What cuties!

Check out these little cuties who modelled for us at our Launceston Baby Teresa launch!



Meet William - whose hair made him a hit with everyone!



Aiden and Xavier - Xavier is one of our perpetual models - but as he just had his first birthday (and is a strapping young lad he's moved on to "big boy" clothes now!)



Kadesha - the sole lady at our Launceston launch - check out that headband (should we call her Blair?)



Declan - who was gorgeous and quiet and a treat!



Aiden again - jolly and a natural model!

Susan Thomas donation in Uganda

I’m a 25 year old female and apparently that means I am now of an age where my friends are producing babies! So whilst out shopping I came across these gorgeous little stripey onesies and started reading all about Baby Teresa and the concept of buy one, give one to a baby in need. I thought that sounds fabulous and my friend Em would love it, so I got one. Later, as I was preparing to go on an epic trip with my sister to spend a month in Africa before visiting Europe and America, it occurred to me that perhaps the babies I’d be seeing during my time in Uganda would classify as “in need”.





I sent an e-mail off to Baby Teresa and very soon I had a reply saying that they would love to send some onesies away with me! This was how I came to be touching down on an African runway with a bag packed full of baby clothes (okay, so there were a few items of clothing for me too!!!)





My sister Mary and I were volunteering with The Real Uganda, an organization that links volunteers with projects that are being run by Ugandans for Ugandans. Mary is a nurse so she was placed with VOLSET, a community based health project in Ntenjeru. As a psychologist, I was placed at St Isaac’s Training Centre, a sustainable agricultural placement. Yes, I was going to do some digging!!! Located in Kainogoga (about 30 minutes boda boda ride from the nearest town, and mzungu or white people!!!), St Isaac’s is a fantastic project that aims to eliminate poverty and hunger by teaching modern farming techniques that result in over four times the crop yields produced using more traditional techniques. They also teach the importance of crop rotation, crop diversity and water conservation.





The director Chris Kulabako has established a pre-school for the children of the area, over 50% of whom attend free of charge. The children are provided with uniforms, a basic lunch, and an education. The children are also taught the farming techniques and good nutrition. Being able to provide free education is critical in a small village like Kainogoga, where over 20% of the children are orphans due to HIV/AIDS. So needless to say Chris and his team of volunteers are doing some amazing work, and together they have so far established more than 80 demonstration gardens! Providing income, and a source of sustenance to communities across Uganda.

During my stay in Uganda I must admit I didn’t end up doing much digging (it did provide the family with some comic relief for a day or so...) but instead I produced a book documenting Chris’ life story and the amazing work that St Isaac’s are doing now and hope to do in the future. This document has been useful in linking St Isaac’s with a group in America that can enable donations to be made via the internet. 6,000 words put to good use. What else will be put to good use? Those Baby Teresa onesies that I was still carrying...





One weekend Mary and I went to Kampala (ie. Town) and visited Baby Watoto. Watoto is a massive American organization that rescues little babies that have been dumped at the tip, or bus shelters, abandoned at the police station or on people’s doorsteps, and takes them in. The babies are looked after very well (even by Australian standards!!!) with beautiful toys, loving carers, appropriate sustenance, and health care provided. When the children are older they grow up in sort of group homes where they become a family. The children are encouraged to become anything they can dream of. They are given great educational opportunities and basically given a fantastic chance at life, that was so close to being taken away from them. Because of the care and lifetime of opportunity these abandoned babies are provided with I chose Baby Watoto to donate half the onesies to. Gloria, a friend of a friend of ours, is an Australian working at Baby Watoto in Uganda. She showed us around their amazing facility. We got to see little Meg who was barely as big as a fist when she was first found (she is still in the humidicrib, but is doing well). Unfortunately we had come to visit during naptime, so almost all the babies were asleep (SO cute!!!). But Ruby and Sahara were still up, so they became our gorgeous models. At Baby Watoto we know those gorgeous onesies are going to be put to very good use, over and over again!!!













The other half of the onesies I gave to Mary to deliver. Mary was given the opportunity to do HIV/AIDS testing on a remote island in Lake Victoria. She was part of a team that provided HIV testing and counseling to 80 people on the island. Being white, she was quite a spectacle on the island, with lots of the younger children terrified of her! Much to the amusement of the older children and adults!!! But she was very popular indeed with the mothers who attended her talk on how to keep same from or live as healthy as possibly with HIV/AIDS. Mary distributed the Baby Teresa onesies to these mothers, who were very appreciative. The people living on these remote islands are some of the poorest in Uganda, and they can have very limited access to services. So those onesies will be very well used, guaranteed.









What a thesis I’ve just written! Sorry about that!!! A big thank you to Baby Teresa for agreeing to donate twenty summer onesies to the gorgeous babies of Uganda. The smiles are well worth it!!!

Lots of love and blessings, Suse



PS. This is little Chloe, Chris’ daughter. I told you the smile’s are worth it! And yes, she did get a little onesie too!!!



Taking Baby Theresa to Damba Island, Uganda - from Mary Thomas (Susan's sister)

Uganda is a beautiful and crazy country, teaming with life and colour. Despite the intense poverty all around, the Ugandan people are so loving and have the most wonderful smiles I have ever seen. I spent a month volunteering in Uganda October- November 2010 as a nurse in the family area of a community health clinic. The mothers make sure their babies are very well dressed to go the centre. Yet all the babies I saw around the village were naked or had a top on but no pants. On my last weekend, my friend and I went with two trained HIV AIDS counsellors to the Island of Damba in Lake Victoria. I had 12 Baby Theresa “onsies” and a plan of distributing them to mothers on the island after presenting a session on infant nutrition. My first impression of the island was of the smell of fish and goats. Then I noticed the rows of makeshift sheds, all looking identical in make and size. Each room was either a shop of some sort or a family home, most were both. The babies were carried by older siblings and wore nothing but a string of beads around their waists. Giving out the onesies after the session was hectic as sizing babies is tricky to do quickly, but rewarding. The mothers were so grateful and the babies looked fresh, covered and very cute! The clothes donated will clothe the baby, and then continue to be passed around the family and community as more babies are born. I admire the Baby Theresa initiative and encourage people to support it.

Who says models don't eat?

Baby Teresa models sure do eat!

And just to prove it here is one of our fantastic 2010 models Imogen with her Dad Oliver at our April photo shoot for Enterprise magazine.

More details on this shoot to follow - but we just wanted to dispel this myth first!

Baby Teresa Hits YouTube

The crazy cats over at www.fiverr.com have done us up this cute little video on Baby Teresa - hopefully our real customers are a little less robotic - but it's good fun regardless!

New York City Donation

The Big Apple can be overwhelming with its big buildings and big crowds. And there was little old me in April 2010 roaming the streets awe-struck as always by this amazing city trying to find a way to make at least a small impact with Baby Teresa.

Many of our previous donations with Baby Teresa have been in Africa, or in Asia in parts of the world where the need for a donated baby outfit screams loudly and in an in your face kind of way. I know when I think of New York City I’d be more likely to think of a business person in a thousand dollar suit than a baby in need of clothing – but that’s what made this journey all the more challenging.




As we’ve said so often here at Baby Teresa – if you open your eyes and take the time to look, you’ll find babies in need everywhere in the world. For my trip to New York City I again reached out through the powerful network of Rotary and was put in contact with an organization that aligns beautifully with the goals of Baby Teresa.

Myself and my travelling companion Sarah were warmly welcomed into Sanctuary for Families (http://www.sanctuaryforfamilies.org). In their own words: Sanctuary for Families is the leading nonprofit agency in New York State dedicated exclusively to serving domestic violence victims, sex trafficking victims, and their children. Each year, we help thousands of victims children build safe lives through a range of high quality services.



Going on a tour of their facilities was an eye opening experience. Each year thousands of families and children are affected by domestic violence in New York, many of whom leave those environments with nothing more than the clothes on their back.

I’m proud to say that Baby Teresa outfits are being added to the fantastic array of clothing on offer at no cost to the families that work with Sanctuary.



One of the most exciting parts of our visit was in seeing the way the “Butterfly Boutique” at Sanctuary is set up. So that the process doesn’t feel like a hand out – it’s been set up a like a beautiful retail experience giving dignity back to those going through this process.

I highly encourage you to take a look at Sanctuary’s website, to see what the 130+ staff do within their communities and to see if you can be a part of helping them in your own way be it large or small.



My sincere thanks to Sanctuary team members Emily and Lisa for their tour and their time, it was very uplifting to meet you and to see some of what you do. Thank you Sanctuary board member Cynthia for also being so involved that you came along to meet us as well. And huge thanks to Sheri from the Rotary Club of New York for making this donation possible with a great introduction.

- Kirsty

Baby Teresa Donation Nairobi, Kenya and Arusha, Tanzania

I firstly must apologise to all the Baby Teresa Fans out there, I have been a little overwhelmed by my experiences and also being thrown straight back into normal life. I have really been finding it hard to deal with my trip, I feel a bit protective over it as it was a very special time and I want to do it justice, every time I ever mention it.



For those of you who are not aware, my trip was not just a holiday, I participated in a Cross Cultural Immersion Experience consisting of two weeks in both Kenya and Tanzania working with local youth groups, community groups, and schools as well as exploring the social and cultural issues that impact upon their society and way of life.



With the support of Kirsty and Sammie as well as my Family, Friends, Colleagues and of course my amazing girlfriend Grace, I was able to go on this trip with confidence and direction as it was my first trip overseas.




Kirsty and Sammie however, in supporting me, let me support them and I was fortunate enough to make two donations, one in each country of 10 Baby Teresa outfits each which made giving a gift that gives twice, twice even more amazing!



My first donation was in Nairobi, Kenya. This donation went to an amazing man that I met named Duncan Arara. Through our interactions with the local youth group we interacted with. Duncan runs a single mothers group called “Young Single Mothers Self Help Group”. Duncan is a phenomenal man, who is so passionate about bringing the Women together to help each other and build a sense of community that I could hardly resist my donation going to their group. I did not get to interact with the group on a personal level, however my friend Emma Radin, was lucky enough to have her placement with Duncan and the group.




In Arusha, Tanzania, through my involvement at Edmund Rice Sinon, Senior Secondary School a Long Term Volunteer named Stuart who helped set up and arrange a group called KNM Tanzania, of which their main purpose is to help young mothers enter the workforce or re-enter education in a supportive environment. I discussed with Stuart at length group, which you can find on facebook if you search KNM Tanzania, but I thought that with the amount of girls looking to enter school or the workforce and the amount of young children they had, again the opportunity was too good to pass up on!




My donations were both a success and I have heard that the jumpsuits have been put to good use, the feeling is amazing when you know that people in your local community have helped contribute on a global scale. If anyone wants to talk to me further, they can find me on facebook or contact Baby Teresa for my contact details.


I can not thank Kirsty and Sammie enough for adding another dimension to my first overseas trip and its something I am never going to forget!

In Swahili I would say, Asante Sana which means ‘thank you very much’.

Aaron Jones

A big thank you to Glowless for including us on their fantastic blog! Check it out

http://wheresmyglow.blogspot.com/2010/04/baby-teresa.html