A statue of Barack Obama as a 10-year-old wearing shorts and a T-shirt has been unveiled in a park in Indonesia, where he lived as a boy.

The almost life-sized statue, which was unveiled today, shows a  young Obama smiling at a butterfly that has landed on his upheld left thumb, the Associated Press reports.

It stands in Taman Menteng Park, near where Obama lived from 1967 until 1971 with his American mother, his Indonesian stepfather and his half sister. The park was previously an athletic field near Obama’s elementary school.

“The statue is being erected to inspire Indonesian children and help them remember that they can be whatever they set their hearts on,” Ron Mullers, the chairman of the Friends of Obama Foundation, told the Jakarta Globe.

“There is a message through the young Obama statue that any child and anyone from any background can reach their dreams if they fight for it persistently,” Central Jakarta Mayor Sylviana Murni said.

Money for the $10,600 bronze statue was donated by eight Indonesian patrons, a television station and a charity that helps Indonesia’s urban poor, Mullers said, according to the AP.

(Posted by Doug Stanglin)

(Source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2009/12/statue-of-obama-as-a-child-unveiled-in-an-indonesian-park/1)

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