I’ve been racing around the malls, burning up the internet trying to figure out what to get the people on my Christmas list this year. And I will admit to a frenzied race into a certain doll store last night to snag the last must have item on the shelf. It’s all felt very commercial and decidedly un-Christmas-like. And I am never sure if I am getting people the right thing.
Today the girls and I found the ultimate gift under our tree:
Blankets for Babies
The baby blanket is so soft and is something that I know I took for granted when I had my babies. I had a stack of blankets always ready so I didn’t have to walk too far to find one or do laundry quite as often. I can’t imagine not having even one blanket to wrap my baby in. A set of 3 blankets is only $22 and is is matched by the unicef sponsors, so it actually provides 6 blankets.
Plumpy’Nut
Plumpy’Nut can boost a child’s chance of survival if they are given this therapeutic, peanut-based food to eat – 3 packets a day can help a malnourished child gain 2 pounds in a week! $10 provides 21 packets, which feeds 7 children for a day. It is also a matched gift. I can’t believe I’m fretting about shortbread and which kind of chocolates to put in our stockings, when there are children who lack even the most basic of food. The kids and I had the chance to taste the Plumpy’Nut and we were happy to find that it actually tastes really good – Molly pointed out that kids will be more likely to eat and enjoy it, which will make them healthier and happier.
Therapeutic Milk
For $20 you can provide 50 glasses of milk for children at emergency feeding centres, refugee camps and hospitals. It has added vegetable fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals to help save malnourished children. The girls tried mixing some up in water and tasting it and they said it tasted pretty good.
Water Purification Tablets
We tried purifying our already clean tap water using one of the tablets. It began to fizz right away and seemed like it was getting to work making our water extra clean. Here’s the thing – it takes 30 minutes to work and we went and ate dinner while we waited. I’m just imagining how hard it would be to be constantly thirsty and having to plan ahead to make my water safe to drink. AND the fact that just being able to purify the water is a luxury that some people can’t take for granted. $19 will provide a family of 4 enough tablets to have clean water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning for up to 4 months. Priceless.
These are just 4 of the amazing Survival Gifts that we can give this holiday season. I know right now we are all trying to decide on the perfect teacher gift, ie not an apple-themed anything or another mug – there are gifts such as School Essentials, School Textbooks, and Literacy Packs that are perfect ways to acknowledge the teachers who are passionate about education. Molly told me that she plans to use her allowance money to buy a gift for someone. I know that she is going to have trouble choosing because there are so many great gifts that can change a child’s life.
Check out Unicef Canada’s YouTube Channel to see real-life experiences and join the #unBOXpossibilites conversation.
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