A Magic Thing?

A Magic Thing?        .      .         . View this email in your browser

Fear of the Unknown Healed Three year old Labawa has a big burn wound on his face.  He is still running around with the other 55 children at Violets pre-school here in South Africa, however the wound looks fresh and uncared for. I asked Violet what happened to him and she said hot boiling water fell on him at his auntie’s house over the weekend. I asked Violet to get the 1st aid kit that Project COLORS donated to her several weeks ago. I showed her the burn gel in the kit, and asked if Labawa could come over so we could take a closer look at his wound. All the kids also wanted to be a part of seeing what was happening, so suddenly we had everyone circling as I opened the 1st aid kit. I noticed all the kids looked disturbed, wondering what on earth was in this mysterious bag. We took Labawa aside, cleaned and put burn gel on his wound. I gave him a big sticker afterwards which seemed to cheer him up immensely. I looked around and noticed all the children were quiet and seemed a little shocked. Violet said `` ah mama they are scared of the 1st aid kit. They don’t know this magic thing``. Oh man! We always spent so much time training the teachers in the townships how to use the kit and why it was important, but never thought about how the children would react to it. I asked Violet for the kids book we gave them about 1st aid care.  She proudly brought the book out. We sat the children around and I showed the story of ‘Goody Glove and the 1st aid kit’, highlighting how the kit helped the little boy in the story who hurt his knee during a soccer game. Violet and I put plastic gloves on, showed our real 1st aid kit and acted out parts of the book as we told the story. Violet translated my English into Xhiosa. The kids all cheered and laughed. They realized the 1st aid kit was their friend and not something to be scared of. They then started showing me all their little cuts and scrapes. I put on the plastic gloves and used our '1st aid in a bottle' spray on many of their infections, followed by a bandaid.   But that was not enough…now they all wanted a sticker too like Labawa! Days like these always remind me how important our work is in the community. These kits are often the 1st point of care these children receive. The training of the teachers and kids help make our donations an important part of their basic health and wellbeing. COLORS hopes to expand the 1st aid kit project with the help of local partners and global donors. $30 provides a small preschool or orphanage with a kit and $100 helps provide teachers and students with the 1st aid kit training, an imperative part of the program. An educational program for the children, as highlighted in the story above, is also needed and will be developed further. Hundreds of children, just like Labawa have been helped with COLORS 1st aid kits, however, we can help so many more with each donation. Your contributions make a big difference helping us increase the capacity of each small child care centre so they can help themselves. Thank you for supporting Project COLORS International with your continued interest and donations. Please circulate this email to help promote our global aid projects.

http://eepurl.com/b6-tNP

http://eepurl.com/b6-tNP

When a Mess Becomes a Message

When a Mess Becomes a Message 

by Sunyata and Terry Choyce

How do you react when something terrible happens to you?  

A few months ago, a lovely young woman named Zetty, who lives in Knysna South Africa was walking with a friend in her township. Suddenly, a truck backed into her, running over both her legs.  

Zetty was one of Project COLORS’ past mentorship youth, who always volunteered,  took care of the animals and helped others in her community.

Hospitalized with both her legs in casts, Zetty was very sad and had a overwhelming feeling of helplessness. We went to see her to give some encouragement and crafting supplies from COLORS to help her feel productive. Zetty was unable to move from her bed, but she sat daily working with her small handy craft supplies and made old, broken jewellery into new beautiful treasures.  

She took great pride in what she had created.

(Zetty playing with her niece a month before being run over by a drunk driver)

There was a major problem when Zetty was finally sent home.  Her house is tiny and many people share it with her.  It was not wheelchair accessible.  

COLORS was able to use extra donor and emergency funds from the Whalen and Choyce families to buy the materials needed to create a deck and wheel chair ramp (costing under $200).  Her family and community helped with the construction.

(Zetty's nephew giving us the thumbs up after the wheelchair ramp and deck were created)

When visiting Zetty, who was adorned with the recycled jewellery she had created, she said:

 ``You know, I was sitting looking at my legs that are such a mess, and I realized this is not just a mess it is a message.  I look at my life now so differently. I appreciate each moment something good happens to me. 

When I was depressed, sad and hurt,  a miracle happened and I was given craft supplies to make me still feel useful, and I made beautiful things.  I made a crafting workshop around my hospital bed, and I taught the other sick people around me how to also create the jewellery. 

Then, when I thought I could not go back to my house because of accessibility, everyone came together to make sure I had a wheelchair ramp so I could be back with my family.

I heard a ``message`` loud and clear.  A message that I must do good things with my life, no matter how small,  to help make life better for others. 

These gifts all made a big difference to me and I will always look for small ways to pass this on to others. So this mess is really a message``

(Zetty and her daughter with her newly made recycled jewelry) 

Zetty is currently healing in her home in South Africa. We hope she will one day walk again but one thing is for sure, she will continue to spread her message.

*To help with more projects like this please consider making a donation to Project COLORS International:  

http://projectcolors.com/wp/donate/