We have a Winner!

Congratulations to Hayfa Al Mughni who is the lucky winner of the "Frogs On The Moon" raffle quilt. We raised 121 KD (approx 425.00 usd) for the orphans fund. A big thank you to all who purchased a raffle ticket!

ON OUR WAY!!

Yes we are!! On Monday December 28 Joe and I will fly to Kurdistan and finally get to meet the kids and give them their very own quilt! It has been almost two years - but what a wonderful way to close out 2009! Check in next week for pictures and stories!

CELEBRATION DAY!!

The quilts along with dozens of other boxes arrived in Sulaymaniya today! Tahseen emailed me to let me know they are in the safe keeping of his family home until Joe and I arrive at the end of November. This is the best news of the month! I am truly excited about getting to the kids now and giving them their new quilts - just in time for winter!!! School supplies and clothes compliments of the Humanitarian Team of the US Military will also be handed out! yahoo !!!!!

The Quilts are making their way north!

The quilts continue to make their way north thanks to Ltc. Herrera and his Humanitarian Team. Tahseen has found a place to store them until I return from Arizona at which time Joe and I will make our way north to give these kids their quilt ~~ finally !!!! The Humanitarian Team has also donated clothes and school supplies. They tell me it is a 20 foot container!!! I continue to be patient and excited all at the same time!!

PRESS RELEASE ~ Coffee Morning

PRESS RELEASE JULY 23, 2009
Sadu House on Gulf Road will be the location of a happy send-off of 90 quilts to orphans in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan. With the help of the Civil Military Operations Center-Kuwait (CMOC Team), the quilts will be delivered to a Civil Affairs Team in Northern Iraq. CMOC Team members will meet in Sulymaniyah where Joe and Alanna Petrusich will claim the quilts and deliver them in person to 90 orphans.
Two years ago, Alanna Petrusich had a vision of providing orphans with something special that they could call their own. Her husband Joe had been to Kurdistan on a business trip and toured the orphanages at that time. Upon his return to Kuwait, Alanna decided to jump into action and begin her challenging task of making and acquiring 90 quilts. With the help of her many friends in the Kuwait Textile Arts Association Quilt Group and several loving quilters worldwide who answered a plea from an internet posting on a quilt site, the goal has been reached.
Once the quilts are delivered by the Civil Military Operations Team, Joe and Alanna will fly to Sulymaniyah and present these orphans with a colorful, handmade quilt that they can all their own!
On July 29, from 10:00 – Noon, Alanna is hosting a coffee morning for the purpose of displaying the many quilts that have been crafted and sewn. She invites everyone to come and see the quilts and meet the Civil Military Operations Team who will assist in this Humanitarian effort. Come help celebrate our achievement!

LOVE CAN BUILD A BRIDGE ~ ONE QUILT AT A TIME!

Sadu House is situated next to the newly constructed library on Gulf Road.

GETTING READY TO ROLL !

Joe and I had a wonderful meeting with LTC Herrera and CPT Gregory Larson (the Team Logistics Officer) yesterday. Their team will get the quilts and any anything else we have for the orphans all the way to Sulymaniyah. As well, he said that his team will be adding to the bundle with an ample supply of school supplies! How great is that?? We have set a tentative date for my delivery of the quilts to LTC Herrera for the end of July. Our target date for travel to Suly is around September 7th. Joe and I will travel together. I can hardly wait!

God Kissed

As my dear friend Beverly would have said - this next wonderful bit of news is "God Kissed". My friend Lorraine recently was introduced to a Lt. Colonel Herrera on the base where she works here in Kuwait. After a brief conversation, she learned that he was in charge of "humanitarian issues" for the military. Of course, she told him all about the quilt ministry and my effort of the past two years to get a large number of quilts made as well as the logistics of getting them to Sulaymaniya to the children. Lorraine tells me that his eyes lit up and he said that she should tell her friend to contact him - that he would help me get those quilts to those kids! Today - that prayer was answered. I received an email from LTC. Herrera confirming that his team would get my quilts to Sulaymaniyah at no cost to the quilt ministry. I was so excited - I had to go run on the treadmill for 45 minutes just to wear off the excited energy!! Joe and I will now look at planning our days and flights to go to Suly in early September. I am hoping to meet this wonderful LTC. Herrera in person one day soon! Praise God for him and his team!

Meet Tahseen

I want to introduce you to a wonderful person who I met by sending an inquiry email to the American University of Iraq in Sulyamaniyah. His name is Tahseen and he has been incredibly helpful in becoming my "communicator" between the orphanages and myself. I am ever so thankful for him and his efforts. He has also informed me that there are two other orphanages that he knows about - one south and one north of Sulyamaniyah. I will receive a total head count of all 4 orphanages and hopefully my 90 quilts will be enough ~~ and plans can be made to head north to Kurdistan and the kids! A big thank you Tahseen!

THE NEWS GETS BETTER AND BETTER

I am so happy to report that my goal of 90 quilts is about to be realized. And the best news of all is that I have finally received names and phone numbers of the managers of the girls and boys orphanages in Sulay. A wonderful person at the American University of Iraq in Sulaymaniyah has been instrumental in getting me names and phone numbers. Joe and I can now make plans to travel to Kurdistan in September (when the weather is cooler!).

UPDATE --- ALMOST THERE!!!!

It's getting more exciting as the days roll by. I have done yet another count of the pile of quilts in my guest room. With these and the partially finished ones that several of my friends are working on, I am about 9 quilts shy of my goal of 90 quilts! It has been a long process and patience has been required, but I am now seeing light at the end of the tunnel. My prayer is that I will have 90 quilts and be able to deliver them by summer's end or early fall (which might be a more appropriate time to be gifting quilts to the children!) I can't tell you how excited I am (and challenged by impatience) about getting these quilts to the orphans. I visualize that day all the time and wish that it would come quickly! Communication with the people in Kurdistan who operate the orphange continues to be a challenge but my friend Emad at the Chamber of Commerce in Kuwait has agreed to help me with the communication issues and act as one of my liasons. Please keep checking the blog and pass it along to anyone you know who might like to donate a quilt! This, of course, won't be the only orphange this ministry helps out. Just the first!!! Remember --- LOVE CAN BUILD A BRIDGE - ONE QUILT AT A TIME!!

ALMOST THERE!

The total number of quilts is getting closer to the goal! On Sunday I am teaching a 'quilt as you go" class free of charge ... well, not quite free of charge! The charge is that once the ladies have their quilts complete, they will leave them behind to add to the pile for the kids in Sulaymaniyah! Everyone is happy to do this and it will be a wonderful day of quilters fellowship and joyful sewing!