by Linsey MacMillan
Matthew (age 6) is painting and hiding ladybirds to support the Rwanda Rw’ejo project.
Matthew from Stirlingshire in Scotland heard about boys and girls in Rwanda who did not have access to education and wanted to help. At age 5 he decorated over 150 stones, making ladybirds to sell at churches and at his school. Lockdown meant that his plans had to be put on hold, so he decided to hide the stones locally on walks, both to cheer up children who would hopefully find them, and raise awareness of the amazing work of Comfort International. The backs of the stones feature a link to his donations page and the Comfort International website. Matthew was thrilled when one of his own church friends found one of the stones and donated money, having not known about his project beforehand. To date, Matthew has raised almost £1200 from his ladybirds, all of which has gone to the Rwanda Rw’ejo project. Now 6 years old, Matthew intends to continue raising money however he can, and wants to visit Rwanda when he is older.
Last week Matthew hid more of his ladybird stones in popular locations in and around his local area. A tipoff suggests that some may be hidden on the lower part of the path to Dumyat, overlooking Stirling. So far, with this new idea, he has reached £200 (though not all from people who found the stones).
Not only will Matthew’s creative fundraising idea help many more children attend school in Rwanda but it will also help spread the word of Comfort International far and wide.
Matthew and his ladybirds have a Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/matthewsladybirds
A little can change a life