Durban - Changing someone’s life with a message or picture. That’s the goal of the “UmhlangaRocksOn” project started by local resident, Sonia de Fleuriot, at the end of last month, during lockdown.
The concept is simple: paint your message on a small rock and place it along the edge of the uMhlanga promenade for someone to find.
De Fleuriot came across the idea when she saw the Facebook group, “Ballito Rocks” run by Janine Ferreira, who in turn found her inspiration from American, Megan Murphy.
Murphy had gone for a walk hoping for a message or sign from her departed parents. When no message arrived, she decided to “pay it forward” and left the first message – “You’ve Got This” – on a rock.
De Fleuriot said: “It’s becoming a worldwide trend. When I saw it, I contacted Janine (Ferreira) and she helped me to set up the UmhlangaRocksOn Facebook page. People started joining within minutes of the page going up.”
There are now more than 800 members on the #umhlangarockson Facebook and Instagram pages.
When De Fleuriot went down to the uMhlanga promenade and was placing her first painted rock, she said, “a young man stopped and asked me what I was doing.
“I told him I was spreading love and kindness through rock painting and placing them for all to see.
“He looked down at the rock which was painted with the word Hope and said, ‘thank you so much, this will bring me luck today’,” De Fleuriot said.
“With lockdown, people needed some positivity and fun. You could also change someone’s life with a message when they really need it. It’s just getting some kindness out there, instead of trying to deal with all the negativity.
“I collect rocks from the beach or when I’m in the Berg or you can get them from a local nursery. You can paint your message or picture with acrylic paints or even koki pens. I find painting very therapeutic,” she said, asking those who pick up one of the painted rocks to “pay it forward” by replacing it with their own painted rock message or picture.
Children have also taken to #umhlangarockson, with De Fleuriot saying they had youngsters from tiny tots to teens placing their painted rocks along the promenade, particularly when schools were shut during lockdown.
A busy real estate agent, she walks along the promenade with her husband at about 5.30am most days and takes snaps of the latest painted rocks tucked along the side, which are then shared on the project’s social media pages.
De Fleuriot said that with the growing number of followers and interest in the project, she now also planned to extend it to retirement homes.
“So many of our senior citizens have been locked in since March because of Covid-19.
“I would love to place some painted rocks in gardens of retirement homes, so they can enjoy receiving messages of kindness and hope, as well as getting them to paint some rocks for some fun,” she said.
The Independent on Saturday