Paediatric Love – Our Baby Blanket Campaign originated from the ‘Blanket Square Project’ in aid of abandoned babies. The ‘Blanket Square Project’ was spearheaded by Habak creations in Gauteng.
The plan was to send our crocheted/knitted blanket squares across to Gauteng for joining of the squares to make complete baby blankets, and for subsequent distribution. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown that was instituted, Habak creations requested for us to join the squares in Durban, and for the resultant complete baby blankets to be distributed to abandoned babies and hospitals in the Durban and surrounding areas.
Now that we were going to be joining and distributing crocheted and knitted blankets in Durban, we required a bigger group of volunteers to assist us. We now have a group of more than 150 enthusiastic volunteers who are crocheting/knitting the most beautiful baby blankets for our precious little ones. Our volunteers are now hand crafting complete baby blankets as opposed to individual squares that require joining in order to form a complete blanket. We supply our volunteers with an initial package containing 400g of wool and a crochet hook or knitting needles. Thereafter, as our volunteers require more wool, we supply this to them as well.
In a very short space of time, we already have more than 400 complete woolen baby blankets that have been distributed to neonatal and paediatric units at our local hospitals, homes for abandoned babies as well as to little ones in rural and disadvantaged communities. Some very enthusiastic ladies from our baby blanket team have handcrafted incredibly adorable little hats, rompers and booties that are being distributed along with the beautiful blankets. Whilst this initiative has prompted many first timers to chance their hand at crocheting or knitting, it has also allowed for our older generation to take a walk down memory lane as they return to skills they had learnt in their youth.
Our oldest contributor to the campaign is a hearty 84 year old. This project has also inspired our younger generation to take up crocheting/knitting as a hobby and we have had 4 beautiful complete baby blankets crocheted by a 12 year old! We are excited to have learners as young as 8 years old now on board our initiative! Madressah Faidhul Islam is the first school to have joined us in this initiative. The display for their end of the ear prize giving brought tears to our eyes. It showed a complete baby blanket crocheted by the grade 3A learners. In addition, it showed crocheted squares, which will be joined to make complete baby blankets. The educators at MFI were so grateful to our team for affording these learners the opportunity to acquire such a beautiful skill. The most recent school to join us in this initiative is Parkhill Secondary School. We even have a few boys on board that are crocheting or learning how to crochet! The teachers are pleased that this initiative is keeping the children occupied, away from vices and off their devices. In addition, many of our volunteers are riddled with disabilities such as rheumatoid arthritis. Knitting and crocheting promotes active finger and wrist movement, dexterity and fine motor coordination, all of which facilitate improvements in other functional skills.
We are sure you have come to realise that each blanket has a story to tell. It is definitely a token of immense love from our volunteers to our future. We are certain that our babies will enjoy their blankets just as much as our team enjoyed making them!
