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My family wanted to take toys to the poor children in Guatemala, but don't know what to give, any suggestions? |
Travel Info My family and I are going to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, where the families are very poor. We have found some toys and clothing to give to them that we no longer want, but don't want to do something we'll regret later. If you have any suggestions to what we should give or reasons why we should not take this action, please reply. Thank you so much! Travel Tips There are some very good suggestions already here, but I have to tell you one of my experiences. My wife, who grew up in a poor town in Guatemala, and I bring things down everytime we travel or we send stuff down if someone else in the family is traveling. Toys are great, but more practical things are better. We always bring down clothes and school supplies. When my wife was growing up, the entire classroom shared ONE PENCIL. I always buy pencils when I see them on sale in the stores. The look on the childrens faces for something as simple as a pencil is priceless. Bring clothes, not only for the children, but the parents too. They will wear anything you give them, but Jeans, T-Shirts, Sweatshirts/Flannel are the most common things they wear. School supplies you can bring Paper, Pencils, Pens, rulers, or whatever else you can think of. No matter what you bring, they will be delighted that someone was thinking of them. If you still want to bring toys, cars/trucks for boys and barbies for girls. I hope this helps and thank you for thinking of others who are less fortunate. Others Toys for girls: Dolls Stuffed animals Barbies Kitchen toys Toys for boys: Balls - they love to play football soccer Cars Monsters Transformers SUGGESTION: do not bring weapon toys for them PLEASE do not bring toys that require batteries as most people there is poor and they will not have money to buy batteries CLOTHES: Shirts, skirts, pants, t-shirts, shorts, shoes, caps. And by the way, thanks for caring about our Guatemalan kids that need help. I would give the children soccer balls,football,. or a baseball and glove. something like that, where a lot of them can play together. that way if you can't take much with you at least all the kids would get to play. for babies I would give stuffed animals, or other plush toys that are soft and they could cuddle with. I don't understand what and why you regret giving but here's some suggestions. I don't know how you are going to be getting these things to the kids but find a local church, orphanage, or mission and I am sure they would be happy to take these things to distribute. -stuffed animals-use one of those spacebags to fit in more -babydolls -toy cars like small hotwheels-it seems that you could have alot of those to give to alot of kids -clothes of various sizes such as shirts, skirts/dresses, pants,undergarments(new) Good luck I suggest giving not just toys but books, too. Food will also help since how can they play those toys when they don't even have the energy to use them? Instead of bringing just your stuff, try asking neighbors' contribution. Also, if you'll be staying there for quite some time, arrange some seminars. Teach them how to make some crafts, etc. Teach them hygiene and how to prevent diseases. Bring some medicines, too. I also think that bringing superior birth control will be totally helpful since overpopulation is one of the many causes of poverty. Ok? Bring condoms for them to use. Don't bring medicinal birth control since those will harm them if misused. With condoms, the men will just wear them, plain and simple. It's no brainer stuff. What else, uhm, bring pots and pans that you don't use anymore. Bring plastic containers, etc. Just bring stuff that you think a family would need :) Milk? Bring milk. I think what you intend to do is great! I don't know any reason why you cannot or should not take any clothing or gifts for the poor. Just be sure you have enough for all the children. It would be upsetting and sad if some are left out because you run out of gifts, don't you think? You can get inexpensive toys from the Dollar Tree stores (if you have any of these where you live. I assume you are living in the USA. But I don't know which States or which cities have the Dollar Tree stores.) They have cheap toys and you can buy many. I think they all cost $1 each or $1 each package.Children who are living in poverty will gladly have any toy you can give them and will appreciate. Some years back, a friend at church bought fabric and made these rag dolls with the help of church ladies and made at least 100 of them for little girls and for the little boys they collected those McDonald's toys (each time someone ate at McD, they bought a Happy meal, ate the food and kept the toy for a Guatemala kid). Of course they were toys that boys played with, like little cars and animals. Some others bought toys from Dollar Tree too. Books, pencils and/or paper. Check out : www.mayanfamilies.org |
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