Gifts for kids
 

In another thread 'atravelynn' (hope you don't mind me quoting you, atravelynn) had the following suggestions for small gifts for kids ... we're visiting an orphanage in Namibia and would like to take something (easily packable) so any more suggestions please?

" ... But for other gifts - baseball caps and T-shirts with local logos, sunglasses, hairclips for girls, stickers."

Wind-up flashlights that don't use batteries. They charge when you crank a handle.

I stayed in a guest house in Windhoek and saw from their website that they have ties to the local orphanage so I took what I thought they could use - pens & notebooks & blow-up footballs, but when I saw the local supermarket & shopping centre I thought 'why did I drag this stuff half way round the world?' There'a huge supermarket in Windhoek with everything that we can find elsewehere and so I thought that next time it would be better to support the local economy and buy as much as we want to donate from there.
So I'd like suggestions about what we could take that isn't widely available there - the wind-up flashlights are a good idea. Any more ideas?

The windup flashlight is brilliant!

I like the idea of buying locally too, if that is an option.

Some other things I've taken for kids are tiny plastic dinosaurs of various types. Some were finger puppets, some were made of spongy plastic.

Oriental Specialties catalog and its online version has loads of stuff. (It was real ironic or maybe more pathetic when I packed up some of those things to take to Mongolia.) A local hobby shop might suit you better, but their shelves may be stacked with items they ordered from the OS catalog.

I had heard from people that to bring ball point pens was a good idea as the kids sometimes need them for school. We were thinking of bringing along a couple of boxes of Bics....can anyone verify?

Pens and pencils are always in short supply at the schools. Often, there are no textbooks and students must copy their lessons off the board.

Another note regarding gifts: don't forget the adults! I've been asked if I had any American magazines by guides. I think that a few copies of fairly recent newsmagazines would be of interest to guides, teachers, etc. If you take books to read, leave them with the locals when you're finished with them, as well.

especially books in english (school books, coffeetable books, history etc.) and magazins are highly appreciated.
books i leave with schools and/or orphanages.
pens/pencils are excellent gifts.
for guides: headlamps with rechargeable batteries/device, tools, knifes etc.

I find that reading books in English are appreciated - some basic ones and some with science and geography interest for the older children. Plain paper and exercise books can be surprisingly expensive. A big hit were powder paints and brushes.