According to the United Nations,

There are more than 34 million orphans in the region (sub-Saharan Africa) today and some 11 million of them are orphaned by AIDS. Eight out of every 10 children in the world whose parents have died of AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa. During the last decade, the proportion of children who are orphaned as a result of AIDS rose from 3.5% to 32% and will continue to increase exponentially as the disease spreads unchecked. 

Ronda Lowrie lives amongst these orphans in South Africa. She could not continue as a spectator to the suffering of these children. With her niece, Sandy McDonald and their families, they began Knit-a-Square (KAS) in 2009.

Their idea is brilliant in it’s simplicity. With the help of the Internet, they “shout out” to the knitters and crocheters of the world asking them to make one 8 inch square. 35 squares sewn together in South Africa make a blanket to warm one orphan. Ronda and her volunteers go into settlements and day care centers and distribute the blankets one by one.

In the last five years the plight of the AIDS orphans of South Africa has touched the hearts of thousands of people world-wide. One square is all we ask, but many people send tens and hundreds of squares along with toys, hats, sweaters and more.

All of the donations serve to warm these forgotten children, but as Ronda tells us they do much more:

“The blankets are a currency we use to tell the children exactly how beloved they are. We tell them they are the future unique and special.”

There are many ways you can help us:

– knit or crochet a square

– like our Facebook page

– join our wonderfully friendly group on the KAS Forum

– make a donation

Celebrate a charity knitting hero

Laura, beautiful Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

Laura wrote in early March 2009:

"There is an awesome online social site called Ravelry.com for keeping track of patterns, projects, stashes, books, hooks, needles etc… and I would like to start a group on there for this charity. Hopefully it will pull a nice gathering of more people who can help out. I would like to start the group and use the logo for it and post some important info (like your website link, knit-a-square's mission, sending address, and requirements). I checked to see that a group wasn't made yet and there doesn't appear to be one. I have subscribed to the RSS feed on your site, so I'm keeping up to date on important information and updates. Other group moderators can be added as well."

We were delighted. It is a great site and Laura did an excellent job of summarising knit-a-square's mission on the opening page of the group and continues to do great work moderating the group.

One poster comments: BTW, I think you are doing an awesome job as moderator- very thorough and patient! And she is too.

We all wish Laura well as she waits for the arrival of her first child.

Within a short space of time the ravelry.com group had 170 members and its membership is growing.

One of the most exciting aspects of the site is the 'stash feature' where you can trade or sell your stash of yarn, organised by fibre type and manufacturer. There are literally thousands of stashes to chose from. Like one huge warehouse! And with crochet and knitting pattern ideas to match. There are also 11,034 patterns free for download which is amazing.

So please join the group. You will be supporting Laura and knit-a-square at the same time.

Join the Ravelry.com Group
To join you will need to go to www.ravelry.com, fill in your name and email address and request an invitation to join. That takes about 5 days. When you get your confirmation email, click on the link, enter chosen user name and password, then go to the tab called Groups. Search for knit-a-square and you will find a very lively conversation there to join in. Well worth it.

You will also find the crochet instructions for some specifically designed Square Vests posted by Kokkele there for knit-a-square, which are really pretty. And you may find too, a simple, easy pattern among the ravelry.com free patterns downloads, that we could add to the 'Square' selection of garments on the site.

Please also join Square Circle for more stories of our heroes and their efforts to help keep the children warm.

Hotel Hope – a childrens charity brings hope to orphans infected or affected by HIV AIDS

This childrens' charity was been started by Oliver Quambash. He visited South Africa from Germany and immediately recognised the desperate needs of orphans, infected or affected by HIV AIDS. He returned to South Africa to open Hotel Hope dedicated to rescuing these abandoned children and AIDS orphans.

The philosophy of Hotel Hope is give the children a consistent family life, with God-parents, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents in a small loving and nurturing, family home environment. At present they have two houses alongside each other, the second one still needs a complete refurbishment.

While HIV AIDS is a main reason so many children are orphans in South Africa, as Oliver wrote in his first magazine, poverty is the single greatest factor, particularly as refugees pour in from Zimbabwe escaping starvation and now, cholera. Young mothers have no hope of raising children in an environment which offers no support, some hostility and when they may be desperately ill with HIV AIDS.

The orphans of South Africa are a hidden tragedy. An estimated 1.5 million children are without their parents, facing a future devoid of family love, education and a future.

Hotel Hope as a new childrens charity seeking to make a difference for these children, deserves support. The orphans of South Africa and Zimbabwe depend on it.

Hotel Hope is soon to open a charity shop which will help toward refurbishment of the homes and clothing the children. Knit-a-square's role here will be to send squares for blankets for the children living in Hotel Hope homes. But also to act as a conduit for donations. If you download the Hotel Hope magazine, their bank details are listed.

They are also keen to receive warm woolly items such as the easy square pullover , Zanny has designed.

Please knit and send an 8 x 8" (20 x 20 cms) square specifically for blankets for the Hotel Hope children. Click here for instructions, and mark on your envelope, ONE KNITTED SQUARE ONLY – HOTEL HOPE. Thank you.

Also you can email Oliver direct at hotelhope@gmail.com, if you would like to receive his newsletter or donate to refurbishing the second house.

Please subscribe to the Square Circle ezine for news of this inspirational childrens charity, the children and their blankets.