Mia feels for Nepal
Mia Ward is only 6, but that hasn’t stopped her doing what she could for the Nepal people, still struggling to get back on their feet after the devastating earthquakes that rocked the country recently.
While watching coverage of the disaster Mia recognised some peace flags fluttering in the wind at Everest base camp.
‘‘Mum’s friend gave us one when she came back from travelling,’’ Mia said.
With the idea of making her own flags, and with help from her mother and a few older pupils at Tawa’s Hampton Hill School, Mia used some old sheets from home to create hundreds of multi-coloured squares on which classmates could write messages of hope.
Over several days, the pupils wrote loving and inspiring thoughts on the flags, with Mia leading the charge.
‘‘I wrote, ‘We will support you and we hope that you don’t have any more earthquakes’,’’ Mia said.
Her mother, Sophie Robbers, said they got the idea when watching television coverage from Nepal.
‘‘Mia saw some of the peace flags and said, ‘Hey those are like our one!’ and it just went from there.’’
She said the idea associated with the flags was of community and empathy.
‘‘The prayers you write on the flags are picked up by the wind and sent off around the community. It really shows that kids are compassionate and empathetic. They always see the good side of things.’’
Robbers took the 161 completed flags home and sewed them together to create a ‘‘string of positivity’’.
She said now the flags were complete, she wanted to find help to get them to Nepal.
‘‘I don’t want to just post them to someone and have them get lost in the mail.
‘‘It would be great to get them there through a charity or aid organisation and make a difference to people in Nepal.’’