March 27, 2020
March 2019
Thank you so much for all your hard work over the last year. In 2018 we sent 142 quilts and 25 knitted/crocheted blankets to children and adults all over the world! I am just amazed at the way different projects have opened up and the number of quilts we have been able to provide. I am so grateful for all your help and support!
Since the last newsletter many of the new ventures have come to fruition but other possible outlets for the quilts have not materialised or are on hold.
Ukraine
We were hoping to send about 36 quilts to Ukraine but for financial reasons this has not yet been possible.
Ethopia
We send around 24 quilts to the children at the Deaf School in Nekemte, Ethiopia each year. In 2018 due to the political situation and increase of violence the trip was postponed. However we are hoping to send about 36 quilts to Ethiopia in April so that is good news.
Rwanda
This was a new venture in 2018 and it supports the neonatal clinics and work of The Rwanda Sisterhood ‘Mama Packs’ as shown in the photo. They seemed very pleased with the quilts and are planning another trip in February 2020 so we have been asked for more quilts, slightly bigger in size than before. The size will be no larger than 28” x 32”, so if anyone would like to make a baby quilt ?.....
The photo above shows a group of sixth formers from a London school holding the quilts they delivered for us.
India
In December we were delighted to be able to send 9 large knitted blankets to the Asha Centre , these are for elderly people living in the slums of Delhi.
Thanks to Sue for arranging that for us.
New Projects in 2019
Egypt
We sent just three quilts and eight blankets to Cairo. This work is located in the Garbage village in Cairo. Rebecca Atallah is my contact there and she works with S. Sudanese refugees, mums and their children, and also with severely handicapped children. It is an amazing work and I feel very privileged that Dorcas is part of this albeit in a very small way.
Kenya - Feeding Futures
This charity was set up by a young lady in church and seeks to feed children who have to walk miles to school and have very little to eat. You can look at the Feeding Futures website for more information. It has been remarkable to see how the educational progress has improved since these children have food at school.We sent just 5 quilts of different sizes to see if they would like more and so we had good reviews and we hope to send more quilts later in the summer.
Kenya - EduKenya
This is a very new venture and has happened very suddenly. There is a ‘boarding school’which seeks to bring children (age 2-10)out of the slums and to give them a better start in life. Marren, a Kenyan nurse here in the UK, goes home regularly and was very happy to take 12 quilts with her and give them to her sister and brother-in-law who run these schools. I think this will be a regular request as there are a lot of children!
Israel - The Olive Project in Jerusalem
This is an unusual project for Dorcas. The quilts will be used to care for the very poor people in the city. We have actually been given a large amount of fabric, some kits and some partly made quilts. The lady who used to make the quilts for the Olive Project is no longer able to make them and so we offered to help and are now busy using the fabric and making some very large quilts! We hope to finish some by June and the rest by December of this year.
Malawi
This is a new project for August 2019. We are hoping to send via a young teacher, a lot of quilts to a village of just children .The older children who work and look after their siblings are only about 10-12 years old. We want to send out as many as she can carry and some people have agreed to donate money so she can take extra baggage for the quilts. This is the first time we have ever paid for the quilts to go abroad but we feel this is such a needy cause.
South Africa - Johannesburg
The quilts will go the Thandanani, an orphanage which a friend has supported when she lived in Johannesburg. In August we hope to send a good number of quilts out with a couple are involved in running the orphanage. The 22 children range from children to teenagers.
So these are our projects so far for 2019!
Dorcas quilts has grown beyond anything I imagined when we started and so thank you again to the quilters in Glasgow for all the lovely quilts you have been sending south to Chichester. Also well done and many thanks to the Yeovil group for all their lovely quilts. Thank you also to all the quilters here in Chichester. Dorcas would not happen without all your interest, support hard work and prayers.
