another Bermuda charity, and the Red Cross had been in his mind for some time.

He duly approached its director, Mrs. Ann Spencer-Arscott, about holding an exhibition of his paintings, the sales of which would benefit the organisation.

She was, of course, delighted with his generosity, and following discussions on a theme, it was decided that the paintings should take an international approach.

"Since young people are the future of the world, we thought it would be great to depict Youth, and because the Red Cross and Red Crescent are international organisations Don created 17 descriptive paintings reflecting the diversity of costumes and cultures of young people worldwide,'' Mrs. Spencer-Arscott explained.

The donated paintings were duly exhibited at a special Red Cross reception earlier this year, and many of them sold.

As so often happens in life, however, Mr. Trousdell's paintings quickly became a stepping stone to other things.

"Because the colours were so vibrant we decided that they would make a beautiful 2001 calendar, so between Mr. Trousdell and myself we chose 12 out of the 17 paintings which we thought would work best. Then I did the research with the Red Cross or Red Crescent Society within each of the relevant countries and wrote an appropriate brief history to accompany each picture,'' Mrs. Spencer-Arscott related.

The result is a beautiful, high-quality product which retails for $12.95, with all proceeds going to toward the work of the Red Cross in Bermuda. Countries and regions represented are: Mozambique, Holland, China, Bermuda (twice), Central America, Ireland, North America, the Caribbean, India, Polynesia and Bosnia.

Children of the World calendars can be purchased at The Bookmart, the Blood Donor Centre at the King Edward Hospital, the Red Cross equipment rental department at the old hospital on Point Finger Road, and at the Red Cross headquarters on Berry Hill Road. Other outlets are expected to be added to this list shortly.

Various corporate entities are also stocking the calendars for their staff to purchase.

Mrs. Spencer-Arscott also noted that some of the original paintings are still available for sale, and can be viewed at the Red Cross headquarters.

While there is every indication that the calendar will prove a runaway success in Bermuda, the good news doesn't stop there.

"I am very proud to say that the International Federation of the Red Cross wants to take this calendar worldwide in 2002,'' the Director announced.

For further information on the calendar or paintings contact the Red Cross headquarters at 236-8253 or e-mail redcross(at)ibl.bm No caption