'It was beautiful to see the friendships growing'
A new book celebrates the friendships formed between a group of school children and residents of an Auckland rest home.
A multitude of stories can be held in the humblest of objects, says author David Riley.
That's the idea behind his book, Silent Witnesses,a collaboration in which rest home residents shared treasured objects with children from the local school, The Gardens School, Manurewa, sparking conversations and friendships.
One Elmwood Rest Home resident Lois, brought an old tobacco tin to the table, Riley told RNZ's Afternoons.
“She opened it up and all these beautiful opals tumbled out onto the ground and onto the table.”
The opals went back to the early 20th century when her uncle went to Australia to work in the opal mines there, he says.
“He came back then he went to the First World War with his brother, which was Lois's dad, unfortunately uncle was killed in the war, he had already given the opals to his brother in case something like that happened and then he came back and then he gave them to Lois who never got to meet her uncle but he gave them to her and she still has them.
“There's so much history in that little container of opals, a whole lifetime and tragedy … it is a beautiful story.”
Resident Danny and student Aaliyah from formed a special bond, Riley says.
Elmwood Rest Home in Manurewa in Auckland.
Supplied
“Danny is an elderly European man and Aaliyah is a 10-year-old Indian girl and man you should see their friendship, it's beautiful to see.
“They connected straight away around the love of art.”
Danny was unsure what object to share and so brought along an old scrap book he used to draw in.
Aaliyah’s “praise and encouragement,” awakened a desire in him to draw again, Riley says.
“He started to draw regularly at the rest home and every week he would bring more and more detailed drawings.
“Aaliyah used her pocket money to buy him an art set which was a beautiful moment and the school invited him to come and do some art workshops at the school.”
No two people could be more different, he says.
“There's a lot of division in our world and here are people who, you couldn't get any different than these two people, and yet they connected, that humanity is amazing.”
It was “beautiful to see the friendships growing” as the weeks went by, he says.
“The idea was to celebrate the stories of the elders, many of whom feel like they're forgotten now and they don't feel like they're of value anymore.
“This was to show them that they are and that their stories are beautiful and need to be shared and celebrated”.
