christmas gifts

After we handed out the Christmas gifts to the children this year, it was fun to watch them discover the goodies inside the brightly colored plastic wash basins that contained them. Included among the various groupings of gifts were:

handmade dresses/shorts
t-shirts
flip-flops
soaps
lotions
toothbrushes and toothpaste
decks of cards
beanie babies
handmade necklaces and bracelets
hand knit caps

The handmade items were donated by groups of caring, talented, generous people from various parts of the country. The dresses/shorts came from a Minnesota based non-profit called Little Dresses for Africa and from a very kind and dedicated group of women from St. Andrews Christian Church in Lenexa, Kansas (spearheaded by CTT friend Bernadette). The necklaces, bracelets and caps came from CTT friends in Wisconsin. All of the items were big hits with the children, who don't get to change into new clothes very often.

Above is a great photo taken by Suzanne showing happy kids donning their new clothes and "jewelry".

Here is a letter written to the Wisconsin knitters. It's from CTT friend Mary Sue, who organized the cap drive. It will appear in their church bulletin this weekend:

Webale! (Thank you) from Uganda

Many thanks to our Quad Parish knitters for your overwhelming response to make hats for our friends at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage Motherhood in Kajjansi, Uganda! We asked for 180 hats and we received more than 400! The children were thrilled to say the least when they opened their Christmas gifts. They loved the different colors, textures and patterns of the hats – and in the heat, our little friends wore their hats morning, noon and night. They even had fun trading hats! Thank you again for the time, effort and love that went into each of these hats. You brightened Christmas morning for these very appreciative and deserving children.
- Mary Sue

It's so cool how the ripples generated by these children continue to move outward.

Thank you, knitters, seamstresses and crafters. You made the children feel loved and very special.