Have Sunscreen, Will Travel: Using the Old to Make the New Happy!

This post is about something fantastic that I had very little to do with but I think everybody should know about. The real stars of this story are my lovely sitemates Ashley, Lauren, and Helene who at a dinner party I hosted (see, I did something!) came up with this idea: making mobiles for the cribs at the orphanage. Helene and Lauren volunteer at the orphanage and described how the babies can have very little stimulation, especially when they are lying in their cribs. We talked about how to do something low cost and tossed around the idea of using recycled goods like plastic bottles and bags (naturally I was all about that, tree hugger that I am). Then we decided to pitch the idea to Club GLOW, a local leadership group that Ashley and Lauren oversee.

The GLOW leaders quickly took to the idea and incorporated it into one of their goals, writing a grant proposal. I played a bit part here too, giving a mini-tutorial on grant writing and the leaders put in a proposal for $30 to buy fishing wire, beads, and other materials needed to fully execute the mobiles. The grant was awarded and the girls bought/collected everything they needed and they scheduled 3 sessions for the club members to gather and make mobiles.

Hats off to Helene for her artistic talent, figuring out how to iron together plastic bags and then cut them into fun designs. The teens from GLOW did an amazing job of creating unique, eye-catching designs and we all had fun unleashing our creativity.

The mobiles were delivered to the orphanage this month and as you can see, they make a big difference and the babies seem to be gaga for them (bad pun, I know). Credit to Ashley for all the photos here and this blog title. I think this project was the perfect way to celebrate Kennedy's founding of Peace Corps, perfectly embodying the "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" ethos. Thanks to my sitemates and GLOW for being such an inspiration!