COMPLETE - T F I O n l i n e

And it was indeed great fun. Some
of the volunteers were artists, some
were not. That didn’t matter. The project
took on a life of its own as we all
came together in a united team effort
to change this little section of the ward.
I did the initial drawings in pencil,
then each volunteer chose a wall and
decided on their own color schemes.
After the paints were filled in, I would
do the final black outline to complete
the artwork.
On the first day of painting the
white base, we had to clean the ward.
Used needles, soiled cotton buds,
and other things were swept out of
the way. I was literally painting over
dried blood on the walls. Holding my
nose and mentally blocking out the
endless sound of crying as I worked,
I just knew that this little project was
going to be the start of something
unique in its own way.
I went home that night and
started writing a journal about the
Mulago Project. (For more accounts
of the Mulago Project, go to
www.livethecreed.com.)
One day while painting, someone
tapped my shoulder and asked to speak
to me. He was a young man in his
twenties. He explained that he was also
an artist and wanted to help us paint.
He was a father of one of the
children—a four-month-old, malariastricken
baby girl. The mother was
sitting on a small mat under her cot,
and the baby was asleep. The father
explained that he wanted to do something
to help, and that seeing us work
had inspired him.
Well, I was the one to be inspired
just then. I felt a wave of happiness
sweep over my heart—this was what
it was all about. Passing the inspiration
from one heart to another, and
feeling it come back to you a thousand
times over!
Nyx
Tina, Dar, Shirley, Nyx, Celly, and John
Volunteers painting
4 ❪❪ Outreach Focus ❫❫