"Colour to their lives - Hope to their eyes" - Colours 1

As told by Rtr. Isuri Amarasinghe

“Their laughter will make your heart melt. Their strength will make a grown person cry. Meeting a child fighting cancer will change your life forever.”

Over the years, Hand in Hand has given hundreds of children fighting cancer a ray of hope, a friend to talk to and a chance to just be kids. Continuing this successful endeavour, Colours – 1, the first painting session of the Christmas Phase of Hand in Hand 2018/19, was conducted on the 14th of October 2018 from 9.00 a.m. onwards at CCC house, Maharagama.

Around 30 Rotaractors carrying pencils, papers, chalk and gifts visited these little angels who at first seemed shy, but by the end of the session, they were enthusiastically chatting with our members.

The children were asked to draw on the theme of Christmas and they surprised us with their creativity, which reflected how strong and how big-hearted they were. With our Rotaractors always by their side, encouraging and praising their work, the children created their masterpieces while chitchatting with the Rotaractors, sharing their stories and explaining enthusiastically what they love to do.

One would expect living a life of struggles and darkness would affect what these children would draw. But their drawings were filled with colours and smiles, and the young artists had equally huge smiles on their faces as well.

This session was conducted with the aim of giving these young fighters a chance to showcase their creativity, to forget about their battles even for just a few hours. It warmed our hearts to see these little angels smile and how their smiles grew bigger when they were given gifts by their new friends.

With the promise of visiting again, we said goodbye to the children, with our hearts heavy from the courage and hope they showed us, and a newfound sense of admiration towards these brave little fighters.