Thursday, February 5, 2009

What to give Russian orphans

Unfortunately, this is going to be a rather materialistic post.

I made a promise to the kids...that I would bring them something from America. I very rarely promise special treats, let alone from a specific place. What was I thinking? The kids have all they need materially, although many of their worldly possessions are rather uniform and impersonal.

But I was going to be missing some of their birthdays, as well as a few holidays, and I wanted to give them something to look forward to. So I made a promise. I am really just thinking of some kind of souvenir that they will find interesting and fun.

But now I can't figure out what that present should be. If it's candy they will eat it all immediately. Clothes are boring. They receive stickers at their lessons regularly. Christian paraphernalia is a bit tacky, and they don't exactly need something that says "Jesus loves me" all over it in English. I think that something like a box of markers would be more interesting: it's longer lasting and has more possibilities. But if they all get the same thing, they will fight over whose is whose. It must be something that I can get in 10-15 different versions.

Any suggestions?

4 comments:

  1. Hmmm...I'm going to have to think about that for awhile. What about getting them different brands of markers so that they would know whose is whose.

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  2. What about small notebooks that they could write or draw in with different designs or patterns on the covers?

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  3. I'm into the art supplies, and I think the counselors would approve as well. The markers would definitely have to be different, like fat, thin, etc. Notebooks would have to be special. But what makes a notebook special? A pocket? A design?

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  4. Pencils! I used to send packages of pencils (the fancy design ones so they can trade with each other) to the Detsky Dom. You can get them at the Dollar Store. The packages have 10 or 12 pencils!

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