July 12 , 2005
Life-Child: Mural paintings at Schoemansdal Day Care Centre
by Neal Parrow (Graphic Illustrator - New York)

A panorama view of the murals in the education room

The impetus for painting of the murals of the Malelane day care center was the result of a conversation with a few of the volunteers who had worked there taking care of the kids, and helped to establish the facility. I had the opportunity to visit the Malelane center with Andries and Eugen from Orison pictures who were shooting a video there to show the progress of Project Lifechild as well as the near completion of this particular care center. When we arrived, I saw the very simple cement building built by donations to Lifechild, placed in a beautiful setting. I recall there were something like fifteen or seventeen children living there, and they slept on the cement floor with blankets and thin mats. One of the things that really struck me though, was the cheerful attitude of these kids who had lost both parents, and came from difficult situations. Meeting them, and spending some time with them over the course of three days, it struck me that the Spirit of God was with these children. Despite all circumstances, this was generally, a joyful place. I recall these beautiful children, regularly singing wonderful gospel songs, happily, and with gratitude. The sound of their singing was moving.

Neal Parrow with some of the kids at the centre

There was not much other than the bare necessities in place there for the kids, a few warn books, a ball or two, beaten up and deflated that they played with regularly. There were old tires for the kids to roll around, and a few very used plastic toys. I recall one volunteer, Sarah Lech, stating with a real, deep concern for the children, ”Those kids, they have… nothing”. We began to talk about ways in which the place could be made better, and paint on those gray walls was right up there on the list.

In the course of my career as an illustrator, in lean times I have painted the walls of a few kids rooms with murals. So when Sarah and Shy, two volunteers sent from Time Square Church, mentioned paint, and painting “things” on the walls, I jumped at the opportunity in taking part in the painting of that center. Money for the paint was non-existent, so Shy made a couple of calls, and managed to pull together a quick donation from contacts in New York.

From DFL headquarters, Johan and I picked a color scheme, and spoke of ideas for themes for paintings on the walls of the kids rooms and the main education room. The paint was ordered and volunteers who were caring for Children, and doing actual hard labor on the premises began priming and painting the background colors for the walls. We were all pretty excited about the prospect murals in that great place, so it all started to come together, and I was given the task of designing. I wanted this work to be a subject that a child might like. What better subject than the Creation to make a kid happy?

Then, with the base -coats of paint now finished by the hard working volunteers, Andries and Eugen and myself piled equipment and paint into the back of a bucky, and journeyed back up to the Malelane center.


Animals on the left hand side of the education room.

The outlines of the objects being drawn had to be projected onto the walls, and the volunteers, many who never painted before, had to fill in the lines, with the designated colors, all which had to be mixed separately. At the end of three sixteen hour days of painting, even with several eager painters, I was concerned about finishing what I had planned to have painted. We had five days allotted to tackle the project, then Andries, Eugen and myself would have to leave. I started to worry if I was going to leave there “wishing we had finished.” I had to start praying that we’d finish in time. After climbing up and down precarious, hand- made latters with containers of paint in hand, cleaning spills constantly, the project was completed, on time. We painted right up until the last second that we could before leaving.


The boys enjoyed their new room with interesting planets

Ultimately, it was somewhat grueling, but definitely the most rewarding artistic experience that I can remember. The children put up with my constant badgering them to sing just one more hymn. We had so many songs sung for us during the work process that helped us all joyfully get through the work. All in all, it was one of the best times of my life, and I’m certainly grateful to God and to DFL for the opportunity to serve in an artistic way. It is my hope to soon return to South Africa and do all of this again!

Neal's own 20th century "The Creation" in the education room.

Anthony, a volunteer from NY, looking at the education room

The murals in the boy's room

The murals in the girl's room

The education room

A refreshing scene in the girl's room

Doctors for Life International represents more than 1000 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of who practice in South Africa. DFL was founded as a South African organization in 1991 and has spread across the globe. DFL is involved in several community projects including orphan care, the care of terminal AIDS patients, malaria prevention and the care of abused women.

For more information visit the Life-Child web-page