March 27, 2020
July 2018
The Present
A big big thank you!
I just wanted to share with you all who have shown interest in Dorcas quilts, what God has done over the last few months. We have just completed three requests for quilts which has been our biggest output so far in a short period of time.
Ethiopia
In March we were able to send 24 children’s quilts and 4 baby quilts to the Deaf School in Ethiopia. We send quilts every year to the new children who are starting the school for the first time and who will live at the school for some years.
Romania
It was very exciting as in January of this year we sent quilts for the first time to Europe! We donated 5 teenage quilts to a Hospice just outside Bucharest. They liked the quilts and asked if we could make 12 teenage quilts for the opening of anew hospice in Copaceni in July. This new contact is called Hospices of Hope and you can look at the work they do on their website.
Tanzania
Another exciting new venture! A group of sixth-formers from a local school go to Tanzania every other year. The leader of the group is a guy from my church and this July each student and staff member will take a quilt in their luggage, 30 quilts in all. The quilts will be given to HIV orphans and they will be distributed by a local Pastor who knows the needs and works among the children in that area. We hope that this will be a regular destination for our quilts and we look forward to seeing the quilts in situ when the group returns!
Another wonderful development for Dorcas Quilts has been the gift of a workshop where we currently have two groups meeting every week to sew. It has been amazing that since we have been at the workshop in Lavant the requests for and the output of quilts have risen dramatically. I am now able to encourage more people to join the groups and we are so grateful to God for this provision.
The Past
It maybe helpful to give a brief outline here of who we are and what Dorcas Quilts is all about.
In March 2015 three ladies and myself decided to meet on a Monday morning to make quilts. The idea was to send a quilt to every country in Africa !!!The quilts initially went to any vulnerable child who is living in difficult circumstances. The idea of a quilt is to show God’s love to those children and to let them know that someone cares for them. However the need to extend this soon became very apparent when we were asked to supply ladies in a local Women’s Refuge with a quilt. The purpose of Dorcas Quilts now is to provide children, babies and women who are in need with a quilt to show them that someone cares for them.
So far we have sent to many places and below is a brief outline of where and to whom the quilts have been sent.
As we mentioned already we send about 20 quilts to the Deaf School in Ethiopia. Tanzania is a potential regular request and we try to provide the local Women’s Refuge now called Families in Crisis with quilts as often as we can. We have also supplied another Women’s Refuge further away from Chichester with quilts and there is the potential for many more in our local area! The Refuges provide a safe house and are for women, and often young children, who are fleeing from domestic violence and abuse.
Chad
We donated 9 quilts to a Women’s refuge in Chad which was a real privilege.
Kenya
We sent 26 children’s/teenage quilts and 20 baby quilts to a Catholic mission high in the mountains in Kenya. This was through a contact of a friend who supports a group from her church called The Yellow men (they wear yellow t-shirts! and have a website) who go regularly to help with the mission there.
Uganda
We also send quilts to two different destinations in South Uganda. One is a malnutrition centre called Potters Village (online) and also to a hospice for Mums and babies where a doctor in our church goes to visit each year.
Cambodia
We have sent quite a few quilts to help in a work called Cambodia in Action (also have a website) which seeks to close down orphanages and place the children into foster families where they will be cared for and protected.
Refugees
We have given quilts to refugees both locally and also to an organisation called Voices in Exile in Brighton.
Ella’s Home, London (online)
This is a relatively new work in London which seeks to give women a way out of the sex trade. Some have been brought into the country with promise of jobs and anew life but in fact have been tricked into working in brothels. This work is amazing and these ladies are being given protection and the possibility of employment and training and the organisation is supported by a church in London where ironically William Wilberforce used to preach against the slave trade!
The Asha Centre, India
Very recently we were able to donate some knitted and crocheted blankets to a work in the slums in North India. I hope that this will open up a new place for our quilts.
The Future
Autumn 2018 and 2019
Families in Crisis, Chichester
We have not been able to provide enough quilts for these ladies lately and so this charity is at the top of the list at the moment.
Ukraine
We have recently been in contact with a church which is running an amazing work amongst orphans in Odessa in the Ukraine. We are hoping initially to provide 34 quilts for the children this autumn. There are a lot more but this seems a good place to start!
Ethiopia
This is also on our to do list as we need to send another 20-25 to Ethiopia in January-March.
Rwanda
This is hot off the press and another new venture. We have been asked to supply baby quilts for a Mama Pack which seeks to provide pre-natal and post-natal care for women in Rwanda. You can read about their work on their website.
This is all we have on at the moment!!!
One last comment to those of you who are new to Dorcas Quilts.
- We always send the quilts with a person known to us who will deliver the quilts to the specified place.
- We only use fabric which is new! Old clothes and sheets are not good as apparently they carry our germs which could cause problems abroad.
- We only ask for a photo of the quilts in situ but sometimes this is neither appropriate or possible!
- There is often a time lapse before we hear anything about the quilts. Sometimes there is a delay as the countries may have political situations so the quilts do not go on the dates as planned so we do have to be a little patient.
Finally I want to thank my very patient and faithful group in Chichester for all their hard work over the years especially this year so far! Thank you also to those in Glasgow who have supported Dorcas Quilts and supplied us with not only quilts but blankets as well. And welcome to the new group which may possibly be starting in Yeovil in the Autumn who are hoping to join Dorcas Quilts! I am just so grateful to God for His provision of willing helpers, a workshop, sewing machines, fabric and thread!
Thank you all so much for enabling this work to continue and grow
Dot Poulsom
July 2018
