Making Memories

CBS' Steve Hartman and crew recently traveled to Nicaragua to witness the good deeds of American Ben Schumaker. See some photos from their trip: To get to the NPH orphanage on the island of Ometepe, located in Lake Nicaragua near Granada, you have to take this ferry. CBS correspondent Steve Hartman, right, wearing stripes, and cameraman Bob Caccamise, center, in brown shirt, wait their turn to board.

Horses out in Lake Nicaragua, the second-largest lake in the country. Nicaraguans call it Lago Cocibolca or Mar Dulce, which means Sweet Sea.

Lunchtime at the NPH orphanage, home to more than 200 children. Most are war orphans and many are Miskito Indians, children from the east coast of Nicaragua where Spanish is hardly spoken.

While Third World orphanages are not normally festive places, on this day there's reason to celebrate. Ben Schumaker of The Memory Project is arriving to deliver painted portraits of the children.

Festively dressed girls pose for a photo that will become a memory portrait -- a special memory of their youth. The idea, says Ben Schumaker of The Memory Project, is to establish a sense of personal heritage. Most of the orphaned children don't even have a photo of themselves.

The boys didn't seem amused at waiting their turn to dance.

After photos are taken, gifted high school art students from across the United States paint the portraits. Ben Schumaker says student artists often connect with the subjects of their work -- especially when painting their eyes.

The CBS News crew takes time out for basketball with the kids! Cameraman Bob Caccamise, right, hogs the ball while producer Clifden Kennedy, left, plays defense.

Jayden Kirn, one of the directors of the orphanage, walks towards the school. "I think [the portraits] will touch them profoundly once they get a private moment to sit and look at that picture," he says.

One of the students receives his portrait from Ben Schumaker, right. The portrait, painted from a photo, was done by a high school student in the United States.

With Mount Conception in the background, the children eagerly await their portraits.

Ben Schumaker started The Memory Project in 2004 while he was in college. He still runs it out of the bedroom of his parents Madison, Wis., home. He says his goal is to strive for a more compassionate society.

More smiles from the children after playing basketball with the CBS News crew. Producer Clifden Kennedy says the kids were fascinated by seeing their digital images right after they'd been taken.

Since the fall of 2004, the Memory Project has involved 35,000 students in international service through art. More than 4,000 portraits have been delivered to orphans around the world.

The Memory Project founder Ben Schumaker, top left, poses with some of the children. He says that for every portrait he gives out, there's a student back home who is now more aware of the world's needy.