Volunteer painters tackle Rondebosch children’s hospital
ON YOUTH Day weekend, June 16 and 17, a group of community volunteers and artists will brighten the walls of Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital – and the lives of children cared for there. Painting it Forward is an annual event that was established in 2014 by local resident Chris Lategan.
After a tumour was found at the centre of his brain, Lategan had a life-saving operation and wanted to “pay it forward” as a thank you to the medical professionals and staff who helped him and nursed him back to health.
Lategan, an art director in the Cape Town film industry, called on friends, family and the local community, and in 2014 gathered more than 100 eager and talented individuals to paint a children’s ward at Tygerberg Hospital. The walls were cleaned, repainted and decorated with colourful murals.
After positive feedback from hospital staff, parents and the children themselves, the event was then repeated at Tygerberg Hospital School in 2015, and Karl Bremer in 2016.
After seeing the initiative sparking the emergence of a Painting it Forward as far afield as Taiwan in 2016 and 2017, Painting it Forward Cape Town, in partnership with the Daniel and Friends Fund (a non-profit organi- sation that works with children with special needs), will be splashing their paint on the walls of Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Rondebosch this month.
The Daniel and Friends Fund is a non-profit organisation launched in January 2014 in remembrance of Daniel le Roux, who died aged three due to complications related to Leigh’s disease, also referred to as Leigh syndrome, and is a severe neurological disorder characterised by progressive loss of mental and movement abilities (psychomotor regression) and typically results in death within two to three years, usually of respiratory failure.
The fund is driven by directors Lianie le Roux and Kate Laurie and Jolize Gerber. Laurie and Le Roux are mothers to special-needs children themselves. They strive to provide an extensive range of support to other families caring for differently abled children, with the unique insight provided to them through their own personal experiences. The main areas of support include, but are not limited to:
Emotional support for the entire family through a 24-hour online group for the moms, social activities for the family, sibling appreciation days, etc.
Education and empowerment tools facilitated through various workshops, such as CPR courses, physiotherapy sessions and relationship counselling.
Financial assistance to relieve, where possible, the often unexpected and overwhelming flood of expenses involved in caring for a child with complicated needs.
Raising awareness in order to advocate on behalf of families to society the daunting challenges those affected by disability deal with on a daily basis, as well as to provide a platform for building a stronger, more intimate special-needs community.
The Different is Cool School Awareness Campaign, presented to schoolchildren to instil empathy and understanding at a young age.
To sign up as an artist or volunteer, please visit www.paintingitforward.co.za. For updates, please join the Facebook group on www.facebook.com/paintingitforward123
If any individual or company wishes to donate, please contact Lategan at paintingif@gmail.com Red Cross Children’s War Memorial Hospital, The Daniel & Friends Fund and Painting it Forward