Who are we?
We are two families on two continents, separated 26 years ago by circumstances which continue to play out in our benighted country, Zimbabwe.
While we, the McDonalds (Roger, Sandy, Kalai and Cressida) and my mother, Zanny now think of ourselves as Australian and our family, the Lowries (Peter, Ronda, Sian and Erin) as South Africans, our shared history and a committed family background continues to bind us, now even more that we share a common purpose.
Late in 2008, we came up with an idea to make a difference for some of South Africa’s 1.4 million children orphaned or abandoned by the twin perils of HIV/AIDS and poverty.
We would simply go online and ask the world’s knitters/crocheters to make 8″ squares and send them to Ronda in South Africa. She would organise the squares to be assembled into blankets and distributed to children in the shack settlements and creches in Soweto through her parish networks.
We discovered a community of wonderful, caring people online, eager to embrace the idea they could make a difference ‘one square at a time’. Soon it was raining squares in South Africa and by the end of 2009 we had received 57,000 squares and over 4,000 items of clothing. Now it is a deluge!
Initially, here in Australia, we worked our day jobs and did knit-a-square part time. But soon it grew so large, we gave up my paid work and worked either full or part time on KAS. Erin joined Ronda, Peter opened parcels over the weekend, Lindiwe and Wandile came weekly to open and sort the squares in South Africa. Kyla, Anne, Jeanne, Karen, RhondaH and Dawne joined as volunteer moderators of our online groups and our worldwide community of committed contributors just grows and grows.
We realised we needed to create a more formal entity, so we incorporated here in Australia as KasCare. KasCare’s primary mandate was to raise awareness of the plight of these children.
Very early on, schools showed a great interest in knit-a-square. Teaching children to knit (a great skill to learn) and empowering them to make a difference in other children’s lives has proved to be a popular program. So we wrote a Teacher Resource, which is now being further developed into the a full social services school program, KasKids™.
Our goal is to see KasKids™ in 750 schools this year and through the Pledge to Tell Program, ensure that up to half a million people know about the children.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Great things begin with small actions ! Thank you for giving people the opportunity to help the children of a wonderful country know that the world cares.
Thank you for sharing your adventure! I am so pleased that I was able to become a small member of KAS by sending knitted squares. What a surprise when I received my first newsletter and saw one of my squares! Your photos are lovely, and you are doing such a wonderful service to so many folks. God Bless all of you!
I love what you are doing, and I have a box of squares to send. But I am so terribly confused by your communications—-you have SO many names, and keep adding more. It dilutes your identity, and makes it appear that the last versions like Square the Circle, Knit a Square, Ezine, KAS, etc have gone out of business and been replaced by the next new name—–All for Orphans. When I see them on the online page together, I think they are all separate groups. Can you clear this up? Who is in charge now of the project? And how is that different from Square the Circle information and Knit a Square information previously shared?
Thanks for what you do!
Hi Cynthia, glad you have joined the community.
It is true we are spread across many websites, but they all do very different but equally important jobs. The original knit-a-square website remains the main method by which knitters find us. Square Circle (not Square the Circle) is the name of the regular ezine I send out to communicate to the knitters and also of the forum which is the website in which the community can talk to eachother. KAS is just the nick name that the folk in the forum have adopted to describe the community and comes from the initials of knit-a-square.
All for Orphans is a personal blog for me to communicate to whoever in the world is interested in our trip to South Africa and my and my families’ reflections on the orphans.
I remain the founder of KAS and am still in charge of the project. Ronda runs the South African operation, but although we are a registered charity in Australia under the name of KasCare we remain a purely volunteer, family organisation at this point.
Hope that clears up the confusion for you.
Sandy,
I love that you have this new blog out there for ‘all to see’. We have all found KAS (knit-a-square) one way or another and become committed to helping the orphans. This blog is just another outreach to continue to raise awareness for the orphans and their plight to a larger group of people. I have a lot of respect for your family’s continued commitment to the cause. However we each discover KAS we are thankful that you have provided us a concrete way to make a difference.
I like being a member of the Square Circle Knit-A-Square forum (http://forum.knit-a-square.com/) to chat with others, see photographs of their squares and get to know new friends who share a common goal. I also appreciate the Square Circle e-zine and how it conveniently pops up into my email inbox to be read. Thank you for making both happen.
I think that you’ve done a good job of linking all of the sites together. I don’t think it dilutes your identity at all. In fact, expanding on the work that Knit A Square has been doing only makes my respect for the organization grow and grow.
As a leader of a KASkids knitting club I can speak to the value of empowering the next generation of knitters to show care and compassion for other children in our world. In this way the orphans of S. Africa will be in the hearts of the next generation of voters and policy makers.
Thank you for your tireless efforts,
Dawne
Thanks for the help! As a former marketing writer, I really want awareness of your Square Circle project/organization to spread. So, I hope you’ll consider not adding any more new organization names to the mix. In advertising, the rule of thumb was it takes at least 5 marketing impressions for someone to even recognize a product name. So, staying with one makes your reputation grow faster!
Best wishes,
Cynthia
I am a member of a Prayer Shawl group and we would like to know how we can participate in making squares for the children in Africa? Who can we contact?
Hello Norma!
Thank you for your interest in supporting our work to keep the vulnerable and orphaned children of South Africa warm! We would love to have your Prayer Shawl group join in.
You can always feel free to contact us through the Knit-A-Square website. We are here to help you with any questions you may have. To get started right away I suggest you visit Knit-A-Square.com. On the main page you’ll see general info. on the project as well as a link to get the postal/shipping address. Specific information about posting the squares can be found here.
To get to know the many other Knit-a-square supporters around the globe feel free to check out our 2 online communities: one over at Ning and a group at Ravelry. Membership is absolutely free.
Square Circle forum
Knit-A-Square Ravelry group
Please let us know if we can help you in any other way. Welcome to the cause!
Dawne
Hi All,
I live in the Boca Raton area of Florida and have been trying to come up with ideas to stimulate activity and purpose for the many senior citizens that are living in this area either in retirement communities or senior establishments. I feel strongly that knitting for charity might be very well received and the smaller and easier the project the better. It would be so wonderful to reinforce a sense of usefulness to this population that could be both rewarding and fun. The knit-a-square program seems like an excellent choice as the projects are small, quick, and do not require very much material.
I’ve also downloaded the “teachers’ resource” book in the hopes of outreaching to schools as well. I love the idea of getting children involved to harness their energy and to foster a life long understanding of the value of helping those less fortunate than ourselves.
It would be so ideal if there was a way to combine squares from people in the same city/state/region to send at one time. Isn’t there a way to open a chapter or start a non-profit organization that might serve the knit-a-square goal and purpose. I am new at this but would be willing to put my skills and energy towards this end if there was a way to make it happen.
Any suggestions would be welcomed.
I just found you online and I am so excited about your work with the children and knitting. I will start knitting the squares and let as many people here in Sheffield, UK know about your beautiful and important work x