The post writes “I’ve been knitting hats for three years and this year is no exception! Let’s help children spend a warm winter!” Lee Young-in (Voice, 2) posted the message to encourage students to join “Save the Children” campaign which is to knit hats for children in developing countries.
The campaign is run by an independent organization, Save the Children. It works to resolve the ongoing struggles children face every day—poverty, hunger, and disease. According Save the Children, one child dies every three seconds largely from preventable and treatable causes due to lack of basic health care.
One of the solutions is to support newborns with care packages, which include knit hats for the children so that they don’t die right after birth from hypothermia; Knitted hats increases new-borns’ body temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. Save the Children calls this program Kangaroo Care.
“I hope more students will participate in saving children’s lives through the campaign. Group sign-ups are also available. I know that there’s a lot of clubs at Ewha but not many of them are aware of Save the Children. I hope the word will spread,” Lee said. On the post, she even expressed her willingness to teach beginners during breaks in between classes.
The initial posting was the start of a reply relay. Starting with compliments, more than 20 students have left their phone numbers and break times.
On Nov. 19, while everybody else was enjoying their Friday night, a number of students sat at the Student Union building to knit their first-time-ever hat.
“I knew about Save the Children before but didn’t know how to knit. Then I saw the post and somebody volunteering to teach, so I decided to give it a shot. I’ve always wanted to do something meaningful before graduation,” Oh Jung-un (English Literature, 4).
According to Lee, December 8 is Mufflers’ Day and the Web site where she buys thread, recruits people to knit hats and blankets for elders who live alone.
“I honestly don’t have further plans about this gathering. I didn’t post the message to gather students so what I’m seeing right now is surprising to me as well,” said Lee. “I hope more students will gather when we knit blankets next month.”
Students who wish to join this heartwarming movement should leave their numbers on the post on the EPIS board.