Getting Involved, Making a Difference

Making a Difference in Our World. There are so many well-run, helpful nonprofits out there, and I've been trying to do my bit to make the world a teeny tiny better place. Some of these have even come to my attention from reading picture books. So I thought I'd highlight a few of the thousands of worthwhile agencies that have caught my attention in the past year or two. Yes, monetary donations are what most are looking for, but some are looking for other things....including an understaning of the the problem that created the need for their organization in the first place!

Heifer Project International is the organization I've known about since I was a kid. My own kids, when they were in middle school, spent part of a week volunteering at the Heifer Project farm near Worcester, Mass. This is one fantastic organization. They help families around the world by giving them the gift of sustainable animals - heifers, chickens, pigs, goats, rabbits. You can help in many ways - physically, monetarily, educationally - and it's been around for over 65 years. The picture book Beatrice's Goat (Atheneum: Page McBrier, 2001) tells HPI's story well.

World Vision, which is the recipient of proceeds from Just Like You (Zonderkidz: Marla Stewart Konrad, 2010) is a Christian humanitarian organization that has been active since 1950. Very creditable. I remember adopting a child with my Sunday School class a million years ago.

Souls4Soles has given away more than 10 MILLION pairs of unwanted or gently-use shoes since it began in 2005. Their motto - "Changing the World, One Pair at a Time" is epitomized in the picture book New Old Shoes (Pleasant Street Press: Charlotte Blessing, 2009). A one dollar donation will purchase a pair of shoes, but there are also drop-offs all over the country where you can DONATE your used shoes!. Just go to their website, enter your zip code, and it'll tell you where to go. I just gathered a bag together and am heading out for a three mile trip to donate!

FINCA (Foundation for International Communiity Assistance) puts small...minute...loans into the hands of women. We're talking $25 here, but it's enough to have empowered thousands of women around the world to make a better life for themselves and their children. "The results are life-changing." I just got a brochure in the mail, and it reminded me of the picture book One Hen (Kids Can Press: Katie Smith Milway, 2008) which I read about a year ago.

The Manzanar Project/Plant a Tree, Feed A Family helps support the growth of Mangrove Trees on the edges of salty seas.  The Mangroves are cared for by the women of nearby villages (it began in Eritrea, Africa), the leaves are eaten by goats and sheep, who have begun to thrive, giving more milk and meat to the families.  It's a win-win situation.  I first read about this in The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families (Roth & Trumbore, 2011), which I borrowed from the Amelia S. Givin Library in Mt. Holly Springs while visiting there with Ella.  (The name "Manzanar Project" came from the relocation camp in California where Japanese-Americans were sent during World War II - Dr. Gordon Sato is the scientist creator of this project and was sent to Manzanar in the 1940's.)

Water for Southern Sudan (Drilling Wells, Transforming Lives) - After reading A Long Walk to Water during my 4th grade study of Africa and Sudan, I learned about this fantastic organization created by the protagonist of the novel, Salva Dut.  Included at this website are numerous ways that anyone can help, including an inspired program called the H20 Project Challenge.  There's all sorts of materials available for teacher and even families and individuals.  This is a WONDERFUL organization!

Just Like You - Marla Stewart Konrad

Illustrated by Lin Wang
Zonderkidz, 2010
$15.99
24 pages
For: Parents of new babies and all young children
Rating: 4.9
Endpapers: Gentle pale drawing of the world with different types of homes - it's almost foggy, and looks like it's a scroll unrolling....

"On the day you were born, I looked in your eyes, cuddled you close, and knew the world would never be the same. I counted your fingers and toes, whispered in your ear, and sang you a lullaby."

"On the day you were born, baby Mei Ling was born in China. Her mommy looked in her eyes and cuddled her close. She counted her fingers and toes, whispered in her ear, and sang her a lullaby."

We visit newborns in the Amazon, in Russia, in the Arctic and in Egypt, in southern Africa, India, and Australia. We see who comes to visit, what they bring, and what the world outside their doorstep looks like.

The illustrations are absolutely lovely. Lin Wang is a native of China who now lives in California. She is an illustrator to watch. Her full-page paintings are just perfect for this book. Mmmmmm.

The last two pages bring in the concept of God. This is wonderful for all the families in the world that believe in God, but would not be entirely welcomed by those who do not share those beliefs. I have just ordered three copies of this book to give to three pregnant couples I know. I plan to glue together these last two pages on one of the copies, because I know that particular couple will feel more comfortable with the book. This is why I haven't given this book a 5. It's a tiny drawback, but one I feel I must tune in to.

"Zonderkidz is a proud supporter of World Vision, dedicated to helping children in poverty worldwide.....In celebration of the publication of Just Like You, Zonderkitz is donating $10,000 to World Vision...."

Note: Another book I read recently that deals with a newborn arriving and how very special that makes everyone feel is All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan.

New Old Shoes - Charlotte Blessing

Illustrated by Gary R. Phillips
Pleasant Street Press, 2009
28 pages
HC $16.99
Endpapers: Spiral 'tiles" in a brownish with rainbow

Told from the p-o-v of a pair of red sneakers, we learn of the children who wear them and the many things that happen to them. We watch them travel from America to Africa and the life they take on there, until, completely worn out, they become the hands of a scarecrow.

The illustrations cover the entire page - the attractive, large font appearing in the background of the illustrations. Lovely pictures.

Transitions from wearer to wearer could have been better -- this might be a good book to use with kids learning to create better transitiions. They could haver a go.

http://www.soles4souls.org/ "Changing the World One Pair at a Time"

Beatrice's Goat - Page McBrier

Illutrated by Lori Lohstoeter
An Anne Schwartz Book, Atheneum, 2001
32 pages
5 stars
Endpapers: Cream, a rooster in the middle of the left side and a slateboard and chalk laying on a banana leaf on the right

Written in coordination with Heifer Project, we hear the true story of Beatrice and her family in Uganda, Africa, and how their lives become incredibly better because of the gift of a Heifer Project goat. One single, pregnant goat. The goat has two kids. The kids can be raised and sold and the mother, named Mugisa, will continue to produce milk, which they can sell.

Beatrice has always longed to go to school, but cannot afford the uniform or the books. However, the proceeds from the milk sales grow and school becomes a reality. So does a new house with a tin roof which won't leak. Wow.

Lori Lohstoeter's illustrations give a feel for the Ugandan countryside, for Beatrice, and for Mugisa. This is a very special book. I plan to read it to my student government kids (not baby goats....children) at our next meeting. They've learned much about Heifer Project during our last two Passport to Peace festivals. And I shall certainly read it to my fourth graders. Now, let's see....the current Heifer Project International Catalog says a goat can be purchased for $120. That's really so little to help create a much better life for an African family....

http://www.heifer.org/ Check it out.

I've also read about a book called Give a Goat by Jan West Schrock that's about a class of kids that reads Beatrice's Goat and what they do because of it. The library doesn't have it...but I plan to track it down!

14. Knitting for Peace - Betty Christiansen

Making the World a Better Place One Stitch at a Time
Photographs by Kiriko Shirobayashi
Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2006
$19.95
for: Adults (Well, it could be for kids and young adults, too, but it's written primarily for adults.)

What an interesting book! I've actually let my fiction reading go for a couple of days so that I could read this NON-FICTION from cover to cover. Me....non-fiction! A miracle. But I've been knitting and knitting and knitting lately, and this book really called out to me.

What a wonderful book. It tells of all sorts of organizations, big and small, that knit (or crochet) for charity. Helping make the world a better place. One person CAN make a difference. Yup. There are background stories behind all the projects, how they got started, how one person was affected by another and created a mission that grew. It includes simple patterns, website information, photos, and interesting stories. I enjoyed this book immensely.

I wondered if in the four years since this was published if any of the organizations have gone belly-up. I did an internet search and found all of them seem to be still flourishing - at least the ones I looked at. I also found these:

The Daily Knitter is a website that gives a huge list of charities to knit for. (It even features a list of yarn shops all over the country - something I look for before some of my travels!)

Charities of interest to me:

The Mother Bear Project, knitting bears for children in South Africa, touched me. Many of these kids are homeless or suffer from HIV/AIDS themselves or in their families. For some, this bear is the only toy they own. All kids should have toys! And all it takes is a little leftover yarn...

The Snuggles Project provides cats and dogs in shelters with small blankets to sleep on when they're family-less and sleeping on a concrete floor in a cage. You can use all sorts of leftover yarn and do the simplest pattern - and even sport a mistake or two - and these recipients won't care! For some reason, this charity really appeals to me - and I wouldn't even call myself an animal lover. Okay, okay, I do like cats a lot.....

afghans for Afghans, run by the American Friends Service in San Francisco, sends WOOL hats, mittens, socks, sweaters, and afghans to poor kids in Afghanistan. The suffering the people, especially the women and girls, of that country have had to endure. The website includes a great deal of information about Afghanistan, as well as patterns and ideas.

Peace Fleece, a farm in Maine, gets wool from Russia and blends it with American wool to sell at a very reasonable price to American consumers. They also have started a wool blending/sharing program between Israel and Palestine! Their colors are terrific, and patterns are easy and great -looking. They even sell handmade Russian knitting needles! What a great concept.

Then I found HAP (The Handmade Afghans Project). This group collect hand knit or crocheted 6" x 9" squares that are then sewn together into a twin-size afghans. These are sent to wounded US military personal in several Army and Air Force medical centers around the country. Each afghan contains 49 different squares, knit or crocheted by 49 different people . It's a wonderful idea, and another great way to use leftover yarn and make a small project for charity. However, they may not be accepting any rectangles right now, I've emailed them asking. (Note: I got a lovely reply...they have 1800 knitters and cannot deal with a larger amount. Maybe it's time to start a HAP work arena on the west coast?)

One Hen - Katie Smith Milway

How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference
Illustrated by: Eugenie Fernandes
2008
Kid's Can Press
$18.95
Rating: 4.5
32 pages
Endpapers: Bright yellow

This story is based on a true story from Ghana, West Africa. When Kojo's mother is given a community loan, she buys a cart to transport firewood for sale in the market. She has enough left over to lend Kojo enough to buy one egg-laying hen. He begins to sell his eggs, earning enough for more and more hens, until he has 25, and he can affort the cost of school. He goes to college in Israel, learning more about business and marketing, and upon returning to Ghana is able to receive a small loan from a Ghanan bank. His business...and his life....thrive from there. As a grandfather he employs hundreds on his huge egg farm, and begins a business to give small loans to people with nothing who'd like to start a small business themselves. He's had a 97% repayment rate!

The book ends with information about current agencies that lend small amounts to help people get on their feet. It also shows how a small donation to an agency like Heifer Project can go a long, long way, as well as how it all works.

Vibrant, brightly colored illustrations with lots of yellow and yellow-gold--no white--with all the text on a yellow-gold background. Very attractive.

Exceedingly interesting.

Take a look at One Hen's webpage - which includes pages for teachers and librarians, accompanied by great African music. A+

Listen to NPR's "All Things Considered" March 6, 2008 -a great review, as well as an interview with the original Kojo, Kwabena Darko. EXCELLENT.