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Helen Miller has been smitten by an extraordinary calling.
The Jasper, Texas native operates the Barber Pole located at 2543 University Parkway in Leesville and has been crocheting for years, she said.
"I sing in gospel group called, Signed, Sealed and Delivered,” the lively proprietor said. “During a benefit we were shown pictures of a missionary in Africa placing a hat on a new born child in a hospital. They told us that the infants needed these hats, and thousands go without them, and I said to myself 'I can make that.'”
And ‘make that’ she has. Since that revelation Miller has been utilizing her every spare moment at the barber shop crocheting tiny infant caps. In fact she has produced nearly 250 of the decorative beanies in less than three weeks.
“I sent 80 on the 28th of December,” she said. She also has a batch of over 150 caps ready to mail out immediately with more piling up near her chair at the shop.
Miller says she is looking for help to continue her missionary work. The need in Africa for the small head covers we take for granted here in the U.S. is monumental. The caps are being airlifted to the African country of Zimbabwe to hospitals where in one case nearly 300 babies are born daily.
Zimbabwe is the former country of Rhodesia, an unrecognized country which collapsed under the weight of international sanctions and internal rebellion in 1979. The country is located in southern Africa. The majority of the country’s 16 million residents are practicing Christians and speak English.
Zimbabwe is also home to the Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world; the stone enclosures of Great Zimbabwe - remnants of a past empire; and to herds of elephant and other game roaming vast stretches of wilderness.
For years it was a major tobacco producer and a potential bread basket for surrounding countries. But the land reforms instituted by the government in 1980 led to sharp falls in production and precipitated the collapse of the agriculture-based economy. The country has endured rampant inflation and critical food and fuel shortages. Many Zimbabweans survive on grain handouts. Additionally hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans, including much-needed professionals, have left the country.
Meanwhile Zimbabwe's health sector, once the envy of many African countries, has for all intense and purposes collapsed. The infant mortality rate as reported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank is 56.3 per 1,000 live births. That compares to a rate of 43.1 in neighboring South Africa, 6.8 in the United States and 10 in the state of Louisiana.
Many mothers walk into Harare Central Hospital's neonatal unit in the nation’s capital with little hope of taking their infant children home alive. "I tell you those who come out alive only do so by the grace of God," Mary Moyo, a young mother who had her child hospitalized in the unit told a western journalist.
Douglas Gwatidzo, of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, describes the situation in Harare's health centers as "dire."
"About one doctor is serving over 8,000 people in the country, [compared with] the world standard of 1 doctor to 500 patients," says Mr. Gwatidzo. "It's quite sad."
Here in Leesville Miller has started an operation named ‘Ms. Ella’s Heavenly Hats’ to honor the memory of the woman whose yarn was given to her and with which she makes the scores of headgear for the children of the African country.
“We need baby yarn, infant clothes, blankets and money for postage,” Miller said. “We also need individuals who are willing to crochet or knit more caps. Every hat I make is an opportunity to share Jesus Christ with a mother.”
Any individual or group interested in assisting Ms. Ella’s Heavenly Hats are encouraged to contact Mrs. Miller at 337-404-3890.
Helen Miller has been smitten by an extraordinary calling.
The Jasper, Texas native operates the Barber Pole located at 2543 University Parkway in Leesville and has been crocheting for years, she said.
"I sing in gospel group called, Signed, Sealed and Delivered,” the lively proprietor said. “During a benefit we were shown pictures of a missionary in Africa placing a hat on a new born child in a hospital. They told us that the infants needed these hats, and thousands go without them, and I said to myself 'I can make that.'”
And ‘make that’ she has. Since that revelation Miller has been utilizing her every spare moment at the barber shop crocheting tiny infant caps. In fact she has produced nearly 250 of the decorative beanies in less than three weeks.
“I sent 80 on the 28th of December,” she said. She also has a batch of over 150 caps ready to mail out immediately with more piling up near her chair at the shop.
Miller says she is looking for help to continue her missionary work. The need in Africa for the small head covers we take for granted here in the U.S. is monumental. The caps are being airlifted to the African country of Zimbabwe to hospitals where in one case nearly 300 babies are born daily.
Zimbabwe is the former country of Rhodesia, an unrecognized country which collapsed under the weight of international sanctions and internal rebellion in 1979. The country is located in southern Africa. The majority of the country’s 16 million residents are practicing Christians and speak English.
Zimbabwe is also home to the Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world; the stone enclosures of Great Zimbabwe - remnants of a past empire; and to herds of elephant and other game roaming vast stretches of wilderness.
For years it was a major tobacco producer and a potential bread basket for surrounding countries. But the land reforms instituted by the government in 1980 led to sharp falls in production and precipitated the collapse of the agriculture-based economy. The country has endured rampant inflation and critical food and fuel shortages. Many Zimbabweans survive on grain handouts. Additionally hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans, including much-needed professionals, have left the country.
Meanwhile Zimbabwe's health sector, once the envy of many African countries, has for all intense and purposes collapsed. The infant mortality rate as reported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank is 56.3 per 1,000 live births. That compares to a rate of 43.1 in neighboring South Africa, 6.8 in the United States and 10 in the state of Louisiana.
Many mothers walk into Harare Central Hospital's neonatal unit in the nation’s capital with little hope of taking their infant children home alive. "I tell you those who come out alive only do so by the grace of God," Mary Moyo, a young mother who had her child hospitalized in the unit told a western journalist.
Douglas Gwatidzo, of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, describes the situation in Harare's health centers as "dire."
"About one doctor is serving over 8,000 people in the country, [compared with] the world standard of 1 doctor to 500 patients," says Mr. Gwatidzo. "It's quite sad."
Here in Leesville Miller has started an operation named ‘Ms. Ella’s Heavenly Hats’ to honor the memory of the woman whose yarn was given to her and with which she makes the scores of headgear for the children of the African country.
“We need baby yarn, infant clothes, blankets and money for postage,” Miller said. “We also need individuals who are willing to crochet or knit more caps. Every hat I make is an opportunity to share Jesus Christ with a mother.”
Any individual or group interested in assisting Ms. Ella’s Heavenly Hats are encouraged to contact Mrs. Miller at 337-404-3890.
