Sometimes we all go through life thinking of all the negatives - how busy we are, cooking dinner AGAIN, cleaning up after the kids or longing for a night where we don't get woken up by the baby. We have all felt like this at one point or another, but read on and then sit back, look around and ENJOY what you have : )
We were approached about a month ago by a wonderful charity in the UK: thesmallthings.org. They are a nonprofit organisation that works with an orphanage based in Tanzania that cares for aprox 30 children at a time, from birth to five years old.
One of their constant problems is that of nappies - they use cloth nappies with outer wraps. Here is a quote from one of their founder, Bekka Ross Russell:
"Most of the wraps are terrible quality and quickly disintegrate after a few washes - the velcro stops working, they loosen around the legs and waist, and become almost completely useless. Several years ago some volunteers brought over some wonderful "Real Nappies" snug wraps which have been an absolute lifesaver for us. However, they are definitely at the end
of their lives! Is there any chance you would consider donating some"
What a humbling conversation that was, when we first started Real Nappies 8 years ago, never for one moment did we think we would have the honour of making a difference to the life of other's less fortunate than us. We discussed this with our kids (11 and 8yrs) and we have vowed that one day we will go over there and help in any way we can, our kids want to play with the little ones at the orphanage and teach them how to play football (soccer). What a magical experience that would be.
Well to cut a long story short we sent many of our Real Nappies Snug Wraps over and some Mahu Natural skincare products too: Nappy Rash cream and Baby Shampoo. At present the little ones use locally made soap which is very harsh against their delicate skin, perhaps a little bit of luxury can find it's way into their little lives.
Of course there are many many worthwhile charities around the globe but this is the one we have chosen to concentrate on into 2012, so if any of you have any ideas on fund raisers or donations we can make please leave them as a comment. We will be back with more information in early 2012 and will hopefully put some of your ideas into play!
