PORT TOWNSEND— The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce’s weekly luncheons usually feature business leaders, politicians and data-driven presentations, but this week Executive Director Teresa Verraes decided to mix things up.
On Monday, the chamber hosted Sascha Archer, a Port Townsend native who is working as an art therapist in South Africa, specifically helping a 12-year-old boy who lost his arms in an electrical accident.
“We usually hear about business successes, but this week we are hearing some other stories,” Verraes said.
“These stories about the meaning of life build businesses and build the community.”
Archer, 36, is a Port Townsend High School graduate who earned her degree in art therapy and moved to South Africa to work as a volunteer last fall.
Upon her arrival, she met William Smith, then 11, who had fallen from an electrical pole in an attempt to retrieve a bird’s nest, necessitating the amputation of both arms.
Archer said the boy was mute and kept to himself, so she sat in his room and painted while telling him stories.
After a few days she sensed a change, so she wrote “Hi William” on a pad using a marker held in her teeth.
William responded with the same message, so Archer began treating him with art therapy, which she described as a combination of psychotherapy and creative inspiration.
This led to a 26-minute film, “Driving William,” which tells the story of the accident and his continuing rehabilitation, which Archer is screening at various locations around the Northwest — including Monday’s chamber luncheon.
The screenings, along with booklets of Smith’s art selling for $5 each, are part of a fundraising effort to pay for prosthetic arms for the boy.
These prosthetics will cost around $75,000 and will need to be replaced as Smith grows, Archer said.
Archer said she has three job offers in South Africa, where she plans to return in January.
Eventually she hopes to foster and then adopt William, with the purpose of bringing him to the United States for college.
“He is very bright,” she said.
“The only job where he lives is to pick grapes, and he can’t do that, so I’m hoping to give him some other opportunities.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.