Empress Mentewab School currently has 48 pupils.

Pupils' families are poor and rarely receive gifts from anyone, and they never receive parcels through the post. Kate would like every family with a child at Empress Mentewab School to have a day to remember by giving them each a parcel or bag full of gifts.

If you are willing to put together and send gifts to a poor family in Ethiopia to give them a memorable day that they will enjoy reminiscing about for years to come, please follow the instructions below.

Suggested gifts:

• umbrella - an essential possession in the rainy season (June to September) that can be used as a parasol during the dry season
• wind-up torch
• plastic container - useful for food storage
• clothes
• soap, talc, towel
• toothbrush and toothpaste
• nail-clippers
• picture poster and world map
• sweets (for religious reasons these should not contain animal-derived ingredients)
• nuts
• school bag, stationery set, toy car, doll, football, picture book and simple story book in English, crayons, plastic animals
• woollen scarf or shawl, hat, bed-socks, blanket - it can be very chilly at night in the Ethiopian Highlands

Protect delicate gifts with bubble-wrap and put them inside plastic containers. Wrap them up as a parcel. Alternatively, place the gifts in a lightweight, plastic, zip-up shopping or storage bag (it will act as wrapping during transit as well as being useful to the recipient) and secure the end of the zip by tying or sewing it tightly with string or wool. Label the bag using adhesive labels and labels tied to the handles. (In the past donors have sent clothes and toys using zip-up bags and they have always arrived intact.) Post the bag (without wrapping it in anything else) or parcel to:

Mrs Kate Fereday Eshete
Empress Mentewab School
PO Box 10
Debark
Simien Mountains
Ethiopia

IMPORTANT!

• On the bag labels or parcel please indicate FAMILY. This is essential as Kate will not open the bag or parcel, but simply pass it on to the family of a pupil at the school.
• Please do not send very expensive gifts.
• Please do not put your name and address inside the bag or parcel, but do include sender's details on the outside of the bag (or on the label attached to one handle of the bag) or parcel so that safe receipt can be acknowledged - these details will be removed or covered with black ink before the bag or parcel is given to the beneficiary.

Kate will acknowledge receipt of each parcel or bag of gifts and provide the donor with a photograph of a family member receiving the bag.

Thank you for giving some of the poorest people on Earth a day to remember.