels, asking about the wheels and the reasons for planting them. Vanveckhoven said that this reaction gets right to the heart of their intentions with the project.
“Everyone in the community has a role,” Vanveckhoven said. “It’s about raising awareness and getting engaged.”
More than anything, this project is about hope.
“These pinwheels represent great childhoods,” Cooper said. “I hope that someday we will have a pinwheel for every child.”