La Houguette pupils help in getting knitted blankets to Tanzanian children
THE LOVE of a knitter travels well – and pupils at La Houguette School have been harnessing that love in order to help their young counterparts in Tanzania.
The students have been coordinating the knitting and crocheting of hundreds of blanket squares so that their teacher, Emma Feak, can sew them together.
Nanas, grandmas, teachers, mums, and even some dads, have joined the big community effort to create blankets and toys for widows and orphans in Tanzania.
It all started when a representative of local charity the Tumaini Fund visited the school to give a talk.
Penny Wallace, who is nine years old, explained how that event inspired them to make a difference. ‘We had a talk about the children in Tanzania because they were cold and they didn’t have blankets or toys and they didn’t have the right to education or the right to play, so we decided to make them toys and blankets. And people knitted the squares for blankets and Mrs Feak sewed them together.
‘We also did a carol service and raised several hundred pounds and we gave that to the Tumaini Fund and they used it to buy books for 20 children and then they could go to school and have the right to an education.’
Matthew Adkins, 10, said it made them happy to know that they were helping.
‘We’ve been making crocheted squares and dolls and Mrs Feak has been making blankets with the crocheted squares so that the people in Tanzania have something to sleep on and not just the ground.
‘And the dolls are because they used to only play with sticks and not proper toys.’
Mrs Feak is La Houguette’s rights respecting champion and she has the huge task of sewing all the blanket squares together, but as a committed crochet fan she has taken it all in her stride.
‘There was quite a big response of blanket squares after Christmas, but then during lockdown I think there was quite a few people who wanted to do crafts, so we’ve had lots and lots coming in.
‘We’ve so far made three big blankets and we’ve got lots more that are in process and we’ve had lots of lovely toys.
‘It really ties in with our Houguette School values – it gives a real purpose towards why we raise money for charities, so that children can see the point and importance of it.’
All the blankets are unique, with different colours, designs, sizes and wools.
Sarah-Jane Allen from the Tumaini Fund was at the school yesterday to see the results of love in action.
‘There are ways of helping people even though situations look very difficult, sometimes impossible. By working together there are ways to make a real lasting change and the children at La Houguette have been part of that change.’
