5000 Red Backpacks = HOPE

        	              

Red backpacks"Straps, straps, straps, that was all that I was doing, sewing straps as fast as I could. But when I picked up the finished backpack and placed it in the box, I saw it as a BOX of HOPE!" That sentiment was echoed by a teen as she left the conference room after taking part in the Red Backpack Project initiated by GlobalFingerprints, the child sponsorship program of ReachGlobal.




Two hundred sewing machines, four or five to a table; tables of red fabric waiting to be marked by chalk for sewing; straps needing to be pinned onto the backpack base; work stations to sew the sides and casings; and separate tables to thread the drawstring through the casing; it all added up to organized chaos as students frantically sewed all of the pieces to complete 5,000 backpacks. Of course, it came down to the last few minutes after four days of sewing, but all 5,000 were completed!




sewing backpacksThe most overwhelming sentiment of those working on the backpacks was that the children would feel like they were loved by someone in the world. When they are given their backpack in Congo, India or Haiti, even though they can’t see the teens that made the backpack, the hope was that each child will realize that they can’t see God either, but He loves, cares and provides for them.




When the teens finished making backpacks, they walked through replicas of the dire circumstances of life as a child in the slums of India and the harshness of a mud hut in Congo. The teens left feeling humbled by the contrast in lifestyles.  Appreciation for what they have in the U.S. was evident. 




Congo hutThousands of yards of red fabric, thread, bobbins, needles, 4,000 students and a lot of hard work went into making the backpacks. The result: changed lives for the children who will be sponsored and compassion in the hearts of the teens at Challenge 2010 who participated in the Red Backpack Project!   



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