The Mother Bear Project is non-profit organisation dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children, primarily those affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of hand-knit and crocheted bears. The simple gift of a hand-knit bear with a tag signed by the knitter has touched children, who have nearly nothing of their own, with the message that they are loved by someone halfway around the world. The response has been overwhelming, with people wanting to help from all over the world. Thousands of patterns have been distributed, and wonderful bears have been received from people of all ages, backgrounds and knitting abilities. Mother Bear donates bears to all the children attending our annual camps.
Mother Bear recently visited Botswana, visiting many of the schools with which Children in the Wilderness works. Their latest quarterly newsletter reports on their wonderful trip. Read Mother Bear’s full quarterly newsletter which can be found on their website here. We just loved Amy Berman’s, founder of the Mother Bear Project, report so much, we had to share what she wrote:
“This past week, I returned home from an incredible journey to Africa where together with Mary and Kelly from Children in the Wilderness and my husband Richy, we distributed and photographed over 2,000 bears with their new forever friends. We traveled to many pre-schools and primary schools in remote villages down bumpy roads, sometimes passing elephants along the way much to our delight.
What a joy it was to see how much the kids love their Mother Bears! They may never have heard of bears before our arrival, but they knew just what to do when receiving one—play! From babies to kids up to age 9, they naturally held their cuddly bears and pulled them in close to hug. They were so excited to hear that they could take them home and sleep with their bears, sing to their bears, and play with them—and that if they loved their bears, their bears would love them back!”
Thank you Amy Berman and all of the knitters who contribute to touching the lives of our Children i the Wilderness campers.
Photo by Mother Bear Project
