Myschoolpulse enables children and young people with life-threatening and long-term illnesses to continue their school education during their hospital stay and still participate in certain extracurricular activities. In recent years, Lebanon has suffered a number of conflicts which have caused economic and social instability, and the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut in 2020 and the aftermath of the Corona pandemic further exacerbated the situation - factors that added anxiety, stress and isolation for the seriously ill children Myschoolpulse cared for. 
To support their work, The Red Pencil developed a new online training format that provided Myschoolpulse staff with knowledge and skills in mental health and art therapy, showing ways to deal with the children in crisis entrusted to their care. In addition, there was an art therapy programme of individual and family and group sessions for affected children and their families. The results of the humanitarian mission in Lebanon: for almost 100 participants, more than 450 online therapy courses and almost 400 individual sessions were initiated, which helped those affected to alleviate traumatic experiences with the help of creative tools and techniques. 
As one of The Red Pencil's long-standing partners, Faber-Castell has also supported this mission by sponsoring it with creative teaching materials and funding: From each "Colour Grip Children of the World" set sold, 0.10 euros benefited The Red Pencil initiative.
The charity set includes double pencils with skin tones as an addition and thus allows the illustration of nuance-rich skin tones. "We are delighted that we were able to support the organisation's important humanitarian work in this way with almost 40,000 euros," says Verena Hafner, Head of Marketing International Playing & Learning and Writing at Faber-Castell. 

More information on The Red Pencil at: https://redpencil.org/

However, to keep supporting the work of the locally based NGOs "The Turning Point Trust" and "Uweza Foundation" with more than 500 children and young people, The Red Pencil developed an online training programme. Its goal: to familiarise the organisations' staff – teachers, youth workers, football coaches, counsellors, mentors and educational support staff – with art therapy methods and techniques that help them cope with traumatic experiences and achieve mental health. The next step is for them to be able to pass these skills on to the children when they return to their school and group activities after the pandemic.

The feedback from the staff in Kibera has been overwhelmingly positive. They had previously been isolated in their homes for many months due to the strict COVID-19 rules and curfews in Kenya. Their joy at being allowed to try out the creative materials and use them to find new ways to express their feelings through art was heart-warming. 
As a long-time partner of The Red Pencil, Faber-Castell supported this pilot project with both funding and creative teaching materials. More information about The Red Pencil at https://redpencil.org/