Tenuous Connection

I put this picture of the children in a previous post but it has now moved to the archives. This picture brings up a lot of feelings for me. It helps me to know that the children are REAL, thinking, feeling, BEINGS, young people, living their lives from moment to moment as children do... yet my connection to them feels so tenuous at times! Does that make sense?

A special "thank you" to Ann of Bags By Ann for the two adorable skirts that were the first to arrive by mail recently.

The quality of items we are sending combined with careful planning and packing will make the expense of our gift worthwhile.

Thanks again to every one of you!

A Very Interesting Read

Below is a 2006 "Q. and A." session with Tigist, Founder of Umbrella Child. I give this information to potential fiscal sponsors, those non-profit organizations whose interests parallel the needs of Umbrella Child and who may be willing to take our children "under their wing". This would make it possible for donations to be tax deductible.

Umbrella Child FAQs

Q. What is the Mission of Umbrella Child Love Association?
A. Dear Susan, (Our mission is to) breaking the riddles of poverty through availing physical and social access to basic services, empowering and building indigenous local capacities of the urban and rural communities by genuine dedication of its constituency. ( Our mission is to solve the riddle of poverty by making basic physical and social services available to urban and rural communities, resulting in empowerment and a goal of dedicated communities to generate income indigenous to these communities.)

Q. What inspired you, Tigist, to begin this program?
A. The history of Umbrella Child is the organization is established to help orphan children by asking voluntary people and organization, the initiation of this program is that, as you know, our country is the poorest of all and there are many children who have died, their parents with HIV and live on the street, when you walk on the street you got many children begging for coins, others are living with distant relative, if these children are not supported one day they are forced to be street children, to avoid this we begin this program.

Q. How many children does Umbrella Child support?
A. (We are able to support 16 children at this time.)

Q. What are the qualifications these children possess to be supported by Umbrella Child?
A. A child who lost both of his/her parents (mother and father) and who has no elder brother or sister to support him/her is the one who is placed under the care of his relative.

Q. What is the support process?
A. Before we transfer the child to his relative (guardian) first we gather and verify informations regarding the behavior, family size, economic status etc. of the relative (guardian). Secondly we seek the willingness of the relative to bring up the child. After having the willingness we require the relative to enter in to agreement. Among the responsibilities that the relative should honor includes to provide a modest meal, furnish educational materials, insure regular class attendance, observe child hygiene and report to Umbrella on time if the child gets sick are the major ones. After securing the agreement we provide a monthly financial assistance.

Q. How much money do you provide each child and how did you come up with this sum?
A. Basic needs of a child and (his/her) expense (include, in Ethiopian Birr)-
food item - 80.00, hygiene and sanitation - 15.00, educational materials - 10.00, school fee - 20.00, medical expense - 25.00, 1/3 house rent - 45.00. Total monthly expense is 195 Ethiopian Birr which is equal to approximately 25 USD. Some needs like nightclothes, school uniform and shoes are not included because they are long lasting.

Q. How do you track each child's status in the home?
A.To observe the living situation of the children we visit each child's home once in a month. As the children are living far apart we visit five children's homes in a day. This means we spend three days in a month to visit our children's homes (this is in normal situations). But usually guardians or the child will not be available at the time of our visits. This requires us a second time travel.

Moreover, if we found a problem in our first visit and if a need arises to talk to neighbors we travel two or three times. During the visit we observe the sanitation of the child and the family, the relationship between the child and the family, the availability of educational material, school uniform etc. If we feel the child is not cared as expected we call the guardian and advise them to improve. The other method we employ to gather information about the child (is by) conducting a discussion with neighbor.

Q. How do you track each child's status at school?
A.To know the academic performance and the behavior of the child at school we have maintained a good relationship with teachers. We collect information (such as) class attendance, child's compliance to classroom and school rules, child's ability and homework performance and the availability of educational materials. In addition we collect grade reports of each child. The follow up of the children is conducted every three months.

Q. Why does Umbrella Child need sponsors?
A. In the beginning when we establish the organization we thought that we can find donors locally. With this belief we have approached many individuals but for the reason which we do not know, people were not willing. It is because of this reason that we present this problem to you.

Q. How do you allocate donated funds?
A. One is a donation (sponsoring) made to a particular child by a donor. In this case the donated money will be spent only (on) that particular child. Even if the money is in excess of the requirement of the child the money will not be used for other purpose or (on) others without permission of the donor. The excess money will be kept in a separate account under the name of the child. The donor will have a report on the utilization of the money regularly. Moreover, the donor can see the copy of the savings account of the child and thereby (be assured) that the money is being used according to his wish.

Money received to benefit the group of children is used to benefit the total children under the program. If the money is in excess we will deposit a fixed amount under the name of each child. If again there is extra money we will notify the donor and get permission to use it for another needy child.
Thank you for all your effort to assist our children. Love, Tigist

The Children

I knew you would all enjoy this sweet photo, taken two years ago. (One child joined after this photo-shoot.) Their beautiful names match their lovely little faces! Click the pic for a full-size view.

Three more talented Etsy artisans have offered to make skirts for the girls. Please welcome Jan from WakuWaku and Rachael from Grandyandbaa. Check out Jan's adorable vintage fabric covered magnets and Rachael's Edmund The Elephant!

Carelia, of the Etsy shop with the same name, has also agreed to help out! Check out her cute Halloween "Raggy Bag"!

It is my heart-felt wish that every woman here remains somehow involved with these children, even after this giving project is over. Due to the high shipping costs to Ethiopia, I realize that providing material goods is not the most efficient way to contribute to Umbrella Child.

Soon, I will offer ideas on how we can generate money to donate to the group via Paypal. Of course, your suggestions are welcome. Meanwhile...continue to do what you all do best...create with love!

Thanks again, Susan Rivera

Featured Artisan: Andrea from Quirky Bags

Andrea has been sewing and crocheting since she was a little girl. Her carrying totes have evolved over the past ten years to be highly functional, durable shoppers that add a sense of quirky style to every trip to the supermarket. After several years of hoarding fabrics and daydreaming, she established Quirky Bags in 2007. She is a native New Englander, a former transportation engineer and at-home mother of four children.

She enjoys participating in projects like Umbrella Child, because they allow her to help others while at home. She donates slings to the battered women's shelter in her city and also participates in Project Linus, which provides handmade blankets to children in need in the U.S. She is an active member of La Leche League.

Visit her blog or her Etsy store.

Great Response From Etsy Artisans!

I am overjoyed to report that (22) Etsy Artisans have responded and (6) have already contacted me with their plans. I can't begin to describe the relief I feel, knowing that these children will benefit from your kind support.

Introducing some talented women:

Kirsty from her shop of the same name, Kirsty, will be sewing skirts for the girls and also - great idea - will be making little drawstring bags for their toothbrushes. I NEVER would have thought of that! Your Good Dog Pincushion is adorable!

Cora of Coralea will also be contributing handcrafted skirts. Thanks Cora - your Fantastic Lunch Time Play Food Set is amazing!

Andrea of Quirky Bags has volunteered to be my first Featured Etsy Artisan - watch for her soon. She plans to sew a skirt and team it up with a new t-shirt. A great idea. She will also be helping out a little with the HTML and layout of the blog, so if you see anything strange, blame her, not me! Andrea, your Antique Postcards Carrying Tote is the most unique I have ever seen!

Antoinette of Princess Izzy has also volunteered to create hand-sewn skirts for the girls. I appreciate Antoinette's warm helpfulness and totally adore her Origami shrug.

Ann of Bags n Stuff By Ann will be providing two handcrafted skirts for the girls and - thanks to her husband - felt markers:) Ann's little pink fringed Faded Glory Jacket is so cute!

Iris of Warm 'N Fuzzy Fiber Arts is going to make skirts for the girls and possibly some little stuffed animals to tuck into the Christmas package - the children will love those! Iris lives quite close to me and has volunteered her precious "sit down" time to brainstorm new ideas with me to benefit Umbrella Child. Iris spins and dyes her own yarn - such amazing colors to her First Harvest yarn.

Hopefully I haven't missed anyone and I created these links correctly - I'm such a beginner at blogging. I look forward to hearing from the (16) other Artisans who have shown an interest and send you all my thanks and warmest regards.

Updated Christmas Package Plans

This little girl doesn't seem sure that the teddy bear she has just received was really for her!
I want to thank every one of you who has shown interest in these children. Every gift, every act of concern - counts.

My plan is to send packages to Ethiopia in mid-November. It will take approx. a month for them to arrive - we want them there in time for Christmas!

Package(s) will include:

1.) New and hand-crafted clothing items.

2.) School Supplies: no.2 pencils, personal pencil sharpeners, colored pencils, erasers, felt pens, small boxes crayons and "dollar store" calculators. (No paper or coloring books - too heavy.)

3.) Hygiene Items: soaps (no liquids) and toothbrushes (no paste - this would be eaten).

4.) I plan to include a non-disposable camera and several rolls of film. Tigist can photograph the children throughout the year and I will develop the film and post the pictures here.

I strongly encourage you to include cards and photographs with your gifts - these children would benefit from this personal touch.

Please let me know ASAP if you plan to participate and in what way. Contact me via email: susanclare01@yahoo.com or "convo" me at: www.susanclare.etsy.com. Together, we can make a nurturing, positive impact in these children's lives!

I promise to keep you updated; Thanks so much!

Email From Tigist

I love this little girl's smile! She was so happy to receive a Christmas gift from me last year. I realize now that many of the gifts were largely impractical - stuffed animals, matchbox cars, hair ties and candy. The practical items included backpacks for the boys, soaps and lotions for the girls and lots of school supplies. This year's package will be different...read the copy of Tigist's email here:

Dear Susan, you can send the clothes and school supplies, the visa and master cards are not appropriate for us because we dont have it, please if possible use our bank account which previously told you. The children are very well, they start school. Thank you. Love Tigist.

It took weeks to receive this reply - email service is unreliable at best.

Tigist has basically given me the "go-ahead" to send new clothing and school supplies for everyone. Time to re-connect with fellow Etsians interested in the children and make plans!