June 2015

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ARTS&LEISURE
152 June15
fact, The Red Pencil is partnered with more than
45 local organisations, plus a number of overseas
programmes.
“One of our main partners is the Singapore
Red Cross (SRC). When a disaster happens in the
region, the SRC sends intervention teams, and The
Red Pencil art therapists join their rescue missions
to give psychosocial support to children and their
families,” says Laurence. “Overseas, we have
individual projects in many countries, including
Japan, China, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal,
Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Australia and New Zealand. We have relationships
with Doctors without Borders/Médecins sans
Frontières (MSF), Caritas Humanitarian Aid &
Relief Initiatives, and Art in All of Us, with whom
we organise exchanges of drawings by children all
over the world, allowing them not only to find joy
and a positive distraction in the creative process,
but also giving them a chance to make new
friendships with children elsewhere in the world.
In doing so, their minds are able to travel beyond
the walls of their hospital wards, or whatever they
are going through.”
Additionally, the organisation regularly sets
up creative workshops at museums, art fairs
and community events to promote its objectives;
the canvases created by participants at these
creative workshops are auctioned off on The Red
Pencil’s website, with 100 percent of the proceeds
benefiting the foundation, which also works to
provide scholarships, overseas training, research
opportunities and financial support for art therapy
students.
International Missions
In 2015 already, art therapy teams have travelled
to Sri Lanka to work with underprivileged kids,
teens and adults, and to West Bengal in India to
work with disadvantaged children; for this month,
missions are planned to a Burmese orphanage, a
Nepalese shelter and other projects in Thailand
and New Zealand.
When planning foreign assignments, The
Red Pencil tries, where possible, to split each
mission into three ten-day visits over the course
of nine to twelve months – sending the same
team each time in order to provide maximal long-
term and meaningful support. Central to each of
these missions is the encouragement of “visual
journalling – an art diary with sketches or mixed
media that captures inner thoughts visually rather
than verbally.
“We encourage ‘visual journalling’ as a way of continuing to take care
of oneself when The Red Pencil art therapists head to other missions,”
says Laurence. “Our hope and intention is to make visual journaling a
norm in family centres, schools, corporate organisations, prisons and
even at home.”
Also fundamental to each mission is the implementation of The Red
Pencil’s “train the trainer” programme, which educates caregivers in
the benefits of art therapy; a thorough understanding helps to ensure
that therapeutic art can continue long after the therapists have left, thus
creating what Laurence calls “a multiplier effect”.
When it comes to choosing overseas missions, Laurence says that
while it may be tough to turn down an assignment, it ultimately comes
down to the safety of her team.
“The Red Pencil is rapidly expanding, which is great. We were
recently approached to intervene in refugee camps in Lebanon, and
we are working there in partnership with one of the big humanitarian
organisations. But, of course, the safety of our art therapists is of utmost
importance,” she explains. “Therefore, our team carefully reviews each
mission before embarking on it.”
Missions planned for this year include visits to a women and children’s
refugee camp in Kurdistan, a women’s shelter in Cambodia, a school
in Lebanon and a hospital in Haiti, along with many other assignments
in Australia, Indonesia, Africa and the Middle East. A team of therapists
is also continually travelling to Nepal to work with earthquake survivors.
“In view of the dramatic circumstances in Nepal, The Red Pencil is
committed to being there for the long term to help those affected find
relief through artistic expression,” Laurence says. “We’re confident that
it will bring them healing and empowerment.”
To l e a r n mo r e a b o u t
upcoming projects, both local
and abroad, visit
theredpencilfoundation.
In 2013, The Red Pencil
(Singapore) became an official
charity and was granted Institute
of Public Character status by the
Ministry of Family and Social
development, which allows a
300 percent tax rebate for any
donations made in Singapore.
When we rescue the
child, we save the adult