In answer to your thoughts Lydia that it would be cheaper to just knit for a local charity I would like to suggest the following:
The fact is is that there is a fundamental difference in what we are doing here. No where else have such a vast number of children been so overwhelmingly affected by the twin perils of HIV AIDS and poverty than in Africa and particularly in Southern Africa. No where else is there such a glaring lack of government support or benefits for these children or their carers and no where else do upwards of 500 children a day become orphans (that is just in South Africa alone).
It is not just their daily existence which is hard enough, but their future that is of great concern. If by providing a small child with a blanket we achieve two goals, one they are kept warm (often when they too are ailing and sometimes with HIV) and the second that they are wrapped in a blanket sent to them with love from around the world so that each night they may know that life is not entirely bereft of comfort, then we have done a great thing, even if it is only for one child.
Through this act of coming together as a community and knitting and crocheting for these children we are by the very act of being involved raising awareness of their plight. This we must strive to do, as it is only with a grass roots swelling knowledge of what is happening in Africa that pressure will be brought to bear and some fundamental changes will take place on many different levels to stem this tide. As a citizen of the world I believe this is what we should do for all children who in peril.
And I will add this too from the converstaion this comment sparked in the forum: From Anne -
I might add, that this project is about more than just what we can do for these children. In a strange sort of way, it is also what THEY are doing for us.... a chance to serve with the labour of our hands, a child we will never know..... There's a kind of spiritual quality to all of this as we knit away...... a heart to heart connection with someone who needs us. We might be helping to warm these little ones..... but we are being warmed at the same time.
May 15, 2009 Rating
Save on postage costs by: Anonymous
That's an awful lot of money to spend on postage.
Knitting for charity is a truly worthwhile cause - but with so many homeless people already living in the USA also in need of warm blankets why don't you donate locally and use the postage dollars you save to buy more yarn to knit more squares? Lydia
May 11, 2009 Rating
Packages sent on May 11 by: RhondaH
The postal rate hikes went into effect today (May 11, 2009, so this reflects the new rates.
Two parcels sent via the First Class International rate from the US.
Box 1 - weighed 1 lb.+ 1 oz. (9 wool squares + some yarn) and cost $11.98
Box 2 - weighed just under 2 lbs. (16 squares + 11 hats) and cost $16.99
I had too much to send in a padded envelope, but both of the boxes (2 different sizes) were full. I packaged the squares and hats in Ziplock bags and pushed out the air. One bag kept slooowly expanding again, and after flattening the air out a couple of times, I switched the contents to a different bag. I'm delighted to say the squares are now in the mail! Rhonda
