[SCAW-E-Letter] SCAW June E-Letter: Does it make any difference?

[SCAW Webmaster]

One Million Bedkits: Does it make any difference?
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Over the years I have had the privilege of handing thousands of
bedkits to thousands of children. It is a thrill, especially when you
get a chance to actually look into the child’s eyes. These children
are like children everywhere. They are transparent. Their happiness
shows in their eyes and in their facial expressions. You know that
they are happy to get this gift of a bedkit.

But is it just a moment of happiness like I often see at a birthday
party when a child receives a gift? They smile, say "Thank you," and
then put the toy in the back of the cupboard never to be seen again.
Is that what happens to our SCAW bedkit items?

A few years ago SCAW initiated a process to interview children and
their caregivers to ask them what they thought of the items that we
had just given them in their bedkit. I believe that by asking
questions and listening to answers we do better understand the needs
of the children. However we must also understand that anyone receiving
a gift is so thankful that they do not want to appear impolite by
saying they don’t like any aspect of the gift.

There were two instances during the recent Pune 2009 SCAW distribution
that very graphically demonstrated to me that the items in the bedkit
do provide more than momentary assistance and happiness.

During one of our “rest days” of the Pune distribution the
Dryden/Burton team returned to St. Crispin’s Girls Orphanage where the
first 50 bedkits were distributed in 1970, with further distributions
held in 1985 and 1993. There we met more than 20 of the girls, now
adults who had previously received bedkits. It was a joyous
celebration. Many stories were related to us confirming the importance
and value of the bedkits.

At the conclusion of the distribution I asked the Rotary Club of Pune
to take us back to an area where we had given out bedkits in February
2008. We found one of the schools (one small classroom with 35
children sitting on the concrete floor) where all of the children had
received bedkits. The school uniforms that they had received had faded
slightly but were still being worn proudly by the students. The school
bags, shoes and school supplies that had been included in the bedkits
were still being used and were still in very good shape. We asked the
teacher if anything had changed during the course of the year since
the children had received their bedkits. He responded emphatically
that student attendance had improved dramatically with a number of
students having had perfect attendance.

Your donation of a bedkit does give every child that momentary flash
of joy at receiving a gift but, much more than that, it does make a
huge difference in their futures. It gives them opportunity and hope.

Dave Dryden,
Chairman of the Board,
Sleeping Children Around the World

Sleeping Children links of interest:
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If you'd like to read Dave's team's trip reports on Pune, you can do it here:
<http://bit.ly/lKt8G>
Various articles about Sleeping Children are on our News Blog:
<http://bit.ly/LddL>


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     Zero Overhead  <www.scaw.org> One Million Children in 2009
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