What are the most useful items to send to your family in Ethiopia?

Umbrella - an essential possession in the rainy season (June to September) that can be used as a parasol during the dry season

Plastic containers – useful for food storage

Clothes

Soap, talc, towels

Toothbrushes and toothpaste

Nail-clippers

Apron and tea-towels

Picture posters and world map

Wind-up torch

Sweets and nuts

Simple toys and games

For a poor family:

School bag, toys cars, doll (dolls with long hair are particularly popular as girls love to plait the hair in the traditional Ethiopian styles), football, simple card games (Snap, Happy Families), picture books and simple story books in English, crayons, balloons, plastic animals, deodorant sticks.

For a young adult in full time education

English dictionary and easy-to-read books, notebook, pen
For a young man: football magazines (the English Premier League is popular in Ethiopia), cap, pack of cards, deodorant stick
For a young woman: women's magazine, hair accessories, headscarf, jewellery, sanitary pads, deodorant stick.

For an elderly person

woollen scarf or shawl, hat, bed-socks, blanket (it can be chilly at night in the Ethiopian Highlands).

Protect delicate gifts with bubble-wrap and put them inside plastic containers. 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.) Without wrapping it in anything else, post the bag to the team in Ethiopia at the address to the side.