Small things making a big difference.

I have a load of stuff I really should see to before the weekend sets in but my focus has been disrupted and I know that Monday morning will be a much better time for me to be creative.

I have taken the time to catch up on the blog written by my friend Sheila Laing about her trip to Thailand to visit a school for Burmese refugee children.

I worked with Sheila in her school - Forthview Primary School –  here in Edinburgh for a while last year. Forthview School is an amazing place to be – for children, their parents and the staff. I was privileged to spend time there. The school is in an area of the city where families are living on low incomes. Still they managed to fundraise for the Hle Bee School to allow them to buy sinks for handwashing!

So here in Scotland there was a programme in education for the little ones on effective handwashing – and the Hle Bee school have also participated. How wonderful is that?

In the scheme of things we expect people just to know the importance of washing your hands – and indeed for those of us who can afford it we can even have wipes and lotions in our bags to eliminate 99.9% of all germs in an instant. But if there is no clean water – let alone sinks available keeping safe from germs is a whole different issue.

When the children return to Forthview in the middle of August after their holidays they will be able to see their Burmese counterparts doing their own handwashing programme – and they will know that they helped make it possible.

Now the next time you think that your small contribution to something might not be worthwhile – remember this story!