Clarence DeYoung - Travelling Volunteer writes, “While on my last distribution in Bangladesh, I noticed a 20ish year old gentleman standing off to one side watching as we did the distribution. He stood there for hours. After we were done, he came over and introduced himself and said, ‘I received one of your bedkits over ten years ago and it changed my life. I felt, if people from halfway around the world cared enough about me to come and help me, I had better do everything I can to help myself.’ He went on and became an accountant and credits the bedkit for making this happen.”

Bill Sergeant - Travelling Volunteer writes, “In Yallapur, India, we had a young mother and her son, who had received a bedkit three years previously, show up at the distribution and do whatever they could to help make the distribution go smoother. She said because of this great gift from Canada, she was able to save the cost of her son’s schooling for a year, and now, though their hard work and savings, he has the opportunity to attend college in a few years. It was a very touching moment.”

Chris Hills - Travelling Volunteer writes, “I truly believe the value of the bedkit contents goes far beyond the mere monetary value of the items. Certainly, the mosquito net, the blanket, the clothing etc. are articles that the family may never have been able to afford…but more importantly is what you see in the eyes of those children and parents when you hold their hands and look into their faces, the look that says, ‘Thank you for caring, thank you for coming here and bringing hope for our child’s future.’”

Ravi Shankar Ganesan - Overseas Volunteer Partner in Chennai, India, writes, “Given the economic background of the children mostly living in a single multipurpose room, we normally identify items which they can keep in their small space and use daily. However, we are always on the look out on how to improve the sleeping items which would be more comfortable, durable, and foldable to store in the day. We can always reduce the not-so-usable personal and expendable school items. The first of your other two questions: The bedkit definitely has a lasting impact on the child. The child gets the feeling that someone cares for him/her. It provides them with better comfort to sleep. Otherwise, they may be sleeping over just a sheet or a brush mat on the floor. Even that would be old with lot of wear and tear. Further, now they have a sheet to cover too. Your second question on motivation: All members of our Club were not born with a Silver Spoon. When we were young, we never had the luxuries that we enjoy now, so we are able to understand the difficulties of these children better. Therefore, we feel it is our duty to devote a little time and money of ours to ensure that the generous donations of someone abroad to give relief to underprivileged children of our society, reach the needy. It also gives us a sense of joy and satisfaction.”

Judy Dryden - Travelling Volunteer said, “I had the privilege of meeting nineteen women at an orphanage in Pune, India who had received Sleeping Children bedkits starting with the original distribution in 1970, through the 1980s and 1990s. Even after all the time that had passed, they still remembered receiving their bedkits and the impact it had on their lives. One woman commented that she learned her ABCs from reading the pattern on her new quilt. Another said she couldn’t believe that someone thought enough of her to give her a gift. Delphine, who’s now a nurse, stated she received her bedkit in 1983, and said ‘I still have the blanket.’”

Dr. Monica Roosa Ordway, PhD, APRN, PPCNP-BC Associate Professor, Yale School of Nursing; New Haven, CT, USA said: “Sleep Well, Be Well. Prior to leaving for my first distribution with Sleeping Children, I was eager, as a pediatric sleep researcher and clinician, to learn from the people of Honduras about the sleep health in school age children. For the purpose of background, my research is based on the idea that sleep health in children is important to the physiological stress response system and inadequate sleep may exacerbate the ill-effects of adverse childhood experiences by elevating stress hormones and increasing inflammation known to place them at risk for future long-term health problems. With this in mind, I prepared a list of questions for the school principals, teachers, and parents to explore whether the patterns of sleep facilitators and barriers to healthy sleep I was finding in my research with young children in low-income families in New Haven, Connecticut were similar to those in Honduras. While I hoped to have an opportunity to ask my questions, I embarked on the trip without expectations. Nothing could have prepared me for the lived experience of working with Sleeping Children and the Rotarians and Rotaracts of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. On day 3 of the distributions, Fidel, the lead among the Rotarians on this project, arranged for me to meet with a school principal and teacher. Despite my years of experience visiting homes of families living in poverty in Connecticut, I was brought to tears as I listened to the school principal describe the excitement of the children the week prior to the distribution. They were full of anticipation at the thought of not having to sleep on the rocky ground on a piece of cardboard. When I asked how he felt the bedkit distribution would impact these children, I can only share that the implicit emotion that exuded from the principal is something I will never forget and regret that I cannot convey in words. That evening, I was invited by the Rotarians to speak at their weekly meeting about my sleep health research and ideas for introducing sleep health education in the Honduran communities. The next morning, Fidel greeted me with the news that he arranged for me to speak with four government officials from the President’s office. Debbie Will-Dryden, the other team members, and I could hardly contain our excitement. Debbie and I had the opportunity to meet with the government officials on 2 occasions. As I spoke about the importance of sleep health in the physical and emotional development of children (including brain development, emotion regulation, physical growth, etc.), the principals, teachers, and government officials overwhelmingly agreed that there was much we could do in the future within Honduras. We have spoken with the OVPs (Rotarians) and they have already identified 2 people who will take a lead in working with Debbie and I to develop at least one if not two side projects to promote the importance of sleep health in buffering the adverse childhood experiences of poverty, violence, and lack of resources that is the reality of the children we visited with in Honduras. We look forward to updating the Sleeping Children community over the next several months.”