As the morning sunshine stretched across the grounds of the Light of Hope Children’s Home and School, our children peered out of their classroom windows, curious about the more than 50 girls disembarking a bus parked outside their school. The girls – the Matric Class of 2026 from Brescia House High School in Bryanston – were on a mission! Armed with paint, brushes and plenty of creativity, their goal was to brighten up the drab concrete wall surrounding the school.

After a short briefing, the girls paired up, grabbed what they needed and proceeded to paint the wall with bright colours and imaginative themes. The school children could not hold back and after watching from the playground for a while, joined in the creative fun – even the crèche children took their turn to add their handprints to the wall. By the early afternoon, gone was the dull and gloomy wall and in its place were cheerful backdrops with stories of nursery rhymes, planets, numbers, shapes and colours, seasons, days of the week, cartoon characters and themed letters of the alphabet. The school children now have as much to learn from the walls as in their classrooms!

Light of Hope Homes and Schools sincerely thank the Brescia House Matrics as well as their teachers and staff who made this special day possible. From the provision of all materials and the preparation of the walls to the amazing clean-up and management of the day itself, the Brecia girls were wonderful. These beautiful murals will be enjoyed by all the children for a long time to come. Thank you, Brescia Matrics.