Bryce Courtneay
A letter of support from Bryce Courtneay
After meeting with and
speaking to Pyjama Foundation founder and director, the ‘Big Cheese’ herself,
Bronwyn Sheehan at a professional event recently, I was moved to contribute in
some way to the Pyjamas’ plight.
Most people know me as
an author or speaker and I am often acknowledged for providing inspiration and
hope to my readers, it was not always that way for me.
The journey towards
today’s destination started for me at age 8 when I leaned against a crate of
books. I endured what many would consider a tragic childhood and can
relate to the constant crisis that is the lives of children who have been
abandoned, neglected or forgotten. This is the day to day reality of the
children the Pyjama Foundation works with.
I had never learned to
read, having spent my youth in an orphanage from 2 months old. I had been
repeatedly beaten and while the bruises always healed, the scars on my soul did
not. I was 15 years old before I was embraced or kissed.
Having made the 400klm
journey by foot to see a doctor after cutting my finger very badly one day when
I was just 8 years old, I was too weak to attempt the return journey. I
leaned
against a crate to take a moments respite. After catching my breath I realized
it was a crate of books. Reaching into the crate, I pulled out a large green
book with golden edged pages. It seemed somehow special, perhaps even magical.
It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
I had never (and have
not since) stolen but I took that book and although I could not read a word
inside it’s cover, it stood for something magical that had previously seemed
impossible to me. Eventually I returned to the orphanage book in hand and I
managed to persuade a woman at the orphanage to read to me. Bit by bit I came to
understand the words and the way she read them- she had taught me to read.
Finding that book and
learning to read changed my life.
Storytelling and
imagination emerged as the essence of my life and the gift I had to offer to the
world. The value of developing these skills cannot be over estimated, is
desperately difficult to measure and is often overlooked. Learning to read
changed the outcome of my life.
I fully support and
endorse the work of the Pyjama foundation and its Volunteers and offer my
humblest gratitude to whatever force drives people like my friend in the
orphanage and Bronwyn Sheehan to stand for the difference that is possible.
We each have an
enormous capacity to make a difference and the Pyjama Foundation is actually
doing that; changing the world, 1 child at a time.
