CDP Trust

The CDP Trust is an NGO that works with refugees, orphaned children and abused women. They have created a programme called Arts For Advocacy where they use art to assist people to tell their stories, as well as create promotional material to create awareness for their plight.

A collection of their work is currently on display at Constitution Hill during the 16 Days Of Activism campaign.

They also teach people skills like fabric dyeing and screenprinting, that can be used to earn a living. They have not only succeeded in promoting healing and building awareness, they have also succeeded in building sustainability for thes people.

Women come to the centre and tell their stories. They feel heard, very often for the first time in their lives. They learn and share, and when they leave they are armed with new skills that they can use to make a living for themselves, so that they can grow out of their past experiences and begin new lives for themselves.

They work with paint, clay, fabric dye, mosaics, collages and other media to share their message with the world.

Pop in at Constitution Hill this week to see this astonishing collection of work.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

0835689150

Magical Moments

I often work in the most magical places amongst the most magical people and last week was an exceptionally magical time for me. I worked with a small group of ladies who, between them, feed and care for more than 900 needy children in the townships.

Magical Moments is a volunteer-driven organisation that helps small, grass roots NGO's to co-ordinate their work in an effort to grow and thrive. Magical Moments goes into these organisations and and delivers Magical Moments to the children so that they may have some magical experiences of their own to build valuable memories of their childhood.

A Magical Moment can be as simple as eating their first ice cream. I grew up in a "previously advantaged" environment. We had ice cream in the fridge at home all the time. It is hard for me to imagine a life where a child has his first experience of real ice cream at the age of 7 or 8 years old. Imagine how magical it must be to experience that icy sensation for the first time, in an environment where food is scarce, fridges are unknown and very often there is not even a fresh water supply.

On the day that I did training in this particular home, where they feed hundreds of hungry children every day, there was not even water in the taps.

What is most magical to me, is the dedication of the volunteers who run these places. The selfless people who give of themselves to help those who are in dire need, no matter what the personal cost. Those who have the courage to do the job that few have the heart for, the time that others cannot justify.

I salute all of the unsung heros who work at the point of pain within our society. I salute your courage and your heart. I salute your giving nature.

Imagine, if you can, a world where such people are not a small minority, but rather the larger majority. A world where every person feels the responsibility of the group, instead of saying "This is not MY problem. I did not create this challenge so I have no reason to do anything to fix it."

Day by day we can each make the small internal changes necessary that will have sweeping external effects on society. If each one of us does a little more than is necessary, we can share the load and effect massive social change.

Thank you to Magical Moments for giving me a truly magical moment with your group.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

0835689150

Maranatha Bana

Last week I had the most amazing time at Maranatha Bana in Pretoria North. I made rainbow spiral T-shirts with more than 150 kids, ranging from little ones all the way up to teenagers.

Maranatha Bana is a privately funded NGO that supports needy children in the local community through the intervention of a local church. They supply housing, food, education, sports facilities and other activities from which the children benefit.

I had the most amazing time there. The kids were SO excited about the shirts that they made that many of them decided to put them on and wear them when they were still sopping wet out of the rinse. It was quite an experience to hear their excited voices and see them all running around in their new T-shirts on the playground.

Even though I was absolutely exhausted when I got home that evening, I could not fall asleep. My head just kept spinning with all the happy little faces and rainbow bursts of colour from the day's fun activities.

Each time that I work in an NGO like this one, I look around me and realise how lucky I have been to have grown up with both of my parents in a supporting family environment.

Hats off to Maranatha Bana for taking care of these kids. You guys are doing an awesome job!

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

+27835689150

Raku Firing

If I had the time for a hobby, it would certainly be ceramic. As with colouring fabric, colouring clay can be unpredictable. I love the anticipation of not knowing until the end how my crafted item will actually look, and the surprise when I see that it is not what I expected it would be. This is the magical side of life!

Raku pots are baked in open firepits as opposed to the controlled environment of an electric kiln. Because of the wild process, the results are varied and unpredictable.

The CDP Trust is an NGO that I work with quite closely. At the centre they teach the most vulnerable people in our communities a variety of handcrafts in an attempt to give them skills that they can use, not only to express themselves and heal, but also to create products that they can sell for money.

They teach visual arts using every medium, from paint to fabric dye to clay. At their centre they pass on the skills of screenprinting, tie dye, lino printing, ceramic, beadwork and any other craft with income generation potential.

These crafts are also a powerful catalyst for healing. Many of the people who come to their centre have suffered extreme traumas on their journey through life. Through these creative processes, they make peace with their past and build a road to their future.

If you would like to support the efforts of the CDP Trust, why not sign up for a course and learn more about the magical Raku process? At the same time, your money will go back into the centre to upskill somebody else who can really benefit from new skills and a fresh chance at survival. Have some fun and support a worthy cause.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

+27835689150

CDP Trust and Kids Haven

The CDP Trust is an NGO in Bertrams, Johannesburg, that is working tirelessly to help those in the community that are too vulnerable to help themselves. They operate on private funding from Europe and they assist refugees and abused women and children to survive and have a chance at rebuilding their lives.

They use arts and crafts as a catalyst for disclosure and healing. Colour is therapeutic. It has the power to rehabilitate and heal. CDP Trust uses it as a balm on the wounds of the people who come to them for help.

Recently, they brought in groups of children from Kids Haven in Benoni for a holiday programme. I went to the concert afterwards to celebrate their artworks and achievements.

It was my first visit to Kids Haven, and the experience will stay with me forever.

Kids Haven is a shelter in Benoni that takes in children off the street in Johannesburg. As I stood in the hall looking at more than 500 busy children, I realised that not one of them had anywhere else to go, or anybody to turn to. All of them have some aweful tale of trauma to tell. No child will simply leave its parents. Some have lost both parents to illness, others have run to Johannesburg to escape unmentionable horrors at home.

All of them crave love.

Afterwards I was chatting to a friend of mine about the experience. She seemed frustrated that the Government is not doing more for children like these. The truth is that there are just not enough resources for the growing problem. Each one of us is sitting hoping in some vague way that somebody, somewhere, is taking care of the problem, because that is what moral society does.

In reality, there are scores and scores of children like this around us everywhere, that the resources do not reach, for whatever reason.

I went in and presented a 20 minute colour magic show for them. It cost me a little bit of my time and a piece of cloth. It meant the world to them.

I am 37 years old and I am still blessed to have both of my loving parents. The only thing that seperates me from any of the children in that room is the fact that I happened to be born in the right place at the right time. Every day I am more thankful for that lucky accident.

Do you have kids who are moaning that they do not yet have the latest Playstation? Step out into your community and go and meet the children in the shelters and homes around you. Contribute. Donate. Get involved. Change the world you live in.

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

Crafts have the potential to change lives. Throughout the centuries, textile crafts have provided the basis for cottage industries around the world. They provide a means for start-ups to differentiate their products from the masses, to create competitive products that they can sell.

I teach into this space at NGO's and skills development centres like Out Of The Box in Germiston.

I recently received very powerful feedback from the CDP Trust where I trained in 2008. This centre works with refugees, abused women, homeless people and social workers to improve the plight of the most vulnerable people in our society. Although they did not have it in their budget to bring me in again this year, the colour bug has bitten at the centre and Nirupa Singh keeps the dye culture going. Two of the ladies that I trained in 2008 have just ordered dye to make products for Christmas, and one of the ladies that Nirupa trained is doing the same.

It is very rewarding to see small seeds take root and grow to provide hope for other people.

If you want to learn more about the activities of some of the Social Entrepreneurs that I deal with, you can go to

http://www.outofthebox.co.za/

I have stumbled on an authentic online social entrepreneur who supports local hand made goods. Follow her compelling blog at

http://blog.babazeka.com/

Have a great day in full colour!

Kind regards

Melanie

0835689150