Where are they now?

As we're approaching our 4th year sharing Baby Teresa with the world we thought it might be fun to have a look back at some of our gorgeous models as they've grown up alongside our brand!

What gorgeous ambassadors we have - enjoy...

Here's Matthew - modelling for us just last year in our new organic range and now - super grown up!

Here's Xavier, one of our original breed of super baby models from the very first newspaper article onwards - just about to celebrate his 4th birthday and off on his first day of school here! 

Here's Harriet - whose gorgeous hair and irrepressible personality (yes, you could tell even at 1!) was a winner in one of our first magazine articles now almost 4!

Miss Genevieve - who modelled at our first Hobart launch kicking things off for us! 

Miss Milla who has worn more than her fair share of Baby Teresa - and has also helped on three international donations.

Tate - one of our spunky first gen models whose winning smile has only grown over the years! 

Miss Florence whose cheeky enthusiasm comes across in any photo.

Here's Becky looking spunky and smily as ever with her baby blues.

Here's Reuben - showing that curls are an eternal fashion accessory!

And finally gorgeous bub Aiden who as a growing little man still has the whole world in his hands.

These little cherubs (along with you and your support) have helped us clothe bubs in 20 countries worldwide from good old Australia to Tanzania, from Cambodia to Egypt and from France to the United States.

Vanuatu Donation

I've just returned from my second trip to Vanuatu. Unlike when I visited a decade ago - I spent extra time on this visit and was able to make it to two of the outer islands - Santo and Tanna which was exceptional.

On Santo I met with Liz Pkn-Nlps and handed over a whole bunch of little donation Baby Teresa rompers to go to the local hospitals with the instruction that when local women come in with little they were to be offered them. This donation was organised through The Hospital Lady - an organisation that works primarily in Port Vila, Vanuatu - but is spreading it's wings to outer islands such as Santo. 

Like many of the other island paradises I've blogged about doing donations on, island living on Vanuatu's gorgeous pockets of land presents it's own unique challenges mixed in with the gorgeous vistas and sublime climate. Vanuatu is full of the happiest most lively people I may have ever met. Travelling there pregnant and with my 2 year old daughter we were welcomed with smiles so big and waves so furious my lips and hands were tired after responding on an hour long car drive!

On the island Tanna I spent a lot more time driving through villages and seeing how people really live - not to mention being swamped by children! I loved learning about the beautiful cultural differences - like the fact that a machete is required for kids to attend school (it's on their packing list!)

Thank you Vanuatu for opening your arms and welcoming us so vehemently - and Baby Teresa are delighted to have left our little offering with you.

xxx Kirsty

Ireland donation - with Celine Egan

I had the great honour of being the delivery person of some very welcomed Baby Teresa onesies to Ireland.  The donation on behalf of Baby Teresa was made the Coombe Care. 

Commbe Care is a voluntary committee which works closely with the medical and social workers of the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.  The Medical Social Workers identify patients who are in greatest need of assistance. 

Sadly, it is not unusual for some patients to experience severe difficulties in providing the basic essentials for their stay in hospital.  In such circumstances Coombe Care provides items such as a towel, nightdress, face cloth as well as the necessities for the newborn baby.  This is where the Baby Teresa outfits will prove invaluable.  The volunteers were absolutely blown away by the generosity of an organisation, literally on the other side of the world donating these garments. 

Assistance is also given in the form of bus and train fares to patients visiting their sick infants in the special Care Baby Unit.  Food vouchers are also provided for families who are in special need especially at Christmas time.

Some see Dublin as a city that is well off, however with the current economic downturn, the lack of jobs, immigrants with no family support, many have come to rely on the generosity of organisations such as Coombe Care.  They in turn rely on the fundraising endeavours of various schools, individuals and active retirement clubs who knit and sew on behalf of the babies.  I look forward to being able to pass some more photos on of babies who get to receive these garments over the coming months.  The donation was received by Mary Walsh on behalf of the volunteers and committee of Coombe Care.

 - Celine Egan

Tassie fires updated - by Sammie

We have had a busy week at Baby Teresa HQ! We have done lots of personal handouts of Baby Teresa rompers to families with little ones, and families with babies due any day who have been effected by the Tassie bushfires. The North Hobart child health nurses have also been collecting baby items for those families effected by the Tassie fires, we have just delivered 40 short and long rompers to them too! To anyone out there that has been effected by the fires and needs some baby clothing for their little ones please email us - shop@baby-teresa.com and we will organise to get some brand new Baby Teresa rompers to you.

Nicola's donation in Cambodia

In November, I was fortunate enough to venture to south-east Asia. As a first time overseas traveller, my mind was blown by all the wonderful experiences I got to have, but I can honestly say that delivering the Baby Teresa donation was the most rewarding part of my trip, and something that I will not forget anytime soon!

The donation was made to the Angkor Hospital for Children, an organisation with the aim of increasing paediatric care in Cambodia. It is estimated that 1 in 20 children in Cambodia will die before reaching their 5^th birthday, in comparison to 1 in 212 children in Australia. One of the nurses at the hospital explained that this is largely from preventable causes such as gastroenteritis, pneumonia and malnutrition, but the poverty of the people in Cambodia means they are often not able to access any healthcare at all. As a result, AHC was opened in 1999 to provide free healthcare, and has treated over 1,000,000 children since that time. More information can be found about the hospital here: http://angkorhospital.org/.

Upon entering the hospital, there were countless worried mothers with many children of all ages waiting for medical treatment. Despite their sickness, the children were happy and running around playing to pass the time. There were however a number of children who were clearly quite sick; in particular, the image of one mother clutching three tiny babies, who were all unclothed and very unwell was devastating.

The donation was given to one of the lovely staff at the centre to distribute to the babies. She explained that the hospital receives no government funding and operates only as a result of the donations made to them, and as such they were incredibly grateful for the clothing, and any help they could get. Judging by the amount of gorgeous Cambodian babies on my visit, I am certain that the donation will certainly not go to waste!

Thanks so much Baby Teresa for giving me the opportunity to be involved in something so amazing!

- Nicola Dobson

Dan's Kongo, Tanzania Donation

Care for Africa Foundation (CfA) was founded by the late Dr. Peter Hewitt and Diana Butler in 2007. This grass roots NGO is been based in Launceston Tasmania. Since 2007, the CfA team have focused on improving the health, well-being, education and water access, for disadvantaged people in the Tarime District of Tanzania.  In 2012 I, Dan Remnitz was privileged to bring together CfA and another fantastic Tasmanian based charity, Baby Teresa. Baby Teresa donates baby clothing and formula to children in need within Australia, as well as other areas in the world. As a member of the 2012 CfA medical team I was keen to help some of the youngest and most deprived Tanzanians.  

 

I carried many Baby Teresa outfits with me to Tanzania and set out to find the children most in need in the villages around Tarime. There were so many children who were sick, poor and under dressed. When I went into the village of Kongo it was clear that this village was in great need of support and help. In Kongo there is no electricity, no safe clean water and the villagers survive on the meagre crops they can raise and by herding goats and few cows. There are a few people producing charcoal and selling it on the side of the road, 7 km’s away from the Tarime township. Many of the adults have left the area in an attempt to find work and send money home to their needy families. There are many stories of misfortune and abandonment. The result is that many children are being raised and cared for by relatives, friends and community members. One man I met had 10 children living with him, of which only four were his own.

I decided to donate the Baby Teresa clothing to the infants of Kongo. Through my new found friend, CfA’s Tanzanian operations manager, Abdullah, we put out a call for infants to be brought into the school where CfA was conducting follow up clinics. We gave preference to children who were orphans. In addition to the Baby Teresa donations there were knitted jumpers and hats from the CfA knitting project, an incredible undertaking of the Launceston community.  

The response from the Kongo community was over whelming.  We had previously only held clinics for school aged children and there were a huge number of newborns to 2 year olds within Kongo. The result was amazing with mothers, grandparents and carers keen to cloth their tiny members of the village. We made sure every child received a piece of clothing or plush toy. There was such a festive atmosphere as children were popped into fresh, clean clothing and mouthed new toys. While working in the clinics I felt I was doing an important job for people in need. When I was giving away the donations to the people of Kongo, it still felt like an important job, but I also felt like Father Christmas! I was grateful for the generosity of the Baby Teresa team, as were the guardians of the many infants who left that day donned in bright, clean onesies that will no doubt be handed down from sibling to neighbour to cousin for the foreseeable future.  

 - Dan Remnitz 

(Scroll down for more fabulous photos!)