From Cynthia:
First I would like to say that I am thrilled with all of the positive info that has come from your most recent trip, it is just wonderful what you do. The blogs from the volunteers were wonderful and really shed more light on the plight of these people. My question is, what more can we do? What can we continue to do here that will benefit the people in Cameroon? I see things on sale, dirt cheap at times and often wonder if I should buy them. My kids clothes and shoes that they outgrow are still in great shape and I know that is the same with many people. Can we do a clothing or shoe drive?
The 2nd part of my question comes from my kids (Kamryn and Nathan). Kamryn loves to sew and makes great little stuffed animal friends. Would this be something that they could do to help you? Could them make a slew of animals and ship them out to go with you next time that you go to Cameroon? They thought it would be nice for the kids to have something to hold onto and snuggle with at night when they may be scared or lonely. And lastly…when can I come to Cameroon?
Hi Cynthia,
First of all, thanks for your support of our blog – I can always count on your comments, letting me know that people are reading it! Your questions and offers are very thoughtful and touching.
The most important thing everyone can do is simply spread the word about the Obakki Foundation. Talk about it with people, get schools involved in sponsoring a project (we’ll have information coming in the next month on how this kind of thing can happen), tell everyone about the blog…the more people who know about our Foundation, the better!
People often offer to send us items to take on upcoming trips, and although I’d love to fill a few containers to ship over there, the logistics make it very difficult. We have to trek everything into the valley on foot, so we can only take the essentials (i.e. medical/educational supplies) in addition to our personal gear. I think you could make a wonderful difference in your own community by donating used clothing/toys to local women’s shelters (that’s something I do here in Vancouver).
As for your great kids, they sound like future volunteers! I wish I could take you (and your children) up on this offer but unfortunately there are too many other factors that prevent this from happening. Quite often we cause more damage by giving things away, which is a hard thing for us to wrap our heads (and hearts) around. Without going into it in too much detail, we encounter issues of inequity, status imbalances, competition and theft for those we have gifted.
Over time we get to be seen as ‘westerners’ that come bearing gifts each year with locals and children lining up with their hands out at our camps. We’re working hard to encourage communities, individuals and the government to take an active role in their own development, with us as their partner. ‘Gifting’ upsets that balance and shifts the expectations and rules we need to work within.
Therefore, aside from some small ‘customary’ gifts we take to give to our host families – guides, cooks, drivers etc – we make it a rule to not gift individuals (even though we all WANT to!). The best things to take when you are traveling to various regions are items that can be enjoyed by groups of people. For example, soccer balls, skipping ropes and Frisbees can be dropped off with the headmaster of a school or with the director at an orphanage. That way, it becomes a communal possession which does not contribute to anything negative.
All that being said, I think it is so important to encourage your children’s involvement. There are so many local outlets that I think the Teddy bears would be perfect for! You could make them for a local sick kids hospital or make them to be included in family food baskets. Please let me know if you end up doing something like this as I have a project coming up involving children making a difference and I’d love to include their story.
Take care Cynthia and thanks for all of your support!
p.s. It’s impressive that you’d still want to come to Cameroon after hearing about our challenges on this past trip! We’d love to take more people, but getting the small group we have in and out of the country (never mind the valley!) necessitates keeping numbers to a minimum. Maybe one day…!
Thanks for the answers, though disappointing…I do understand the idea of gifting causing issues. As well as the logistics of lugging tons of stuff through the jungle, perhaps a team of mules Or paratroopers…lol
I have looked into volunteering(both alone and with my family), and was shocked(stupidly I suppose) to find that to volunteer, you need to pay(a lot of money)to do it! Yikes, I never would have thought that it would cost money for me to give my time to help someone else…alas, we shall save our pennies.
The kids and I talked about their upcoming birthdays and possibly accepting donations to fund a volunteer trip instead of accepting gifts, but they havent quite convinced themselves yet that that’s the way to go…lol…
They have been volunteering practically since they were born, I remember Kamryn in her little roll around walker at the Women’s Shelter Thrift Store when she was 6 months old and I was sorting donations…lol…they have always been very involved with my projects, ranging from environmental(ie picking up trash, marking storm drains etc)to school supply drives and gathering things for local fire victims… as well as things dealing with Historical Preservation, another of my passions. So they do tons of good stuff. Kamryn will definitely do something with her stuffed little friends!! There is a VA(Veterans) Hospital in town, an orphange and a homeless shelter not far from our house, so we will look into who can use some stuffed love. Nathan made his first stuffed guy the other night, a rainbow snake with googly eyes…we sent it to Nana for her Birthday and she loves it!
They are wonderful kids and will continue to do things to help other people, I hope this will continue into their adulthood as well. I am sure they would love to be included in your up coming project.
I cant wait to hear about your idea’s on having schools sponsor projects to help Obakki. I am on the PTA and would love to do something with the kids at the schools(ughhh I have one going into jr high this year). Whatever we can do, count us in!!
Ok I have been rambling (in between watching my son yank out his loose tooth and bleed all over the place)and have a ton to do tonight…oh and about your PS….the more I hear about Cameroon, the more I want to go…I love the idea of having to work hard to get to where I need to be. I think that the trek would just be amazing….maybe one day!!!
There is a charity based close to us which has a great way of helping those around them and abroad. Blytheswood accept good furniture, cycles, etc from our local recycling centre and sell them at very low prices in their warehouse. They have several charity shops selling nick nacks, clothing, shoes, CDs, DVDs and such like. A couple of times a year they have specific donation days. For example, in early Autumn they ask for us to fill shoe boxes with toiletries, sweets, gloves, hats, small toys specific to boy, girl, man, woman which they wrap in Christmas paper,load in a huge lorry and drive all the way to, for example, Romania. These are then distributed around the orphanages and locality. Other times, they will ask for canned veg, bottles of cooking oil or bags of pasta which, again, is driven thousands of miles to be given out. All done by volunteers. A good way of recycling,benefitting the neighbourhood and supporting those in need abroad.
I love the way this blog becomes almost a brainstorming of ideas for all, to help in so many different areas!! Kudos to your inspirations Treana
Wow Cynthia I can tell you have a heart as big as the world! ♥♥ One of the most precious things you can give is your time. Lots of stuff just needs to be organized, like at the clothing bank or food bank. You could get lost for days at the food bank putting stuff where it is supposed to be and checking for expired items. One of my friends is at the airport at 6am to serve coffee to troops traveling through. And, I’ll start crying if you make me think about how many old folks sit in your nearest retirement home with no one to visit them for months or even years =(
It does warm my heart to hear that your kids are in this with you… what a great start in life for them.
We found something to do! Kamryn was at VBS this past week and the church is doing some work with people in Sudan. Someone donated 100s of these huge coloring books, but they are too big to put into the shoe boxes, so we brought a bunch home and have instructions to disassemble them, take out the cardboard back and cover, and split them into 3s then fold up, so everyone will get a partial book. So the kids will be busy folding coloring pages for some kids in Sudan, it isnt much, but it is something…I will contact the youth minister and see if we can make up some little stuffed friends to stick the the boxes too!!! Kids are excited! And Sharon, when I was the Boy Scout leader we used to go to the old folks homes, it was sad how lonely these people were. Thanks for the kind words! BTW I got 5 of my fb friends to “LIKE” obakki too!!!!
That’s great news, Cynthia! Well done to you and your kids – and thanks for spreading the word about the Obakki Foundation!