Beauty is deeper than skin II

　　"I think I have such a colourful face," says the re cording artist who has been working with About Face (an organization raising awareness of people with facial di fferences ) and the Regional Women's Health Centre of t he Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centr e in a special project called Building Bridges. "When w e started to examine the individual experiences of thos e living with facial differences, we realized that peop le needed to get together to share strategies that work ed, " says About Face Executive Director Anna Pileggi. Building Bridges, Pileggi says, examines how people wit h facial differences can work to help the people who lo ok at them get over their discomfort.

　　Raising public awareness of such differences is all and well, she says, but research has shown that based o n what people see in your face they will decide if they 'll be engaged or repelled in 15 seconds.

　　People with facial differences have found that stra tegies such as a firm handshake or looking someone stra ight in the eye work wonders. Aubin, for example, will break the ice with a simple, "Can I help you? " if she notices someone staring at her face for awhile.

　　"Originally, Building Bridges was an opportunity to bridge the communication gap between those who have unu sual facial appearances and those who do not," says Lor na Renooy, its program co-ordinator and someone with he r own facial difference.

　　by Marilyn Linton