Spreading kindness through rock art

WHILE on holiday in Amanzimtoti, a Gauteng resident painted and hid ‘kindness rocks’ for others to find as a random act of kindness to bring joy and smiles to people’s lives.

Ronel Rossouw started her project and Facebook page Bolla se rock art in September last year. She said, “I paint anything from Christmas themes to fish, bees, birds and so forth. I’ve hidden about 160 rocks over the festive season while on holiday on the South Coast.”

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She is also known to gift her rocks to those going through a difficult time or hide them for her colleagues to find. “My colleagues at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) Soweto Campus also randomly find some of my rocks in the passage or in front of their office,” said Rossouw.

She said when she looks at the comments on her Facebook page, she sees that the kindness rocks make strangers excited and happy, as it uplifts their spirits. This, in turn, makes her happy. “It’s all about sharing a message of kindness, to uplift someone who might need it on that specific day when they find it,” said Rossouw.

While staying at an accommodation facility near Winklespruit Beach, she would hide her rocks along the sand and on the rocks, while her husband enjoyed some recreational fishing.

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On Christmas Day, the couple hid rocks at the beach’s swimming pool. “While passing a stranger and his children, I mentioned that he must look for something I left on the rocks. After he had taken photographs of all the rocks I’d hidden, he approached us, gave me a hug and thanked us. Needless to say, I was emotional, but happy. Maybe he needed that specific rock,” said Rossouw.

Another moment that stood out for her was when she was greeted by three little boys and a girl. “I reached for some rocks in my shopping bag and gave them each one. The little boy screamed out ‘I found one yesterday right here’. This is what makes me so happy, that they came back the next day to find more hidden rocks. We played hide-and-seek where I gave them some clues on where to find more rocks, and they found them.

The little girl was disabled, so I gave her a rock as I knew she would not be able to find one by herself. She gave me a hug. I again cried as I am unapologetically an emotional person with a caring heart. I also do community work at a small crèche in Soweto where I’ve learnt that the smallest thing makes a child happy,” said Rossouw.

During December, she also received a message from a stranger visiting the South Coast who found one of her rocks in Hibberdene. He took it with him and hid it along the N3 at one of the fuel stations while on his way back to Gauteng.

She was amazed at how far and wide her kindness rocks were being shared. Her inspiration to start the project came from Morne Pieter of Cape Town, with the Facebook page ‘Morne Kindness Rocks’. However, his technique is different as he mostly paints words of encouragement and inspiration, while she paints pictures.

If you find one of her kindness rocks, keep it, leave it, hide it somewhere else, give it to someone who could do with some joy and happiness or post a photograph on her Facebook page to let her know where you found one. “Remember, kindness is free,” said Rossouw.

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