Tanzania Donation

Thankyou for your donation of suits that I was able to take to Tanzania.

My husband and I worked at the School of St Jude, Usa River Campus, twenty minutes from Kilimanjaro International airport in 2009/2010 and we planned to return in September this year. My goal is to take the Certificate 3 course in Library/Information services from the Tasmanian Polytechnic back to further the education of teachers and others who work and run school libraries.

A fellow volunteer from Australia who had worked with us at St Judes also planned further education and she was setting up a two week course for Amahs, baby minders and owners of early learning centre and crèches. One of the field trips planned as part of the course was for her students to go in groups for hands-on experience at the Cradle of Love, http://cradleoflove.com/ an Orphanage at Usa River established and run by, Davona Church, from the United States of America. We visited the orphanage and were greeted by about twenty-five children in the toddlers’ area. There were five carers, three Tanzanian women and two young women from Germany. The large airy room had play equipment and a shelf of books which the children were keen to access and have stories read to them. At one end was the dining area with the kitchen close by.

Ten suits were donated to the Cradle of love. The other ten were given to Plaster House, http://www.plasterhouse.org an initiative of a young woman from Australia. Children are sent here after operations in the hospital, that require clean careful after care which would be impossible to sustain in the young patients’ villages.

Carrie Hesekth - second Vietnam donation

It had been almost 1 year since my last visit to the Tam Ky baby orphanage (and last Baby Teresa donation!) and I was ridiculously excited to be going back there. Having been working with this orphanage now for over 6 years I was greeted by a swarm of children and some very excited orphanage staff – I am glad I am not one who is in need of too much personal space! It was about 35 degrees and incredibly humid . . .and I was in my element.

The orphanage is looking great! There are new buildings been built to house the increasing number of children arriving, the new water purification system seems to be having a great impact, and the volunteers have been doing a great job in keeping smiles on the children’s faces.

It didn’t take long for me to make my way to the two baby rooms to deliver the Baby Teresa outfits. When I pulled the first one out the ‘mothers’ (staff) got huge grins on their faces – they remembered them from last year and the LOVE them! There were lots of babies to clothe this year – a set of twins only 4 months old, a tiny 6 month old little one with down syndrome, a 6 month old blind baby girl, Son, a little boy now over 12 months who has severe hydrocephalus and brain damage, a baby only a few days old and another 10 ranging from 1 month to 1 year. Luckily we had plenty of outfits to go around!

Being right at the peak of the hot season, the staff were so happy to have the short onesies and they quickly changed them into their new outfits and paraded them in front of me. One of the mothers popped Son, the baby with brain damage into one and started to cry saying how handsome he looked.

The children are doing well – we do have a problem with the children getting boils in the heat, we have a problem with malnutrition as good baby formula is expensive in Vietnam and sadly, not in the budget, and we have continuing problems with impetigo – an incredibly infectious, painful skin condition, all of which the staff and volunteers try to combat on a daily basis.

Bay Teresa not only gave these beautiful babies new outfits this year, but they also provided some very much needed baby formula – a gesture that was welcomed with cheers from the staff, including the orphanage director. Good nutrition is a great start to helping these little babies get started in life.

Thanks so much Baby Teresa for your help in improving the lives of these children and all of the others that you are helping around the world!

Ben West - Nepal Donation

Do not let her small stature confuse you, Nada Kulu is a force to be reckoned with. I first met Nanda in April 2010 on my first visit to Nepal, I was walking through the main tourist area of Thamel in Kathmandu and somehow found myself inside a music shop drinking tea and speaking with Nanda about her orphanage ‘Mitrata’ which she started in 2000. The Mitrata, which means friends in Nepalese started by housing and schooling just four children but today has expanded to care for over one hundred underprivileged Nepalese children. Since meeting Nanda I have been sneaking out-dated laptops under the sensitive Nepalese goods import tax radar with friends. These laptops have been gratefully received and used by the children of Mitrata. I was very excited about the prospect of taking twenty Baby Teresa outfits to Nanda.

I had just finished a climb in Nepal and wandered to the same music shop where I first met Nanda. There she was, bubbly and bright as ever, offering me tea and speaking passionately about her new organization; Mountain Sisters. No, Nanda is not happy just housing and raising the children, she also wants to provide a job path for them once they grow old enough to seek work. The Mountain Sisters is a trekking and adventure business which trains and employs the very same children who grow up at Mitrata.

Nanda gladly accepted my donation of twenty long, warm Baby Teresa suits, Nanda then smoothly convinced me to spend the next few days editing the English on her numerous charitable websites, drunk her tea with me and excitedly spoke about how helpful the Baby Teresa suits will be for the infants to wear over these cold Nepalese nights, it was great to have these suit go to such a worthy organization.

If you are ever lucky enough to visit this amazing country and want a guide for either one day in the city or ten days trekking contact Nanda at www.mountainsisternepal.com not only will you ensure a great trip but you will be helping an orphan to help themselves. Mitrata Nepal also offer flexible volunteering visits where you can teach the children in English, arts or any area which you may specialize in.

Aitutaki Donation

I was recently was fortunate enough to holiday in the Cook Islands. We spent time on Rarotonga – gorgeous, calm and tropical and then made our way to the tiny island of Aitutaki. A more spectacular place – I’ve never seen.

What I realised after just a few days there though, was that despite the postcard-like scenery, living on a tiny island so isolated has it’s share of troubles.

I visited the Red Cross (below) and met with a lovely lady known to locals as “Mother” and discussed with her the major areas of need on the island. With food costing $5 per kilo to bring in produce grown on the island is an essential however the dire shortage of rain over the past few months had made things extremely difficult. We also discussed the cyclones of the past (see the photo of the flattened house) and the prevalence of STIs on the island.

I was delighted to leave the Red Cross with Baby Teresa outfits to be distributed as the Mother saw fit. I was also ably assisted by my 9 month old Milla on her first Baby Teresa donation. As you can see – she was loving it!

Special thanks must go to Roro our host (and mother of 7!) who organised both our accommodation and the donation.

Ben West - Donation in Cambodia

This is Ben's second donation with Baby Teresa - read about his first in Equador here.

Sunrise Childrens Orphanage, Siem Reap, Cambodia

The security guard took down our details at the gate and checked our identification. Obviously they cannot let just anyone wander around the grounds amongst the children. The Sunrise Childrens Orphanage in Siem Reap was set up by an Australian lady by the name of Geraldine Cox. Following a visit to Cambodia, Geraldine, through her circle of friends, organised regular monthly care packages to be sent to orphaned children in Cambodia. She then applied for a grant through her employer the Chase Manhattan Bank who supported the orphanage project with $20,000 annually over five years. Now the orphanage is a well established not for profit organisation and receives donations from all over Australia. The group has expanded and now have a second orphanage in Phnom Penh. The facility in Siem Reap cares for over sixty children providing housing, schooling, consistency and most importantly safety and love in its large enclosed grounds. They mainly care for school aged children but have an active program which sends social workers to outer lying villages to give education, support and care packages to young mothers. This is where my Baby Teresa parcel is destined. Despite not being the poorest orphanage, due to its strong connections with local villages and other orphanages I figured that the donation will get to where it is most needed.

A worker gave us a tour of the orphanage and told many desperately sad tales about the children milling around our legs. Their newest resident, a tiny four year old boy with old eyes, was living with his mother after his father left. His mother worked as a prostitute and was an alcoholic. When drunk his mother would regularly bash him to within inches of his life. He ran away from home one year ago and was taken in by a kindly old Buddhist monk. The monk was too old to look after the boy properly so he was taken to the orphanage a week ago and is just starting his new life. I was amazed at the resilience of this child. Despite his sad eyes and beaten dog look, the boy showed great interest in my fake grass thongs and kept on insisting that I help him with his drawing while the worker spoke to us under the shady tree.

- Ben West (read about Ben's travel adventures here at Red Rucksack)

Due to strict regulations on photographing the children I was not allowed to take any photographs with the children.

Vote and help us clothe more babies in need!

Baby Teresa has been nominated for a $5,000 Sunsuper Dream Grant.

Vote here to help us win (the most votes win!)

http://sunsuperdreams.com.au/dream/view/baby-teresa-is-donates-clothing-to-needy-children

Thanks in advance,

Kirsty & Sammie

Vietnam donation - by Carrie Hesketh

I recently had the priveledge of taking eight 15 year old students from Smithon High School to visit some of the centres that I have been working with in Vietnam since 2005. We spent two weeks helping out in centres and visiting poor villages and were able to sponsor projects as well as provide clothing donated by Baby Teresa - which were a great hit!



Our first stop was the Tam Ky Baby Orphanage. Tam Ky is around 70kms south of DaNang and the Baby Orphanage is home to approximately 40 children up to the age of 8 years as well as a constant flow of new born babies - there have been anywhere up to 30 babies at one time. Some of these babies are adopted out, some are looked after until their parents are back on their feet financially and some grow up in the orphanage. The gorgeous Baby Teresa suits were an absolute hit - the staff were giggling saying the children "didn't look like orphans anymore!" The babies as well as the older children loved the bright colours. These children never, ever have brand new outfits so it was a complete novelty. The staff were very gratefull and ket asking for more... but we had to spread the Baby Teresa love further!



We also visted villages where there were many families living in squat conditions - under corregated iron or fallen down homes. When we gave their babies these bright coloured outfits they were very, very grateful - it's amazing what smiles a new outfit will bring!



Our last delivery point for the suits was the Hoi An Orphanage - home to 70 children from babies to 18 years old. Again the suits were greeted with smiles and hugs and the staff (who earn approx $2 per day on 24 hour shifts) begged us for more so that they could give them to their own babies they thought they were so beautiful!



So, it is fair to say the Baby Teresa suits were a very big hit... amazing what some new, colourful, ultra spunky suits can do for people that have nothing.

Thank you so much Baby Teresa - keep up the amazing work.