Annie's Closet hangs up a little love

Here's the blog I wrote for Hope Village explaining the first Annie's Closet clothes distribution at Hope Village this summer.

Annie's Closet hangs up a little love

Posted by hopevillage on August 15, 2012 at 4:05 AM

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Exactly one week after we said goodbye to our 3 visitors from the U.K., we said hello to 3 new visitors from America. Brad, his 14-year old daughter Madison and her 14-year old friend Alexis joined us for a 2-week stay in Malawi. They are close friends of ours from Fallbrook, California and were here to launch “Annie’s Closet”.  

Annie’s Closet, as Tracy mentioned in a blog entry a few weeks ago, has sponsored the first Hope Village Job Skills Training program -- a sewing class. Our friends in California founded Annie's Closet after hearing stories from our daughter Annie about the rags worn by so many of the village children. Madison and Alexis, with help from their parents, raised funds to buy new clothing for the children and to buy sewing machines and sewing supplies for the tailor class at Hope Village.

Chloe joins the 3 Annie's Closet girls (Madison, Annie, Alexis) to pose for a picture with Chief Issoh, the tailor trainer, and a few of his tailor students.

You can find out more about Annie’s Closet on this Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/annie.closet

Brad, Madison and Alexis brought a few extra suitcases of new children's clothing from America, and brought money to buy additional clothes at the local markets. They spent a lot of time with the children onsite, and planned a special two-day “Fun Camp” with the sponsored children from Hope Village and their siblings, totaling 45 children. On the first day, we handed out new outfits (dresses or skirt/tops for the girls; trousers or shorts and a shirt for the boys) with slippers and a bar of soap.

The slippers are lined up for the kids to try on.

A pretty new dress for a pretty girl.

The happy boys in this picture came to Hope Village wearing thier new clothes and slippers on the 2nd day of our Fun Camp.

On the 2nd day, we gave a new blanket to each of the children. Smiles were infectious! Although the winter in Chikwawa is short-lived and nearing to an end, many of these children do not own a blanket and welcomed this luxury with an unashamed smile. (Hope Village provided blankets to all of the children about 2 years ago, but unfortunately, the blankets cannot survive the harsh washing, scrubbing, and tugging as so many children try to squeeze under its cover).

Just a few weeks ago I went with Tracy to visit the home of a Hope Village sponsored boy, Petro. A family of 6 children and a mom, they told us they did not have 1 blanket in their small house. “How do you keep warm?” Tracy asked. “We sleep close and share 3 chitenjes to wrap over us.” Chitenjes are thin cotton pieces of fabric warn as skirts by women. My heart danced when I saw Petro and his 3 siblings clutch their new, thick, heavy blankets close to their bodies, and am sure I saw their smiles quivering as they couldn’t hide their joy.

Petro smiles and hugs his new blanket close.