In November 2024 three people approached André and Sheena Truter within a span of two weeks to ask them if there was something they could do to cheer up the long wall at the entrance of the Saldanha residential area along the rail road track.
Both André and Sheena supported the slogan “my town, my responsibility” and they couldn’t be happier to get stuck into some project ideas.
Sheena’s mind worked overtime, and one night she dreamt about long walls with bright paintings. She woke up with a very vivid picture of a wall with a long train travelling into town, a bright blue sky in the background and bright yellow, white and orange daisies in the foreground. She got excited because she struggled to “think outside the box” when it came to creating new designs, so she really believed her Lord had inspired this picture in her dream. Now she had the perfect picture in mind, but not yet how she would get it onto the actual wall.
She put a message out on her Facebook page to ask if there was anyone in the area willing to help with a community project and who could do digital design. Chrisna Ribeiro, whom she had never met before and who lived a few streets away, replied. She drew a rough sketch of what was in her mind and met Ribiero for a cup of tea. Afterwards, Ribeiro translated her vision into a digital design that was exactly the picture she had had in her dream.
Ribeiro, with the help of her husband, drew the design on the wall in phases.
They began with the background hills and trees, then moved onto the train and iron ore, then lastly the flowers in the foreground. The sea scene was added to bring in the fishing industry, whereas the train represents the rail industry of Saldanha and of course the flowers represent the fynbos season. This 67 m long mural took 10 months from concept to completion.
The name of the wall is “Hope for our children”. The mural is a daily reminder of the opportunities and enduring beauty they are blessed with and their responsibility to protect it as a community for the children and future generations.
Sheena thanked all sponsors and everyone who had got on board with the project. She hoped this project would inspire others to continue taking pride in and beautify their town.
