Lumin’s Big Vision
Who is Lumin and where did she come from?
Two years into my baby boys battle with cancer. I found him and myself depleted of emotional, financial and physical resources. I felt broken and empty. I had no more tears and yet a mountain of sadness still left to cry out.
I prayed before I fell asleep one night to be able to cry out this debilitating pain that was pulsing in my throat. You see moms going through children fighting cancer decide that they have no other option but to be strong and don’t cry in front of their children, and save it for when they are alone, but there is never a time where you are alone you just stay with them fighting the monster only they can see. Parents would rather that the cancer is passed onto them, it is a fact that many parents experience the symptoms that their children have too.
I woke up just before three the next morning, looked for and found a small canvas and only four colours. Two hours later Lumin was born. I cried for the first time in sixteen months alone in my garage with Dante sleeping and fighting a fever upstairs.
I remembered thinking there is something wrong with this world when a mother or father can’t sit next to their dying child’s bed and just be present and not worry about bills and food and rent. I remembered scavenging through my house looking for coins for petrol to rush Dante’ to the hospital in the middle of the night. I had to sell my house and stop work to be with him. He was in the hospital for weeks and months on end.
I wrote the book- “Lumin finds the Lighthouse” initially for Dante’, for his courage under fire and to encourage him. When it came to the dedication page I realised I wanted to dedicate it to all the brave little fighters and their families and so the foundation was born.
Deciphering the WHY?
Why the book:
- To encourage, motivate and inspire the families and the children.
- To help fund the LUMIN FOUNDATION.
What does the LUMIN FOUNDATION do?
We bring relief and education to the families fighting cancer in the hospital. We take balloons, cupcakes, toys, massage therapists for the parents because they are stressed and in pain. When we have enough funding we would like to give financial relieve in whatever is needed so the parents can focus on the needs of the child.
The BIG VISION: Defy Gravity
Build an oncology support centre and clinic that encourages healing. By that, I mean from the staff to the buildings and the life changing and saving therapies. We are always raising funds for kids to go for lifesaving treatment overseas, we can save so many children if we can bring those therapies here. Make sure every child in the world going through a hard time gets the “LUMIN FINDS THE LIGHTHOUSE“ book. Start support groups for parents and survivors to find a new normal and also parents whose worst fear happened, losing their child.
Defy gravity is the Legacy Project of the Lumin foundation.
It was born out of the devastation of my owns sons cancer. From the lack of support that a parent and patients suffer in the following areas:
Psychological support for patients, parents, and siblings- Headed up by Michele Rossouw. Financial support - Here we rely heavily on sponsors. Most parents are unable to work because fighting cancer is unpredictable and could take years. Food, shelter, transport and medical support being the main concern Lack of sound and clinically researched complementary medical support and advice. In the fields of nutrition, for example, Ketogenic diet has been proven effective on most cancers, ozone therapy (well known and practiced in Germany and Europe) Non-invasive Stem cell therapy, done with a laser (Practiced and highly regarded in Russia) with medically proven results. Rife therapy, developed and widely used with amazing results, SCIO, and Live Blood analyses to determine root causes and aggravations, treating cancer with insulin potentiation therapy. Many more, life saving and supporting therapies. We are constantly searching for pioneers in their field and pioneering therapies to change the way cancer is fought.
Defy gravity sets new standards in how health and healing are approached and perceived. The unique model is multidimensional, this is crucial as causes and dysfunctions of the disease usually come from multiple sources and all should be addressed to reduce the stress on the body, supporting the body to conquer the disease and reducing mortality rates of children and adults fighting cancer.
We strive at Defy Gravity to draw pioneers in their field of health. Pushing forward and setting higher standards to deal with chronic disease by discovering root causes of illness, identifying aggravations and then treating and healing it with the best available therapy. Instead of only symptomatic relief.
All of the above mentioned therapies and services are done in a health promoting environment, from the beautifully designed building, by visionary architect Simon Kinver, land that overlooks a valley with rolling hills and attention to detail of the integrity and sustainable building methods and material used. The building adapts itself to the environment instead of nature adapting to it. The Contemporary style is complimentary ( excuse the unintentional rhyme).
The integrity of Defy Gravity is reflected from all angles, from the staff, therapists, and Doctors to the therapies and building.
Mission/Vision Statement of DEFY GRAVITY
Defy Gravity is a pioneering health facility that innovatively aims to raise the bar in health and healing. Combining state of the art medical treatments together following a multidimensional approach, treating causes and not symptoms, educating not just medicating to give hope and support for families and children fighting cancer. All in a tranquil setting that reflects our values; purpose, vision, truth, authenticity, integrity, and Faith.
What LUMIN FOUNDATION has done so far:
The first outreach was in December 2017. It was a tremendous success even though we had limited funding. Since 2017 we have had nine outreaches to date. Committed volunteers in the form of massage therapists and sponsors ( mainly funded out of Dr. Botha’s practice )
- To date we have donated 168 books to children with dread disease.
- We have given 74 neck and shoulder massages to teary and grateful parents.
- Made little hearts leap with 200+ helium balloons.
- Brought joy with gifts, cupcakes (sugar, dairy, and gluten-free), party packs
Our biggest step forward was purchasing the land where the clinic will be built on. Talk about walking by Faith.
How can you help?
What our current needs are:
● Raising funds for the clinic
● Raising funds for the outreaches
● People who would like to share their gifts in the corporate field, like brand development.
● People who could help and promote us to people looking to make a significant impact and contribution
● People who enjoy fundraising events
● The book:
“Lumin finds the Lighthouse” WE NEED A NEW PUBLISHING COMPANY ASAP. This I believe could help us tremendously with much needed funding. All we need is a publishing company that shares the heart of this project and that has a global footprint. There are three books in the series. I also believe it could be a really unique and fresh animation or movie. Lumin is an original idea.
The need is so much more than what we are able to do at the moment and are so truly grateful and reliant on kind hearts, hearts that can’t look the other way.