This week 52 Lives hit the road and had the absolute pleasure of attending two amazing schools. St Joseph's school in Bracknell was our first stop and our Director of Kindness, Greig got to work with an amazing group of students known as the Minnie Vinnies.
This group of children fundraise on a regular basis and volunteer in the community. Being kind is part of their everyday lives, and the joy they get out of their kind deeds was plain to see.
We all feel good when we're kind but many people don't know the reason why. Greig explained to the children that when we are kind, this starts a chemical reaction within the body that gives us this instant feel-good feeling. We also get this feeling when we achieve something or buy something we want. Although the results are the same, when we achieve this feeling through kindness, that feel-good sensation lasts a lot longer.
The next school on our list was Mayespark Primary in Essex. 52 Lives founder, Jaime, attended the school with Greig and the children were so excited to have her there. The children and staff were threw themselves into the task of helping someone in need of kindness.
Our life this week was a 6 year old boy called Elijah. When Elijah was born, he was not breathing and had to be resuscitated and placed on a ventilator. He was also very floppy. A muscle biopsy confirmed that Elijah had myotubular myopathy, a life limiting genetic neuro-muscular disorder.
Day-to-day life for Elijah is challenging. He can’t breathe on his own, so is hooked up to a ventilator 24 hours a day. He is at high risk of infection so sometimes needs to be in intensive care. He has poor muscle control and no head or trunk control. He has some limited movements in his arms, so he communicates using an iPad and a communication book. He has no eye movement and poor vision. But his cognitive function is completely normal, so he is fully aware of what is going on around him.
Elijah’s parents, Onessa and Jerome, work part time as nurses. They have carers to help them with Elijah, but the demands on both of them are high and they have little time for anything other than work or caring for their little boy.
Upon hearing Elijah's story, the children at both schools could not wait to start making their gifts. The amount of love filled letters, cards, pictures, gifts and messages was overwhelming. So much so that Greig had to ditch the box he brought and put them all in a large bin liner!
Whilst making these gifts the children kept asking: "Do you think Elijah will like it?" We can confirm that Elijah didn't just like it... he absolutely loved it!
Greig and Jaime headed over to Elijah's house in Hackney, London to hand deliver all the gifts that the children had made. Elijah's parents were overwhelmed by the messages and thought that had gone into the gifts. Brought to tears, Onessa and Jeroume told us that knowing people care means more to them than anything. You can hear what it meant to Elijah's family in the video below.
Love and support goes a long way in this world of ours and the children at Mayespark and St Joseph's Primary Schools encapsulated all that is good in this world.
