1 Topic by lyra (edited by lyra 2007-08-23 12:21:08)

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Topic: "Mittens for Akkol"

Any knitters out there? 

I belong to a Yahoo Group called "Mittens for Akkol" that's involved with knitting clothing for orphans in Kazakakhstan. 

http://www.knit-on.com/html/help_others.html 

(bolded words are my own emphasis):


Mittens for Akkol wrote:

"This group was originally formed to knit mittens for children in the orphanage in Akkol, Kazakakhstan. We have now broadened our scope to include any warm woolen items as warm items are not available in the local market. The snow starts flying in August and finally melts in April. Temps reach down to 40 BELOW ZERO in mid winter.

The children at the orphanage are 3 to 16 years old. The greatest need is for the older children, sizes 8 to adult. (Our son wore a size 8 when we adopted him at age 12.) All items are needed. At this time socks are the highest priority. The smallest size for a 3 year old child would be a 7" foot. The largest would be an adult sized man's sock. Besides socks, other items needed are vests, sweaters, mittens, scarves and hats.

Wool or other animal fiber content should be at least 75% as acrylic does not hold heat against the body.  The orphanage does not have a washing machine, so everything is handwashed."
____
".....We are dedicated to reaching out to the children left behind.  There are hundreds of thousands of orphans living in institutions throughout the former Soviet countries.  Economic conditions are dire and orphanage directors have very few resources to provide for the children.

One of the ways we can help is to encourage knitters to donate warm knitted items to the children. Our children’s Detsky Dom is located south of Russia in the northern part of Kazakhstan where winter comes in September and stays until April.  Temperatures are as low as forty below zero for most of the winter. Warm sweaters, vests, socks, mittens, hats and scarves are desperately needed there.  Many of these items cannot be purchased in the markets and the children simply go without. (For instance, the only socks we found at the only clothing shop in the village were thin polyester ankle socks.)

On our last trip, we carried several suitcases full of donations and hand knitted items for the children.  Although it was August and oppressively hot, the children were thrilled to receive warm woolen items. I will never forget their beaming smiles as the caretakers distributed the clothing to them. The children were giddy with excitement.

There is a great need for warm items for the older children. Although orphanages receive donations from adoptive parents, most parents adopt very young children and it is for their groups that donations are made.  Also, while the young children outgrow their clothes and leave them behind for the next group to wear, older children have reached their full growth and take their one or two outfits with them when they leave the orphanage to enter the world alone.

If you would like to knit for the children left behind, please join our charity knitting group by sending a blank email to: Mittens_for_Akkol-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Right now they're rounding up items to get there for this winter and the focus this year in particular is socks.   It's called the Christmas 2007 Sock Challenge.  The deadline to mail them to the woman in charge of it all is officially September 15th, although they now say late September to early October.   If anybody here knits and is interested in sending something their way, then join the Yahoo Group by emailing the address mentioned above.  This is the link to the group:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mittens_for_Akkol/  It takes about a day to get approved.   

You'll see on the left side of the Yahoo group home page where it says "Files"- in that section there's a PDF called "Tagging and Bagging" which is where you can find the info. on tagging the socks and where to mail all knitted items.   (You have to be a member though to view it.) 

In that same menu is a link to "Database."  There's a two part spreadsheet  detailing all the various size socks that are needed and how many of each size are needed.   One sheet that goes from 6' - 9" or something, and a second for 9.5" - 11.5". That's really helpful as everybody can see what's needed.   Find a size that still hasn't had the goal met and knit away.  When you're done, add your name to the sheet, and post how many pairs of whatever size you've done.  They keep a running total at the top of each size column.  There's another spreadsheet where people can log the other items they've knitted, like hats, scarves, sweaters, etc.

Anyway, just thought I'd post this in case anybody knits and would like to help.  Or if you know somebody who knits and who might be interested in helping, pass it along.....

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit ... what a ride!"  - Anonymous
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"I get by with a little help from my (higher density) friends."
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lyra's Website

  • Registered: 2006-02-06

Re: "Mittens for Akkol"

Thanks for the info Lyra.  Although Im not a knitter, Ive sent the info on to everyone I know that knits. Maybe its time I learned!

In man's analysis and understanding of himself, it is as well to know from whence he came as whither he is going.   Edgar Cayce

Beliefs are tools for social conditioning, rather than expressions of inner realization or inner truth.   unknown
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  • lyra
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Re: "Mittens for Akkol"

treehugger wrote:

Thanks for the info Lyra.  Although Im not a knitter, Ive sent the info on to everyone I know that knits. Maybe its time I learned!

Cool, thanks.

Here's the latest I saw posted to the list:

Mittens for Akkol message wrote:

Welcome to new members who have recently joined this list! Here's a quick update on our current challenge.

Nanci, the list owner, is currently in Kazakhstan with her daughter delivering 200 lbs of knit items, including sweaters for each teen leaving the orphanage because they are 16 years old and are aging out.  She is planning to return there in early October to adopt her 4th child.  At that time she would like to take a pair of socks for each child living in the orphanage. The kids usually receive a bag of candy on New Year's Eve from Grandfather Frost. This is usually their only Christmas present. They have a party and get to stay up late and dance and eat all they want (instead of one serving only as is usual). This is a fun time for the kids and they enjoy the festivities but we would like for them to also get a pair of new handknit socks in addition to their bag of candy. We need 265 pairs total ranging in length from 7" - 11.5" long. (This is measuring the length of the foot from heel to toe.) When Nanci last totaled our progress we were 67% of the way there! Several have been adding to the database this week, so we will have a new total this weekend to check our progress.

Any style of warm wool sock is welcome. You can use your favorite pattern. A minimum of 70% wool or animal fiber is preferred to ensure maximum warmth in the cold conditions in Kazakhstan. The kids wear the socks in the orphanage with plastic slip on sandals like you might wear to the beach. They just have one strap of plastic across the toe (not the separated toe that my kids wear & call "flip flops"). So any weight of sock is ok.  Thick socks are ok too because they do not need to fit into traditional shoes. Since they are warm & knit up quickly a lot of us have been knitting very warm thick socks, but you can choose to knit any pattern you like. If in doubt, ask the list.

We would like to send all the socks to Nanci in Mid-Late September.   If you are new to the list and would be able to jump in and get even a pair done, that would be a big help!  If you have a pair finished, please enter your name & the size of the sock finished in the databases.

I've been on a sock knitting extravaganza all summer.  I took time off from working this summer, since work just became really boring and stupid to me wink and spent my time knitting lots o' socks in between other vacation fun stuff. 

Like the message said, even if someone is only able to knit one scarf or hat or sweater or one pair of socks before mid-September, it's still one more thing than they would have had before.  That's one more kid who gets something who wouldn't have otherwise.  smile

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit ... what a ride!"  - Anonymous
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"I get by with a little help from my (higher density) friends."
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4 Reply by lyra (edited by lyra 2007-08-24 15:46:49)

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Re: "Mittens for Akkol"

......The other thing to note is that what attracted me to this group was that they're organized and actually making things happen.  It's a small and independent group, not some mega charity organization, so it's personable.  You know that your stuff is going to get to its intended targets, something that one can't always be sure of when making donations to those mega charities.  They tell you, okay, we're flying out on such and such date, and we need these items, by this target date.  Then they bring the stuff, distribute it and take pics of the kids smiling and wearing all the stuff that everybody made for them and post it to the group so you can see.  I thought that was cool.  There's proof.  So it's personable, and well organized.  That's why I decided to sign on.  I think I found this group after doing a Google on "knitting for charity" or something, can't quite remember.  A few clicks here and there, and I'd found the Knit-on website, a knitting shop based out of Kentucky, and read their side piece about the work they're doing in Kazakhstan.  There are other groups out there I'm sure who are doing similar work, but this one got my attention for the above mentioned reasons - they're organized and on a roll, making stuff happen, with immediate results. 

Here in America we have stores in every city with wool up to the ceilings....just sitting there.  Meanwhile people in other parts of the world are cold and going without.  We have all this excess surplus of stuff not being used, and so much money to burn (many people here make in a week what many in third world countries make in a year....) so we can afford to buy some of this wool that goes up to the ceilings, and make something for somebody who needs it someplace else.   

It would be cool if more groups like this sprung up.  It's a lot of work though what they do, a lot of stuff is involved, which is probably why more people aren't doing it.  The cost of transporting the suitcases full of knitted items alone is costly, so much so that they're doing fund raisers for it and taking donations.  There's also the visas and paperwork and getting things cleared with the governments.   So it makes it that much more commendable that they're so persistent and diligent with it all.....

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit ... what a ride!"  - Anonymous
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"I get by with a little help from my (higher density) friends."
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5 Reply by lyra (edited by lyra 2007-08-25 13:17:49)

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Re: "Mittens for Akkol"

Saw this story today and thought it was neat, as it relates to helping orphans:

CNN article wrote:

(CNN) -- Ana Dodson was 11 years old when she returned to her native Peru for the first time since she was adopted as an infant.

She and her mother, Judi Dodson, were overwhelmed by what they found at an orphanage near where Ana was born: tattered clothing, a lack of resources, bleak conditions -- and the unexpected response of the girls they met.

"[They] streamed out smiling and laughing. Once we went inside, they sang and danced for us," Judi Dodson said. "We thought they did this for all their visitors, but soon we discovered we were the only visitors the children ever had."

In Peru, 3.8 million people live in extreme poverty, on less than $1 a day -- 2.1 million of them children, according to UNICEF.

Worried that Ana would be upset by the poverty she saw, her mother took the advice of their tour guides and packed teddy bears and books to hand out when they arrived at orphanages they planned to visit. "I thought it would help her to have a job to do," Dodson said.

Ana wanted to see an orphanage in the hills of Cuzco, her birthplace. There, she distributed the books and stuffed animals, hoping they might provide comfort. 

"There was this one girl, Gloria, who came up to me, and she said, 'Ana, I know that you'll never forget me. And I know that one day you'll help us.'

"Seeing the children that day and listening to what Gloria said really moved me," Ana said. "I knew I had to do something to make her wish come true."

Back in her home of Evergreen, Colorado, Ana began collecting school supplies and contacting the local Rotary Club for help in gathering bigger donations to send more items back to Peru.

With the help of her parents, she turned her conviction into a nonprofit organization called Peruvian Hearts to support the small orphanage they had visited, Hogar de Mercedes de Jesus Molina.

"When we asked the orphanage who was aiding them financially, they said no one," Judi Dodson said.

In three years, Peruvian Hearts has raised close to $40,000 to support the orphanage, sending vitamins, books and clothes, providing three meals a day and paying for a tutor.

The organization also sends a monthly stipend for fuel and wood, and is in the process of helping the orphanage build a new kitchen. It secured a guard and security dog to protect the girls, and sometimes sends money for chickens and cows.

According to the Dodsons, the girls at Hogar de Mercedes are flourishing. They love to show off their favorite books and read aloud. They are clean, well-fed and healthy.

One girl is expected to attend college next year with the help of a scholarship fund Ana set up with prize money she received for community service. Ana has named the fund Maria's Gift, after her birth mother, who had no education.

"There are 19 children right now," Ana said. "The change that I've seen in them is amazing. One girl said, 'We are now getting fat because of the vitamins.'

"This orphanage is to the point where these girls can dream." Watch Ana discuss Peruvian Hearts Video

When not packing up books and toys for shipment, Ana, now 15, travels to towns and cities across the United States, spreading the word about the status of orphanages in Peru.

She has been invited to speak at the United Nations in September as part of the Stop Child Poverty campaign, and Peruvian Hearts is looking for additional orphanages to support.

Grateful for her opportunities in the United States, Ana promises to keep working to gain opportunity and education for the Peruvian children most in need. 

"If my parents hadn't adopted me, I would have probably either been on the streets or in an orphanage," Ana said. "I could have been one of [those] girls. I am so lucky to be here."  http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/21/dodson … index.html

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit ... what a ride!"  - Anonymous
-----
"I get by with a little help from my (higher density) friends."
-----

lyra's Website