The Official Bub Hub Blog!

Cuddle Craft Collective - Making Smiles Happen.

This month, the Bub Hub is proud to support the Cuddle Craft Collective Designer Charity Auction, a project that is putting smiles onto the faces and food into the bellies of disadvantaged children at the Bonga Feeding Centre and Kindergarten in Ethiopia.

The auction will run from 18 - 25 March 2012, and up for grabs will be a selection of limited edition, one-of-a-kind and exclusive designer products that have been lovingly crafted by Australian and International artisans. 100% of the auction profits will be donated to the charity campaign, which means that every cent will make a difference.

Here's a word from the Cuddle Craft Collective spokesperson Amanda Haines:

The Bonga Feeding Centre and Kindergarten is a project of World Families Australia, a not for profit, non-sectarian organisation that provides assistance to communities in need by providing water facilities, micro-loans, food, sanitation, housing, medical support, vocational training and education. WFA is staffed almost entirely by volunteers, and all of the projects that they support are run by local caring people within the country.

Project officer for the Bonga Feeding Centre, Christine Hoffman, says poverty in Ethiopia is a major challenge, especially in the smaller villages.

"There is also significant drought, floods and famine," she says.

"Lack of access to medical clinics, institutions for the disabled, and even clean water ... the list goes on. It is also very difficult for children to attend school and the schools find it very difficult to provide resources."

The Cuddle Craft Collective Designer Charity Auction aims to support the Bonga Feeding Centre by providing $2000 to fund a daily glass of milk (essential calcium), and twice weekly eggs (essential protein) to 160 children at the centre for one year.

This is something that we take for granted in Australia, but will have a profound impact on the health of children at the centre.

There has never been a better time to shop... for a cause!

Here are some stats about Ethiopia* that might shock :

• One in ten children die before their first birthday
• One in six children die before their fifth birthday
• Malnutrition is responsible for more than half of all deaths among children under age five
• Lack of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation currently accounts for around 20 per cent of under-five mortality
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.
• 1 in 4 women dies in pregnancy or childbirth

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

You can support the Cuddle Craft Collective campaign by bidding on an item in the charity auction from 18 - 25 March 2012. You can also enter to win a $650 shopping spree, simply by "LIKING" the Cuddle Craft Collective facebook page.

View the auction items online at www.facebook.com/CuddleCraftCollective

Find out more about the project at: www.cuddlecraftcollective.com



* References
www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ethiopia_12162.html
www.savethechildren.org/countries/africa/ethiopia.html