Teddy Bears on Their Way to Kids in Bangladesh
How are teddies born?
Lucie, Irena, Zdeňka, Helena, and Jitka, five “adoptive moms” and colleagues from work, were behind the birth of 50 teddies for children from the Bangladeshi village school Koligram. At the beginning, there was the intention to make a little Bangladeshi girl happy. Then it grew into the idea to bring happiness into the whole school. The teddy bears started their long journey in Northern Moravia and thanks to Lucie we had the opportunity to understand how they came to life.
Where did the idea of making teddy bears for children in Bangladesh come from?
Teddy bears have put smiles on the faces of our children, our friends' children and many others. We wanted to give one to our adopted girl in Bangladesh. On ADRA's website we found out that this was not possible. Then somebody came with the idea to crochet teddies for the whole school.
Who took part in making the teddies?
Every “adoptive mother” took part. We are five colleagues from work – Lucie, Irena, Zdeňka, Helena, and Jitka.
How did you work out the teddies' design?
Our “teddy blueprint” emerged completely by chance. They're several instruction manuals merged together in a way that makes the crocheting easier and faster. Each of us made ten teddies and each of us made them a little bit differently. You can see that when people do the same thing it’s not exactly the same.
When were the teddies made?
Most of them were made on Christmas holidays. Otherwise, we crochet and knit in our free time, which we usually lack during the week – because our children go to school.
Who provided the material and what material was used in the process?
The teddies were mostly made from yarn we had at home. As we've knitted and crocheted – with some pauses – since we were kids, we all have quite good supplies. However, when we see some new beautiful ombre yarn in the store, we usually can't resist and our supplies grow larger. The material used was 100% acrylic or acrylic fiber mixed with cotton. The teddies are filled with hollow fiber which has the plus side of being hypoallergenic.
How long were the teddies in the making and under what conditions? How long did it take on average to make one teddy?
It took one evening to crochet one teddy. And under what conditions? A nice film on the TV and good wine. :-)
What joys or worries you had during the process?
Making teddies sometimes turned into a competition when we informed each other how many teddies each of us had. There were no worries, knitting is relaxing for us.
Would you like to send a word to the children who will receive the teddy bears? What message should the teddies express to the children?
We would love the teddies to make the children happy. We hope they will have a toy they can go to bed with, a toy that brings joy to them. We also tried to make the teddies in different colors, so the kids can tell which one is theirs.
And what did the teddies give to you?
The biggest reward for us is children’s cheerful eyes and broad smiles.
