Other projects

I know I said this blog is for the work that I list on the Spindles and More etsy site, but I have to digress long enough to say that the reason I haven't been listing more items is that my sister (serving with MCC in Bolivia) asked me to make winter hats for the children living at the children's home where she works. And when family needs something, my own projects get put on hold to take care of that need.

Anyway, the children's home is called Talita Cumi (I usually refer to it as TC). My current project right now is to make 50 winter hats for the kids at TC. I've got 24 done so far and I have until she comes home at Christmas time to get the rest finished. She'll take them back down with her.

Last fall's project was to make crocheted wash cloths (using cotton yarn) for the kids to use. I think the total ended up being 64 (in 3 months). The saddest part of that project is I haven't made a single wash cloth since, even though we need a few here at the house. I just can't make myself make another, maybe next year...

Having spent a month in Bolivia, with my sister at TC, I have to say that I was sadly surprised by the things we take for granted here in the US. Simple things, like having our own toothbrush with toothpaste to put on it. Or how about more than 2 pairs of underwear to wear under our skirts... The people living and working at TC are doing the best they can with limited resources. We figured out that it costs $2 a day per child to live, eat and go to school at TC. The government only pays $.50 per child, per day. Now multiply that times 7 days in a week, times 4.5 weeks in a month, times 12 months in a year, times the roughly 40 children that live at TC...

And somehow TC is supposed to make up the rest of that missing $1.50 per child, per day on its own. It is almost impossible when you consider that once the children are old enough to get jobs (and therefore help support TC) they are old enough to leave TC's care and live on their own. The rest of the children are too young to work. They have come up with a few creative ways to help TC. The children participate in painting scarves that are then offered for sale (they can be ordered from the website). For a period of time they were also making pizzas to sell to the North American schools.

Incidentally, if you want to make a difference in children's lives, Talita Cumi has a website: www.talitacumi.org