United States of America

Comment

Comment by Cherry Ames yesterday

Thanks, I always figured they were some sort of group just by guessing. I can't imagine not having electricity, it's really taken for granted here in the U.S. a lot of things are for that matter.

Comment by Debbie Posmontier on Wednesday

Michelle Babcock from South Africa summed up a definition of a creche in 2012 in reference to using wool or acrylic for squares, etc as follows:

A creche is somewhere in between a day care center and a nursery school. Some have pre-school educational programs and some are just child minding.

School in South Africa runs from January to December and children are only required to begin Grade 1 in the year that they turn 7. Some do begin earlier or later - but the requirement is Grade 1 for six turning seven. Many children are in "creche" until then. Some creches will take children as young as 6 weeks.

Houses in the informal settlements (shacks) won't have services (water & electricity), so coal or paraffin is burned for heat and to cook. If a house does have electricity, it might be too expensive to use for heat and so open flame will still be used for heat.

Vests or slip overs will probably be worn against the skin and should be as soft as possible; usually acrylic or baby acrylic. So it's only here that the "no scratchy" was requested.

Yarn for squares can be any fibre - acrylic, wool, cotton, anything!

Please do add a label for what you've made. I pack my squares into plastic bags and use an index card to make one label for the whole bag - "wool" or "acrylic".

I don't know if its possible to figure out an exact number of children each year. Sandy or Kalai might be able to tell you how many were reached in a particular year, but there's so many more children who KAS didn't or couldn't reach.

Every item is needed and will be given to a child here in South Africa.

Comment by Debbie Posmontier on Wednesday

Cherry,

Creches are small, privately run day-care centers in the poorest areas of South Africa. They are often run by mothers and grandmothers (Go-gos) who open their homes to children during the daytime so their mothers can work. This US Group has sent money to Ronda in SA to support the costs involved in delivering blankets, toys, clothing and even food to 5 creches. Hope this helps!

Debbie

Comment by Cherry Ames on Wednesday

What are crèches?

Comment by Mary Anne Fellows on Wednesday

Quick note to Debbie, yes, postage rates went up quite a bit unfortunately.  I like Pam's idea though, of making donations for the paper; much more cost effective!

Comment by Pam Antink on Wednesday

Hi Lesley, regarding the paper, have just heard from Ronda that it is quite cheap in SA, so we are going to recommend that Erica inserts it as a donation item in the KAS Shop - the money can be ring fenced for paper purchase and when crayons etc are distributed the paper can be presented at the same time.  Sending paper by post would add substantially to the already heavy postage costs!  Once it is in the 'shop' we will highlight to all the groups.  Thank you so much for raising awareness of the situation though, it is much appreciated!

Comment by Diane Kubiak on Wednesday

A few weeks ago I sent a 2-1/2 lb. package to Turkey,  and it was $28,  so that sounds about right, I guess.  However.....Debbie,  is it due to postal increases?  I know that 4 lb is where the rates change?????

Comment by Debbie on Wednesday

I just sent a 2lb pkg and it cost $31.  A few  months ago I sent a 4lb pkg and it cost $25 or so. How can this be? Anyone else have this and figured out why?

Comment by P. Jeanne Haessler on Tuesday

Thanks Lesley for that heads up on paper.  It's heavy to mail but I'll see what I can find in lighter weight stuff.

Everyone in and around Tornado Alley, particularly Oklahoma, my thoughts and prayers are with you all.  Hugs and I'll keep an eye out for any way we can help.

Comment by Mary Anne Fellows on May 20, 2013 at 2:58am

That is great information Lesley, as I just picked up several "learning" preschool coloring books, which I plan to mail next week....I guess I must have been on the same wavelength as you ladies!

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• …
• 305
• Next ›
• Page