Young girl on a mission to spread kindness
A mother and daughter have written a book to promote kindness and creativity.
Razina Dewan (11) is a Grade Five learner at Dalmondeor Primary.
She completed her early education at Kids Cabin ECD in Robertsham and is an assistant Scout leader with 1st Mondeor Scouts. Fondly called the ‘laatlammetjie’ by her mum, she is the youngster of two older brothers but this ‘laatlammetjie’ is a force to be reckoned with. Her hobbies include being an excellent Scout, swimming and rock painting.
Razina was inspired to write a book when she was gifted her first kindness rock by her cousin. She began reading up on what kindness rocks were all about. “At our weekly parkrun with my family, I found my second rock. I loved the positive messages that were written on the rocks. It was like receiving a gift that you never knew you needed or wanted,” expressed the young author.
What is the kindness rock movement?
The Kindness Rocks Project was started by Megan Murphy in the United States. She wrote ‘You’ve got this’ on a rock and left it on a beach on Cape Cod. After a friend found it, she started leaving more rocks with inspirational messages behind.
Razina’s mother and co-author, Kabira Dewan highlighted: “The trend started to spread rapidly across the world. One message at just the right time can change someone’s entire day, outlook and potentially their life. At its core, The Kindness Rocks Project is a grassroots movement to try to bring a little more kindness, joy and compassion into the world.”
Inspired to spread kindness
Razina felt motivated to make her own rocks and leave them for others to find so that she could motivate and inspire people in the same way she felt when she found a kindness rock. It became a weekly habit where Razina and her mum would paint rocks to hide on their parkrun at Rietvlei Zoo.
Their book serves as an ideal guide for anyone who wants to start rock painting but is clueless about where to start.
“If you ever wanted to start rock painting or wanted to know about the kindness rock movement but don’t know where and how to start, this book is for you.
“It makes a great gift for anyone who has a creative side and wants to explore or expand their craft,” said the pair.
The book includes everything you need to know about kindness rocks, what to do when you find a kindness rock, an ideas gallery to get your creativity started, how to prepare your rocks, where to source supplies, where to hide and find kindness rocks in South Africa and how to complete your rock.
Kabira further emphasised: “Rock painting, rock hiding and the expanding of both of our creativity has become a bonding activity for Razina and myself. The culmination was really to tell the story in a book of our journey. Having always wanted to write a book myself, Razina’s journey with kindness rocks just made sense and flowed easily into a book.”
Book donation to her school
On March 4, Razina and Kabira hosted a book handover at Dalmondeor Primary School where they donated their book to the school library.
The mother and daughter expressed their gratitude saying: “We were humbled to be so warmly received by teachers and principal Mr Van Heerden who loved to hear our story of how the book came about. It was an honour to donate a copy to Dalmondeor School Library.”
They hope the book serves as an inspiration to both teachers and learners to continue to have a love for books and to continue spreading kindness.
Future acts of kindness
Razina hopes the book will impact people of any age who want to spread kindness and cultivate greater community connections through the simple act of painting something inspiring for others. “The world needs more kindness,” said Razina.
Kabira added: “My hope is for people to explore their creative side, which I believe everyone has a little bit of, for people to explore nature and the outdoors in our beautiful country through Kindness Rocks.”
The duo are currently chatting to schools about their book and doing rock painting workshops. If you would like them to visit your school, you can get in touch by contacting 084 678 6746 or email kabira.dewan@gmail.com.
Their book can be purchased on Bob Shop as an e-book format or a printed copy available on Takealot, or by contacting Kabira Dewan. There is a courier service offered nationally.
