The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Teen learned sewing to help wildlife in fires
SAN DIEGO — Like millions of other people around the world in December, 18-year-old Rachel Ratelle saw a news video of a burned koala trying to climb a tree to safety in fire-ravaged Australia. But unlike most of the rest, she decided to do something about it.
She looked up wildlife rescue and relief agencies in Australia to find out what they needed most. Besides donations, many organizations asked for handsewn and knitted pouches and wraps for marsupials and other animals that were burned or had lost their homes and parents in the fires. This idea appealed to Ratelle, but there was just one problem.
“I’d never sewn in my life,” said Ratelle, a high school senior in Vista, California. “Giving money seemed like something too simple. I wanted to directly help these animals by doing something myself, so I decided to learn how to sew.”
Over the next month, Ratelle purchased her own sewing machine and taught herself how to sew via YouTube videos. Then she purchased 18 yards of fabric and sewed 25 pouches of different sizes and shipped them off in mid-January to For Australian Wildlife Needing Aid (FAWNA), one of several relief organizations that have rushed to rescue koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, gliders, potoroos and other species suffering from burns, starvation, dehydration and loss of habitat.
A week later, she received a photo from FAWNA with a young joey in one of her larger pouches. It was such an exhilarating feeling that now she hopes to continue sewing items for other relief programs in the United States.
“It made me feel like I contributed to the world and it showed how a simple act of kindness can go a long way,” said Ratelle, who hopes for a future career as a nurse practitioner. “I plan to use my new sewing skills to help animals and people devastated by natural disasters.”
Ratelle’s digital photography teacher, Kelly Clark, said she’s not surprised at her student’s generosity of spirit and can-do nature.
“She’s so sweet and has a very positive personality. I used to teach sewing and I know how difficult it can be to learn. So the fact that she taught herself to help these animals says a lot about her,” Clark said.
Ratelle found instructions for making the animal pouches on one of several craft guild websites around the world that have mobilized for Australian relief. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that 1.2 billion animals died in, or as the result of, the brushfires.