March 27, 2020
Dorcas Quilts Newsletter February 2020
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…..to him be the glory” Eph. 3 v 20,21
This is averse from the bible which really conveys what God has done through Dorcas Quilts in 2019. 221 quilts have been sent from you to children and adults all over the world! Thank you all for the consistent, hard work that you have put in to make not only this vast number but also the increasing high quality of the quilts that you have produced.
“The quilts are highly prized, not only because they are such beautiful items, but also because the workmanship is so intricate and skilful. Those receiving them can scarcely believe that they have been made as a gift for them and, as such, the quilts work powerfully to break down barriers of hostility that have existed for many years”.
Olive Grove Project Jerusalem, Israel
“I want to thank you for the LOVELY blankets (quilts) you sent us to distribute to the Sudanese who come to us for help at the Family Fund! They are so so beautiful and will be a great surprise to the moms to whom we give them”
Rebecca Atallah, Cairo, Egypt
“Thank you so much for the wonderful quilts-they are really beautiful! I would love them for Zimbabwe, the need is even greater. I am so very grateful!!!
Helen Hyde DBE - MamaPacks, Rwanda
These are just a few of the comments we have received over the year. These comments are all down to your hard work and support for Dorcas Quilts, thank you so much.
Here is a summary of where the quilts have been sent to in 2019:
January and May - Kenya
Huruma Children’s Home. This home is just outside Nairobi and it is a centre for around 1,500 children and it comes under the auspice of EduKenya.
April - Ethiopia
This is the Deaf School in Nekempte which is a regular request and each year we send around 20-25 quilts for the new small children joining the school.
May - UK
This month was very busy as we sent both adult and baby quilts to Ella’s in London (it used to be called Ella’s home) and is a safe house for women who have been trafficked and caught up in the sex trade. Wonderfully they have opened another house so we are hoping to send more quilts there this year.
May and November - Israel
We have sent another box of quilts to Israel. Isolde Quayle, who supports The Olive Grove project, has supplied us with a lot of fabric which we use to make the quilts.
”These quilts are often given to Holocaust survivors. These lovely folk are now getting very old, often well into their 90s, and many are still struggling to come to terms with what happened. Many lost everything and everybody, and are quite overwhelmed to be told that Christians have made a quilt for them. Some of them have never had a gift before. It’s really very humbling. Volunteers from the Distribution Centre in Jerusalem go out to visit Holocaust survivors and other needy people all over Israel and it is lovely to give them a quilt as a gift…many more people come into the centre ….poor families often need household items and so smaller quilts will be given for babies and children. Thank you to all at Dorcas Quilts for your wonderful work”
Rob and Margaret - Olive Grove Project, Israel
May and October - Chichester
We also gave both adult and baby quilts to our local Families in Crisis, which helps women who are fleeing from domestic abuse.
May - Egypt
Again this year we were able to send quilts to Rebecca Atallah, working with S.Sudanese refugees in Cairo, as well as quilts and blankets to another lady who also works in the Garbage Village in Cairo.
July - Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi
This was a very busy month! As mentioned earlier, Marren, a Kenyan nurse and friend from Church was able to take some quilts for the children’s home in Nairobi. We also donated a large number to be taken by sixth-formers from our local high school, Bishop Luffa, to Tanzania as we did last year.
The proposed trip to Malawi was earlier than we thought! I was dismayed as this was the first time I had felt that we would not have enough quilts to send because we were almost out of ‘stock’! I then received a call from a lady offering us some quilts! Interestingly they were not for children, which was what we really needed. However the village in Malawi had, unknown to us, some elderly ladies who as you can see in the photos were delighted to receive the quilts!
October - S.Africa and Zimbabwe
This was the largest number of quilts we have ever sent in one go! We sent around 55 quilts out to Thandanani, a children’s home in Johannesburg. A couple from church used to be involved in helping at Thandanani, so it was especially good to have such a personal contact. The other baby quilts were sent to a mission in Zimbabwe which seeks to find and nurture abandoned babies. Both of these are supported by the same church in Johannesburg.
December - Rwanda
Just after Christmas we gave a large number of baby quilts to the work of the ‘Mama Packs’ in Rwanda. This work has now become self-sufficient and so the same project will now be set up in Zimbabwe, headed up by Dame Helen Hyde. The quote at the opening of this newsletter refers to this. The quilts need to be larger so we are sending 36” x 40” quilts to Zimbabwe in May of this year. However any Rwanda size quilts will be still very useful! There is a huge need in Zimbabwe so the quilts sent out in May will be just the beginning!
2020
This year we will be sending to Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi. Also we hope to continue to support Ella’s in London and Families in Crisis here in Chichester. If you would like your quilt to be sent to a specific country please let me know.
Finally, we hope to launch our Dorcas Quilts website very soon!! I am very grateful to my son-in-law Andy for all the work he has put in to produce the website. I hope you like it!
Thank you again for all your support, prayers, interest and hard work in helping Dorcas Quilts bring such a lot of happiness and showing God’s love to children and adults all over the world!
DotPoulsom
Dorcas Quilts
February 2020
