Handcrafted teddy bears bring courage to the fragile
NORTHCLIFF – They're small enough to be held in a child’s hand, come in bright have personalities and most importantly, they are made with love.
Have you heard of Bears of Courage? It is an initiative co-founded by two women, Ronelle Baars and Mary Ndlovu.
This small, yet mighty, project stemmed around giving hand-knitted teddy bears to children facing life-threatening medical ailments. The idea of making these teddy bears came about nearly four years ago when Baars was reading about Bears of War.
From what she read, these bears of war were made by volunteers for children during WWII. During this time, children were evacuated from cities and the bears were given to them as a way to comfort them. In years to come, these bears would go through various name changes all while keeping their true meaning.
According to Baars, the bears have a specific pattern that was first published in the 1940s which was redone again in the 1960s after it was lost. “It’s an all-in-one pattern and basically takes a ball of wool. The original Bear of War volunteers used scraps of wool which made every bear different,” explained.
Fast-forward to 2017, the Northcliff resident decided to start a project for Mandela Day after reading the story – changing the name from war to courage. “I felt we needed a different name for the children of our community and decided on courage.”
At the time, the initiative had only five volunteers and, of them, only one was a knitter but the others quickly learned the skill. They only had six weeks to Mandela Day and a target of 67 bears to knit among them.
In their first year they only visited one hospital. “We had such an amazing response from parents, grandparents and family of the children who received these bears that it grew by itself,” said Baars.
As the years went on, they were able to visit more and more hospitals and hand out about 500 bears of courage a year. Their visits see them give these teddy bears to children found in oncology units, trauma supports units, children’s homes and even old age homes as they soon came to realise even adults needed something to draw courage from.
After witnessing their child, while in hospital, light up when they receive these bears, many parents offered to make the bears for other children, ‘because they see what small bear can do’. Each teddy bear has a ‘limited-edition’ label and is uniquely crafted, even though there is a set pattern.
The main purpose of these teddy bears is to give courage and comfort to those receiving it. “They’re small enough to be held in a child’s hand, come in bright and beautiful colours, all look different, have personalities and most importantly, they are made with love and positive energy.”
Baars added that it was amazing to see the joy the bears bring and how each child chooses a different type of bear. “Usually the ‘uglier’ ones get homes first,” she jokingly concluded.
