Craft Hope

{ Project 22 } The Children of La Chureca

This post isn't an easy one to write. There's too much emotion flooding through my head. Before I write a post I do my research on the internet and with the organizations we are working with. I gather information and photos to share with you. Whenever it comes to kids it hits me in the gut like a ton of bricks. It's kids. Sweet kids that didn't pick their lives. Did they somehow draw the short straw to be given this life? It seems not fair.

I get sad and then I get angry and then I choose to DO SOMETHING about it. 

This process happens every single time.

I'm thankful that Craft Hope gives us this outlet. You know, to do something about it. 

For Project 22 we will be traveling back to Nicragua. To the dumps of Nicaragua to be exact -- La Chureca. We have been there before with Eren for Project 2. Eren took handmade dolls with her to La Chureca (the dumps). 

Over 5,000 people live in La Chureca. 5,000 men, women, teens, children and babies call the dump their homes. They live off the food they find and recycle for money what they can. To say this situation is deplorable would be the understatement of the year. Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in the world and they need our help. 

There are scores of organizations that travel to La Chureca every year providing buildings, schools, and services. Countless organizations that are spreading HOPE and when a friend (Brenda, from Project 14) emails asking for help, we jump to the call.

For Project 22 we are partenering with Mission Nicaragua out of Tallahassee, Florida. They work with Open Hearts Mission in Nicaragua and are traveling to Nicaragua to lead a camp located on Lake Nicaragua. The children of La Chureca will be brought out to the camp. The mission group will minister to the poor communities and the dump of La Chureca helping with nutrition, clothing, and housing, among many other things. 

For { Project 22 } The Children of La Chureca we will be collecting flip flops for the children in these communities. The idea we had was that you can pick up flip flops from the store and accent them however you'd like. I've seen flip flops at the dollar store and dollar bins at Target. You can get ribbon or simply cut strips of fabric to tie onto the flip flops. They need flip flops of all sizes. From toddlers to teenagers. For the boys, it may be a little more difficult but you are a creative lot and I'm sure you'll come up with something!

This is a great summer project to get kids involved with as well. Teach them about Nicaragua. Show them where it is on the globe and have them make flip flops to donate. It's a very tangible way to show them how other children live around the world and how they can DO SOMETHING.

I'll do a post with some ideas soon. 

Here are the details... Please mail the flip flops to:

Wildwood Church

100 Ox Bottom Road

Tallahassee, Florida  32312

Please leave a comment on this post if you'd like to participate. They are traveling at the end of July, so let's make the deadline July 10th so they will have time to get them all boxed up and ready to go. 

Once again, keeping spreading HOPE!!

{ The STUNNING photos in this post were taken by Todd, Brenda's son, who has traveled to Nicaragua working with these children. He has a blog and we will also be following his journey. More details on that coming shortly. These photos are absolutely breathtaking. Thank you Todd for sharing them with us. }

Project 22 on Pinterest

Just a quick hi, how ya doin' to let you know that I made a Pinterest board for Project 22 :: The Children of La Chureca. You can find the board here.

Please email me if you make a tutorial or find a good tutorial and want me to share it on our Pinterest board. You can reach me at chikaustin@gmail.com.

A huge thank you to everyone who has signed up to participate in Project 22. Keep spreading HOPE.

Endings, Beginnings, and Helpers

It's the end of the school year for many of us and it brings with it a season of endings. We celebrate the last days of school, field days, parties, ceremonies, and performances. Summer is right around the corner in this part of the world and we are all anticipating it's arrival. Some bittersweet endings watching our children grow up. 

We are wrapping up Project 21 :: Rally for Roma and gearing up for Project 22. Project 21 has officially ended, so please get your handmade cold weather accessories in the mail as soon as you can. This allows time to get it all packaged up and ready to leave for Romania this summer. Behind the scenes at the Another Child Foundation people are counting and sorting items and have been completely in awe by what you have given them.

Look at all of that!! In fact, as of this week you have donated over 1,500 handmade items for Romania. That's 445 scarves, 815 hats, 183 blankets, 37 mittens/gloves, and 26 pairs of booties. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU! We can't wait to share these items with the people of Romania. You are amazing!

On a personal note, this week has been trying. The tornado that ravaged Moore, Oklahoma really took it out of me. As a teacher myself, I just can't imagine what they went through in those schools. I wake up everyday to spend my day in the classroom with kids. Kids who I'd also protect with my life. There really are no words. Only teary eyes. It is important to find the HOPE amongst the tragedy, the stories of survival, the helpers. Always look for the helpers. They are there. You all are helpers and you show the world every time there is a project or a tragedy. Emails and messages come my way asking how we can help.

With that being said, we are working on a project for Moore, Oklahoma and I will let you know the details when they emerge. Right now they need money for immediate assistance. Please donate to the Red Cross if you can. 

I do have exciting news to share with you! At this very moment sweet Carin, from Project 20 :: Hope for China, is on an airplane headed for Hong Kong to pick up her sweet daughter from her orphanage and bring her home. We are so excited for her on this journey!

Carin is taking with her our first delivery of the bibs from Project 20. She's going to be able to hand deliver the bibs to the orphange where she is picking up her daughter. Thank you to those of you who made bibs for allowing her this moment with those sweet babies. 

Behind the scenes Project 21 is almost ready to launch. This is a simple, fun, summertime project your kids will LOVE.

Thanks to everyone spreading HOPE around the world and thanks to the helpers. You are all such wonderful helpers. 

To Romania, With Love

With just a couple more weeks to go with { Project 19 } Rally for Roma I wanted to give you an update. The boxes are coming in full of wonderful handmade goodies.

As of this week we have collected 92 scarves, 62 hats, 52 blankets, and 13 mittens. That is TWO HUNDRED AND NINETEEN handmade items for families in Romania to face the bitter cold of a Romanian winter.

All of these items were made by an 83 year old grandmother. I love, love, love this.

I have received notes from people all over the world participating. One lady who spread the word about our project in her church bulletin to get people to participate. Girl Scout troops, youth groups, mommy groups and many, many others have made items for this project. People are learning how to crochet and sew because of our project. The most beautiful handmade items have come our way.

Each and every item has been made with LOVE.

We still have a couple weeks left for Project 21 and plan to immediately launch Project 22! Please get your goodies in the mail so we can get them ready to travel overseas. Thanks to everyone who is participating and has taken time out of their busy lives to think of someone else.

I saw a quote the other day that really stuck with me. 'You don't need a reason to help people.' My sentiments exactly.

Interfaith

Sometimes pictures show up in my email inbox that stop me right in my tracks.

Sweet baby faces. Sweet baby faces that we have helped.

A sweet Craft Hope angel, Anita Franklin, contacted me just after I announced Project 20 :: Hope for China. She let me know that she has been living and working in Beijing, China for the past ten years. She said that she was going to get a group together to participate in Project 20 and will be hand-delivering the bibs to the orphanage and hopes to be able to provide us with some pictures.

You see, Anita moved to China ten years ago and started an organization called Side-by-Side. It's a foreign owned and managed center for children and adults with special needs and learning difficulties. She has the heart of an angel.

Well, Anita gathered a few friends -- an Interfaith group -- which consisted of two jews, three muslims, five christians, two catholics, and a few other friends. They hail from Australia, U.S.A., Canada, Israel, Argentina, Italy, Ghana, China, Korea, Turkey, Poland, Spain, and Sweden.

None of them knew how to make a bib so they visited a local tailor and had a pattern made that they could follow. After trial and error, bibs were made. ONE HUNDRED bibs were made for Craft Hope.

Anita and her friends delivered the bibs to the orphanage and were able to share these photos with us. Photos of sweet baby faces.

This, my friends, is spreading HOPE of the most epic proportions.

{ Project 21 } Rally for Roma

Hope.

One simple word that means so much.

Hope shines, motivates, energizes, believes, and endures. Hope brings people together. Strangers from across the globe. United in a cause greater than themselves. To spread HOPE.

Without further ado, I am excited to announce { Project 21 } Rally for Roma. We have been called upon by Another Child Foundation in a partnership to fill a container with LOVE to send to Romania this summer. Each year ACF sends a container of items to Romania to prepare for the harsh winter. This year, Craft Hope will be on board.

Another Child Foundation's mission is to reach, teach, and transform the lives of orphaned and at-risk children in Romania. They work directly with children and families in Roma communities to help change generational ideas of prejudice, to help keep families together in extreme poverty, and to help education and encourage orphans and at-risk children, so that they can be productive members of their society.

Romanian winters are rough. Especially, when gypsy families in the Tarnaveni community are living in condemnded, Soviet era apartment buildings with little or no electricity for heat. Most of the apartment buildings have huge gaps in the walls or broken windows, so there is basically no way of shutting their homes off from the cold and snow. At the end of the summer each year, ACF sends a container of humanitarian aid to Romania. Craft Hope will help to fill the container with blankets, hats, and scarves to help keep these precious people warm and sickness free during the winter.

We would love for you to join us and send HANDMADE blankets, hats, and scarves.

There are no specifics. They can be for babies, kids, and adults. They can be sewn, crochet, or knit. There are no size requirements or specifications. Any donation will be way above and beyond what most people have now. Our objective is warmth... and HOPE, of course.

The deadline for Project 21 is May 20, 2013.

Please send in your handmade blankets, hats, and scarves to us at:

Craft Hope

c/o Jessica Huettel

2930 Manila Lane

Houston, TX 77043

A huge thank you to Jessica for contacting me and making us aware of Another Child Foundation's mission. If you'd like to read more about her journeys to Romania, you can here and here.

As always, please leave a comment on this post if you'd like to participate in this project. Also, please share this post on facebook and your blog. It takes one person to make a big difference.

"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." -- Anne Frank

 

Over One Thousand Handmade Bibs

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I kid. I do live in Texas, but I don't live on a ranch. I just like to say that. I'm a junior high teacher chasing four kids around from schools to activities. We are starting baseball and softball for the first time ever and our schedules are filling up for the spring. And in the meantime Craft Hope continues to grow and change lives.

While I get up everyday and do my mama duties and then shuffle off to work, others are making bibs. A whole bunch of you are making bibs in your free time. I know how valuable this free time is and I am eternally grateful to you all.

{ a sweet tutorial made by Gingercake -- if you're still in the bib making business }

The bibs have been coming in by the truckload for Project 20 :: Hope for China. As of today, we have collected 1,416 handmade bibs. One thousand four hundred and sixteen bibs. That's a whole bunch of bibs!

Think about it for a minute. Just the amount of time it takes to make one bib. Just one.

That number astounds me. That's 1,416 sweet babies in China that will receive a handmade gift thanks to you guys. Like I always say, YOU ROCK!!

I'm honored to work with each and every one of you. You amaze me. Every. Single. Time.

Project 20 is ending so please get your bibs in the mail as soon as possible. Project 21 is on it's way. Giddy up!

 

 

Great Big World

Sometimes this world seems so big. And other times it seems so small. I was sitting here thinking about Craft Hope. About how when it started I was just wanting to do something different than write a blog. I was in the 'old school' blogging community. I found a connection with other women around the world looking for the same thing. Friendship and connection in this big 'ole world. We somehow made the world seem smaller. Oceans were smaller. Lives were shared. We connected.

Now most of the friends I started with don't blog much personally. Our kids are older. Our lives are busier. We are spending more time on the sidelines and not as much time capturing it all in that perfect light.

We now connect through facebook and instagram. And if we are adventurous enough we get on an airplane and go for a visit. I'm thankful for those years. Those years that started Craft Hope and gave me those friends. The friends who blogged about Craft Hope, joined the projects, and helped to send items around the world. This great big world we keep making smaller.

Thanks for listening to me ramble. I was just thinking out loud. I'm truly grateful to this community and the friends I've made.

We currently have over 150 bibs that will be sent to orphans in China. Project 20 :: Hope for China is organized in Texas, coordinated in Bermuda, and collected in Michigan. China certainly doesn't feel that far away.

The deadline is the first of April so please get your bibs in the mail. Thanks for all you do.

Keep spreading hope is this GREAT BIG WORLD!!

Project 20 Update

It seems there are many, many different types of diapers/nappies which has us mind boggled what exactly they need. We have decided to only collect handmade BIBS for Project 20 :: Hope for China. 

I know this project hits home for many of you as you have adopted sweet girls and boys from China. Thank you so much for joining us and spreading LOVE.

The Craft Hope Book Sale

Two blog posts in one day. Gasp! I know. It's like I'm all caught up on laundry. Which I'm not. I just saw that Lark Books is having a Book Love Sale. Aaaaand the Craft Hope book is now marked 50% off. 

I learned how to do a screen grab. Two in one day. Fancy. Ctrl, shift, 4 on a Mac if you were wondering. I had to google it. You're welcome. 

There's also a bib pattern in the Craft Hope book. It's alongside 31 other patterns you can use.

The book is on sale until February 17. It's full of fabulous bloggers/designers you know and love. You can see more information about the book here. It's a good book that supports good causes. I'm not just biased because I wrote it. Okay, maybe I am. A little.

Pinterest and Tutorials

I figured the easiest way to organize tutorials is to create a Pinterest board for each project. Many of you have also created boards in the past to organize tutorials -- YOU ROCK! 

If you'd like to share the link to your Pinterest board for Craft Hope projects, leave the link in the comments section on this post. I'll try to keep gathering more to post as I find them too. It takes a village. Really, it does.

Also, we put up a quick link in the sidebar for our current project. It's over there -------->

Thanks to everyone who has signed up to participate in Project 20 :: Hope for China. Let us know if you've blogged about our current project!