FAQs
Here we’ll answer some of the questions frequently asked in the guestbook and/or forums. Please look here for answers to your queries! If you would like a question and answer added here, please email nicole(at)therapydogs(dot)org(dot)au
We are basing these answers on information supplied to us by our Russian friends and contacts over there, and therefore we believe it to be reliable, although conditions varely widely between Moscow and other areas. Some of this information may not be accurate for the large capital cities.
1. Why don’t you just send money to Russia and buy nappies over there? Wouldn’t that be cheaper?
We have considered all the options carefully and it is for a few reasons that we have decided to collect nappies in Australia and post to Russia:
- Firstly, there are many people who are willing to donate their second hand or unused nappies, however as any charity group can tell you, it is much harder to raise funds.
- Secondly, unlike many third world countries, consumer goods in Russia are incredibly expensive, especially decent quality fabrics.
- Most importantly, terry towelling, waterproof fabrics and cloth nappies are unavailable for purchase in Russia, except for perhaps in specialty "foreign import" stores where they would be exorbitantly expensive. They are totally unavailable for any amount of money in the areas where we are supplying the nappies.
2. Why are you sending modern cloth nappies - wouldn’t flat nappies be better considering the washing facilities available over there?
The vast majority of the nappies we will send are terry towelling or flannelette flat nappies, however we are sending some modern cloth. The reasons for this are as follows:
- We are accepting second hand nappies for donation and as the majority of people who have donated are cloth nappy enthusiasts, they do tend to have some modern cloth for donation. We are auctioning off some of the modern cloth that is donated new or nearly new, however the second hand items, which would be more difficult to sell will be sent to Russia seeing we have them!
- The washing done by the women in poor families usually consists of hand washing with very basic detergents. The basic detergents are unlikely to contain the special ingredients (enzymes, brighteners etc) which are in Australian detergents that damage nappies, and handwashing is the best and gentlest way to care for modern cloth.
- Pocket nappies will be particularly valuable for this situation, as the inners of microfleece and outers of PUL (or fleece) dry incredibly quickly. It is only the insert that takes longer to dry. Therefore, the women will be able to wash and dry their pocket nappy outers in an hour or so, then re-stuff them with their own rags or spare inserts, and this will help to tide them over while their terries and other MCN dry. This could effectively triple the number of nappies available to the mother - important as we are only supplying 13 each, and this is not many to get by with.
- Modern cloth nappies tend to be less bulky and in the winter the babies have so many layers of clothing on to keep them warm that having a slightly less bulky bottom will help to keep them comfortable despite all the clothing - not to mention it’s easier to fit lots of layers over a less padded butt! The mums can save the MCN for outings when they will need more clothing over the top.
- Lastly, we feel that Russian mothers like to see lovely things on their babies as much as we do - they really appreciate what we are doing and each time they put a pretty or special item on their baby, I would like to think that it brightens their day just a little - it certainly does it for me!
3. I am going to sew some items for the appeal. What items will be most valuable? Shall I cut out some fleece liners to donate?
Thank you very much, for the moment we have enough items. Microfleece for liners (uncut if possible) may still be required. Contact us to check.
If you make special decorative nappies that are ’snapped up’ quickly by ‘MCN addicts’ the donation of one or more of these to auction for postage money would be particularly useful.
6. I don’t have anything to donate myself, but I want to purchase something to donate. What would be best?
At this stage, as we have almost everything we need, what we most desperately need is cash for postage. Every dollar helps!p>
7. I have clothes, toys, blankets and _______ to donate, can I send these?
While these items are also in short supply in Russian orphanages, we have decided to limit this appeal, for the time being, to nappies and the nappy accessories detailed on the "what to donate" page. Otherwise we believe that your generosity will leave us swamped! We will look at sending other items at a later date if appropriate. In the meantime, there are many aid organisations back here in Australia that could use your pre-loved clothes, such as the Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul and Lifeline.
8. Will you please send photos of the Russian babies wearing our nappies?
Our contact in Russia has attempted to get photos of Russian babies or mothers receiving our nappies. Unfortunately however there is a high level of suspicion surrounding westerners with cameras as photos of Russians have in the past been posted on the internet as part of anti-foreigner propaganda by the government. As we would not take photographs of people without their permission, and no one has yet been comfortable to post without a photo, we have been unable to get any to post on the internet. We hope that we will soon have a thank-you letter scanned and translated for this site.
9. I’m confused - I thought Russia was a free country - a democracy - not a third world country. Do they really need our help?
Statistics in this answer are sourced from Unicef: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/russia_statistics.html
Russia has technically come out from the era of communism, however sadly many of the poor conditions resulting from that era are still affecting Russians today. Russia, like most of the rest of the world, suffers from 20/80 syndrome. (20% of the population has 80% of the wealth.) There are approximately 144 million people living in Russia, some of whom are incredibly rich, with connections to wealthy families all around the world. Approximately 90% of Russians are
"lower class." These are the people who you may remember from news clips in the ’80s lining up for hours to buy a small amount of meat. For these Russians, conditions haven’t changed much at all.
Russia has a 99% literacy rate, a 98% vaccination rate and 97% of the population have access to "improved drinking water sources", but these impressive figures hide the poverty which is so prevalent throughout the country. Russia’s under five mortality rate in 2005 was 18 per 1000, compare that to Australia’s 6 per 1000. Australia’s gross national income per capita (2005) is $32,220 USD. Russia’s is about 1/8th of that - just $4461 per person - and the Russian government only spends 1% of its budget on health and 3% on education - where 12% goes to defence. Australia spends 14% on health, 9% on education and 6% on defence, for a comparison. When you consider Russia’s gross national income is already so low - spending 1% of that on health really doesn’t give the average Russian much of a chance - which contributes to the fact that the average life expectancy of a baby born in Russia in 2005 is only 65 - if that baby was born in Australia, it would, on average, live to 81. A pretty big difference. And Russia is a country really battling AIDS, with an estimated 940,000 people living with AIDS in 2005, compared to Australia’s 16,000. Even allowing for population adjustment, Russia has about 9 times the AIDS rate.
The statistics speak for themselves, although it is the human stories which show what life in Russia is really like. I have decided not to include links to news stories etc about this as they are very unsettling, but a quick google search on the subject will give you the idea. Please be aware that some of the pictures and stories you may find through such a search are really unsuitable for children as they are far too upsetting.
10. When do we need to get the nappies to you by?
Wtih the exception of items for auction, we have almost everything we need. At this stage, please contact us before sending your items for donation to see that we still are accepting them.p>