More Pictures

Here are pictures from the very poor mountain villages. Clothing and many other donated items are being distributed in these villages and at the clinics in these areas.

The Recipients of Your Donations!

Here are some wonderful pictures of children in Lesotho. All of these children, and so many more, are benefiting from your amazing donations of clothing and money. Thank you so much!

All Boxes Have Been Sent!

It has been a couple of weeks since I last updated this blog. We have finally sent all of the clothing and boxes to Lesotho. There were 18 boxes total, which is amazing!! When this project started I was hoping to send 7 or 8 boxes, and with everyone's help we were able to do so much more. Traig and Laura have taken some wonderful pictures of donations being handed out and used, and I will get them posted very soon. It is so great to know that our clothing and other items are getting exactly where they are most needed. Traig has been able to take more clothing into the very poor rural villages, and he has also given donations to the clinics which serve the mountain people. They are able to distribute the items as needed.

Of the 18 boxes we have shipped, 9 have made it there safely so far. We are hoping that every box will get to Lesotho and to the children who need clothing and other items. Iwill update the blog again soon with pictures and reports of boxes making it to Africa.

Latest Updates

May 21, 2008 Updates

We continue to receive clothing donations. Thank you to everyone who has donated. I have been sending a box every few days, and so far 4 of 8 sent boxes have arrived in Lesotho. There are 5 more boxes packed and ready, as well as many piles of clothing waiting to be boxed. Traig and Laura have been distributing clothing in the orphanages as well as the mountain villages. It is a wonderful feeling to know that our work is paying off, and that clothing and other items are getting where they are most needed.

I have decided to stop posting the contents of each box, and I think you can get a good idea of what we are sending by looking at other box contents. Here is the latest information on sent boxes.

Box #7 - Shipped on 5/14/2008

Cost to Ship - $49.95

Box #8 - Shipped on 5/20/2008

Cost to Ship - $49.95

Great Things Happening!

May 13, 2008

Things have been going well with this project. I sent another box (#6) yesterday, and last night we had a "packing party" with Jami and my mom, Lynn. We got 7 more boxes packed and labeled. I will be sending those boxes over the next few weeks.

Box #6 Shipped May 12, 2008

Cost to Ship - $49.95

Contents:

65 pairs of baby socks

8 winter hats

5 pairs of shoes

5 onesies

4 pairs of training underwear

2 pairs of tights

2 blankets

A mom from our local MOMS Club donated a large box of cloth diapers, which are so useful in Lesotho. We have been dividing them up and adding a pile of them to each box. I have been told that the orphanages and also people in the mountain villages use mostly cloth diapers, so I know that they are very needed. Thank you!

We also received a large clothing donation from Jami Brandenburger, and most of those items are packed and ready to ship. Overall we have 7 more boxes to ship, bringing our total to 13!

Box #2 Arrives and Clothes Get Distributed

The second box has arrived in Lesotho, and Box #5 has been sent. Traig and his daughter Hannah took some clothing to a rural mountain village where Hannah got to hand out some infant clothing. Thursdays are "baby day" at the medical clinic there, so a box of items was left at the clinic for babies arriving on Thursday. It is great to know that the clothing is really getting to the people who need it most.

Lesotho is entering its winter season now, and it does get quite cold. We have decided to purchase gloves and socks to distribute in Lesotho as well. Thanks to very generous monetary donations we were able to allocate $100 for these items. Laura is going to purchase them in South Africa, and they already have plans to distribute them among children who have to walk to school in the cold without gloves or socks. These items will also go to the mountain villages where it is even colder.

Box #5 - Shipped on May 9, 2008

Cost to Ship - $49.95

Contents:

13 Onesies

7 Sleepers

4 Pairs of pants

3 Jackets

3 pairs of shorts

2 One piece outfits

2 T-shirts

1 pair of socks

TWO MORE BOXES SENT TO LESOTHO

April 29, 2008 - Two More Boxes Shipped!

I shipped two more boxes today! So far four boxes have been sent to Lesotho, and I have a very large pile of clothing still waiting to be boxed and shipped. I am planning on sending two boxes each week until we run out of clothing.

Box #3 - Shipped April 29, 2008

Cost to Ship = $49.95

Contents:

8 cloth diaper covers

5 pairs of pants

5 cloth diapers

4 sleepers

2 pairs of shoes

2 dresses

2 two-piece outfits

2 jackets

2 pairs of shorts

1 t-shirt

1 hat

1 small blanket

Box #4 - Shipped April 29, 2008

Cost to Ship: $49.95

Contents:

10 pairs of pants

7 sleepers

6 onesies

5 jackets

4 pairs of socks

4 t-shirts

2 pairs of shoes

2 pairs of shorts

1 one-piece outfit

1 blanket

THE FIRST BOX HAS ARRIVED!

First Box Has Arrived Safely!

The first box shipped to Lesotho has arrived. It is very exciting to know that items will start getting distributed to Beautiful Gate Orphanage. Now that we know the boxes are getting to their correct destination, I am going to get busy organizing and boxing up all the clothing which was recently donated. I hope to get many boxes shipped this week! I will update the blog as the project progresses.

Thank you to everyone who has been involved so far. You have all been so generous. You are helping so many children in desperate need.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

3 WAYS YOU CAN HELP

1. Donate gently-worn clothing, including infant clothing, cloth diapers, shoes, socks, small blankets, and older childrens' clothing.
2. Donate money to help with high shipping costs.
3. Spread the word to anyone who might be interested in helping.

Contact Person:

Keeli Muscha

104 N. Grogan Street

Belgrade, MT 59714

keeli.muscha@hotmail.com

MONETARY DONATIONS

Donated Money For Postage

• $145 Donated by teachers at Ridge View Elementary School
  
• $310 Donated by friends and family


• $350 Raised by a bake sale at Ridge View Elementary School


• $55 Donated by students and parents at Ridge View Elementary School
• $35 Raised from Denim Day at Ridge View Elementary School

CLOTHING DONATIONS

Donated Clothing

• Bozeman has a large consignment sale called "The Exchange." Karen Rose, the organizer of the event, was kind enough to let me collect clothing that did not sell and was marked for donation. I was overwhelmed at the amount of clothing, shoes, and cloth diapers I was able to bring home from the sale, and all of it has been sent to Lesotho. Karen also donated money to help with shipping costs.


• Many bags of clothing have been donated by friends and family in the Gallatin Valley.


• Multiple bags of clothing have been donated by parents and staff at Ridge View Elementary School.
  

Donated Clothing Still To Come

• Clothing is currently being gathered by friends and family.


• Multiple boxes coming from moms in a local MOMS Club.

WHAT WE HAVE DONE SO FAR

Once we received enough clothing to get started, I began sorting and boxing everything. As of April 20, 2008 I have sent two boxes to Lesotho. Please see below to get a better understanding of what we are able to fit into each box. The boxes have not arrived yet, and we have decided to hold off on sending any additional boxes until the first ones arrive. We want to be sure that I used the correct address and filled out the customs forms properly. Once the boxes arrive safely I will begin shipping additional items.

Contents of Boxes

Box #1 - Shipped on April 11, 2008

Cost to Ship = $49.95

Contents:

9 sleepers

9 onesies

6 cloth diapers

4 pairs of pants

4 t-shirts

3 baby hats

2 jackets

2 pairs of shoes

2 pairs of shorts

Box #2 - Shipped on April 16, 2008

Cost to Ship = $49.95

Contents:

9 onesies

9 pairs of socks

7 sleepers

5 diaper covers

3 cloth diapers

3 pairs of pants

2 small blankets

2 pairs of shoes

2 t-shirts

2 jackets

1 pair of shorts

1 hat

1 Box Ready To Ship and Many More Getting Packed!

HOW IT ALL GOT STARTED

HOW IT STARTED

By Keeli Muscha

As many of you know, my brother Traig is currently in the African country of Lesotho. Traig is using his extensive technology background to work with Mission Aviation Fellowship in the constructing of a satellite network for rural villages and medical clinics. His wife, Laura, stays very busy with their four children, and she also spends time volunteering at the area's orphanages. If you would like to learn more about Traig, his family, and what they are doing to help in Lesotho you can visit their amazing blog at:

http://friedrichsinafrica.blogspot.com/

The Idea

I have a wonderful friend, Jami, and this whole project really got started the day she asked me an important question.

"What can we do to help?"

We started wondering how we could help from so far away. Jami and I are both new mothers, and we wanted to do something for the children who are suffering in Lesotho. After reading Laura's blog postings and talking to her from Africa, it was decided we would gather donated clothing and other necessities to send to Lesotho. With the overwhelming urge to help in any way I could, I began this project with help from my mom, Lynn.

The Biggest Hurdle

Now that we had decided how we could help, we needed to figure out the best way to get everything to Laura. Postage is VERY expensive to southern Africa. I did some research and had Laura do the same in Lesotho, and we decided that using Priority Mail Flat-Rate boxes would be the best way to go. The boxes are rather small, but it is possible to CRAM quite a bit of clothing into each box. We felt that using smaller boxes was also a way to ensure that more items made it to their destination. If we used only a few large boxes, it would be a bigger impact on our total donations if one or more of the boxes were lost or stolen. After deciding how to ship the clothing to Laura, we needed to start requesting clothing and monetary donations.

Getting Started

I started by going through Bailey's clothes and deciding what I wanted to donate myself. I ended up with quite a pile, it is amazing the amount of clothing I have for one small child. There were many items which I bought or were handed down to me that Bailey outgrew so quickly and hardly used. Jami has things from her daughter, Addyson, that she is going to donate as well. We have so many friends who are mothers as well, and we started spreading the word about our project to them. My mom, Lynn, knew that many staff members at Ridge View Elementary School would be willing to help too. She made up a wonderful flyer and posted it at school. It didn't take long before people started donating clothing and money for shipping.