Helen, the bear, gives hope to children

“I do not suffer from cerebral palsy, I live with it…”
These are the words of former teacher, Lesley Potgieter, who has spent her whole life without any sensation in the right side of her body. She also has a lot of insight into the challenges the approximately 4000 people in South Africa with Cerebral Palsy (CP) are facing every day.
Potgieter was born with CP and suffered a stroke five years ago. She is now touch and smell sensitive and has difficulty speaking. This, however, has not stopped the Capetonian from getting her message across. She started the Aware Bear Programme in 2012 to help children with CP to reach their full potential.
Helen, one of the Aware Bears, visits schools around South Africa to allow children and families to interact while identifying and dealing with themselves and what they are feeling.
Helen was recently introduced to the Free State for the first time, where she visited over 20 families and four schools.
“I believe in getting people to see their potential. Often people and families affected by CP are ‘forced’ to live in silence and Aware Bears is a vehicle that allows them to learn to advocate for themselves and connect with each other. Children tend to identify more easily with characters and the hope is that Aware Bears will allow them to freely express their negative feelings towards their disabilities,” says Potgieter.
The bear also travels with a journal to which each child contributes with stories and pictures of the visit. This allows children to see that they are not alone.
Jackie Augousti from Bloemfontein, mother of 10-year-old Alexia who recently benefited from a visit from the bear, says her daughter was deeply touched. “Helen arrived on 12 March and I asked Alexia what she had learnt from her (Helen), to which she replied: ‘Being different is okay’. Helen went to school (St Michael’s school) with Alexia. She even found the courage to stand in front of her class and talk to the other kids about Cerebral Palsy,” she says.
Potgieter further says that accepting a disability is a process with many ups and downs and Aware Bears ensures that people are able to focus on the positive. “Some may argue about the relevance a bear with hemiplegia called Helen, could have and what possible difference could she make to the lives of those living with cerebral palsy and their families. Helen represents hope. She represents the opportunity for families and friends to have a safe space to talk about negative emotions that we often forget exist or assume will automatically resolve themselves.”
CP is a group of permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people. Often symptoms include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles and tremors.
For more information people can email Lesley Potgieter at [email protected] or look for Aware Bears on Facebook. – Mark Steenbok
[email protected]