What Can You Do?

I think it was Ghandi who said,
Be the change that you would like to see in the world.

I get an email newsletter from Creative Knitting, the editor Bobbie Matela. This is an excerpt from the edition that I just received... please take a moment to read.

-I'd like to tell you about an opportunity to help save newborns in developing countries by simply knitting caps for them. The name of this effort is called Caps to the Capital, and it was developed in response to the State of the World's Mothers 2006 Report, released in May. This report revealed that the first 24 hours of life are the most dangerous time for babies in the developing world; of the more than 4 million newborns who die each year, 2 million die in the first 24 hours. A simple knit cap, to help protect and dry the baby after birth, could help save its life.



Knitters and crocheters that heard about this report contacted Save the Children. Then Warm Up America! joined forces with Save the Children and helped spread the word. The goal of their program, Caps to the Capital, is to flood the White House with knitted caps, thus convincing the President that more basic health funding is needed for the developing world. Simple health measures and education could prevent 70 percent of the newborns' deaths. These measures include antibiotics to fight infections, immunizations against tetanus, training for skilled birth attendants, education on breastfeeding and basic care such as drying a newborn baby and keeping it warm (this is where the caps come in). America's leaders and citizens could save millions of newborns' lives by increasing international assistance for programs that offer these inexpensive life-saving tools.

You can read more about this on the Warm Up America! or Save the Children Web sites. Here are the easy steps that will allow you to make a difference.
1. Download the Action Kit, available from these Web sites:www.savethechildren.org orwww.warmupamerica.orgor call 800-728-3843
2. Make a Knitted (or Crocheted) Cap using the patterns in the action kit; also make sure to attach the tag that is provided in the kit.

3. Write the President using the form in the kit so that President Bush knows you care about newborns around the world. Your note and cap must be mailed by January 2, 2007, to Save the Children, P.O. Box 950, Westport, CT, 06881. Let the President know that saving the world's newborns is an important item to include in his budget.
4. Unite for Newborns by calling the White House on October 10. Send in the Stay in the Loop form in the action kit to receive e-mail newsletters and updates about this situation from Save the Children.
I urge you to read more about this and spread the word to other knitters and crocheters. Tell them to visit the Web sites: www.savethechildren.org or www.warmupamerica.org. Post the flyer (provided in the kit) at your favorite yarn shop or community bulletin board.
Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org) is the leading independent organization that creates lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. Save the Children USA is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, a global network of 27 independent Save the Children organizations working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than 100 countries.

The Warm Up America! Foundation (www.warmupamerica.org) is committed to motivating, training and coordinating volunteers to knit and crochet clothing and afghans for people in need. Since the Warm Up! America Foundation was founded in the early 1990s, volunteers have knitted and crocheted 12 million squares that were joined into hundreds of thousands of afghans.-


Please consider taking a moment to download the file and a couple of hours to make a hat or two. It is a very small thing that can make a large difference in an infant's life.

That is part of my think Globally, act locally philosophy.

On to the Breaking News from the Family Front

Eldest lost his first tooth on Thursday.
We didn't know it was loose, he didn't know that he had lost it.
How weird is that?
We were having lunch with friends at MickeyD's so that he could play with the C children before they move to North Carolina, and I noticed something dark in his mouth when he came over to get a drink.
I said, "Hey, Eldest, what is in your mouth? Let me look."
He comes to me and opens up his mouth.
"What happened to your tooth?!"
"What tooth?"
"Yeah, exactly! Where'd it go?"
"I dunno, maybe it is on the floor..." and he began looking under the table.
I am just kinda stunned.

So what is up with that? He is getting tall, losing teeth... What's next? Dating?

At least INBA still has all his teeth...