Many people feel despondent and helpless in the face of the human suffering caused by wars and natural disasters, in which children often suffer the most. Yet some of us have discovered how one of the everyday things we do makes a real difference.
I work as a magistrate and one day one of the court clerks saw me knitting in the retiring room. "Ah," she said. "Aha...!". And thus I came to be caught up in the Teddies for Tragedies network.

The first Teddies went out to the Sudan in 1985 where some ECC nurses were setting up a temporary orphanage in a refugee camp for 2,000 children with TB. Doctors then found that children who had a Teddy to cuddle recovered more quickly. One doctor said Teddies did more good than the medicine.

"Cheer up the children, give them some hope, and you are well on the road to putting them right." The Teddies are often the only thing the children own.

Each child gets to keep their Teddy and take it home, so the doctors need a constant supply.

Teddies have gone to places like Peru, Zambia, Jamaica, Romania, Armenia, Croatia. A consignment of Teddies went to Uganda where they were sorely needed by orphanages to "help make children back into children". Although Uganda is now enjoying comparative peace children are still found wandering about with guns in their hands, many having lost both parents.
Many organisations have joined in as well as individuals; the WRVS, Mothers‚ Unions, Churches, some Friends Meetings. If you would like to knit a teddy, I can send you the pattern, which must be the same for all, though the colours change according to oddments of wool available. Otherwise - we need wool, stuffing material, bear bags (13 inches x 10 inches).

I think of it as a tide of love going out to third world and disaster torn countries. Giving a child hope has knock-on effects - like dropping a pebble in a pond. Like a smile!

Bernice Taylor