A Durban teacher used her artistic gift to create a precious tree mural at the Domino Foundation’s Babies’ Home, where every carefully crafted leaf bears the names of over 180 children who have found safety at the transition home.
Durban, South Africa (20 October 2025) – Local design educator, Melissa Gouws, is a passionate believer that each of us has unique, God-given gifts. Not by chance, but for a specific purpose.
This belief is a seed she plants in her pupils’ hearts, a sentiment she beautifully demonstrated when she used her artistic God-given gift to craft a special tree mural at the Domino Foundation’s newly refurbished Babies’ Home.
During the school holidays, Melissa picked up her paintbrush and decorated one wall in the home’s dining room. She drew inspiration from American writer and versatile artist Suzy Kassem, who said, ‘Family is like branches of a tree. We grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one.’
Breathing life into this analogy, Melissa designed an image of a vibrant tree and its root system, which she and her small team, including her mum, Carol Harris, and Kiera Clements, a former pupil, transferred to the freshly painted wall.
To make the mural especially meaningful to the home, Kiera created stickers – one for each leaf on the spreading tree – bearing the names of 182 babies and toddlers who have found a safe haven at the transition home before moving on to their new adoptive “forever families”.
Crisis Mom at the Babies’ Home, Precious Thabethe, was delighted at the transformation Melissa’s mural brought to what was a rather sterile space after the home’s total makeover.
“It is not only very decorative, but it also says so much about what we aim to do here. Psalm 128 says that our children will be like healthy young trees, and we want the little ones we nurture and love here to have strong roots before they leave us.”
Melissa had the last word when she shared:
“We really feel that, with this project, we stepped into the purpose God designed for us, and we believe that this mural will have a true impact on all who live here, work here and volunteer here.”
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