Monday, October 22, 2018

Taboo Topic- Period Poverty and More

If you have been following my blog for any length of time it should not surprise you that I am on our church mission board.  This past weekend I had the privilege to help coordinate a World Evangelism weekend event. I'd be lying if I said I didn't lose any sleep over it! LOL As far as church goes I don't go overboard introducing myself to special speakers or missionaries. 
But I was involved in this in a big way and I'm so glad I was. 

I got to know Angelika better. Her and her husband are working in the Ivory Coast and she shared her heart with us on Saturday about her ministry with women. Did you know that girls miss a lot of a school because of their menstrual cycle? Looks at these astonishing statistics from 2015!Quiltworks, that does the monthly exhibit was having sew days called "Days for Girls" so I have heard about how we can help.

What Angelika has found to be the best for their situation and area is this:

And they fold up small so she can take a lot back with her. 
She has already sent me the sewing instructions and gave me info about the fabric. We are trying to avoid synthetics that have chemicals.  If you have any experience with this, please fill me in!

I am waiting to hear back from https://www.naturesfabrics.com/3d-chevron-1-mil-pul.html about the PUL they use. It is a smooth resistant fabric. 
and for the pad portion I am waiting to hear from https://www.diapersewingsupplies.com/bamboo-fleece-fabric/.

I'm hoping if I can get the right kind of materials I'd organize a sew day at my church. I think we could make a lot of them in just a few hours.


And here are some amazing dresses Janet made for my next mission trip!
I did find out that MSI, who I usually go with, will not be going with a team until 2020! Yikes!!


One of our other missionaries brought a Pastor from Uganda with them and they'd love for me to come in June! BTW, His shirt felt very stiff, like a wax resist. Isn't it awesome!!? At this time I am not planning on any trips to Africa. 

Make it a fantastic week!



16 comments:

  1. What a pretty shirt!! I have no experience making those, but in the old days, the ladies used whatever they could, so as told to me by the old folks.

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  2. I have a friend involved in this ministry. She loves fabric donations for their work days, and has told us they cannot use fabrics with pictures like people and animals on them. Dark florals, tone on tones and geometric designs work best. Her group uses flannel in their pads. I'm hoping to make one of their work days in 2019.

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  3. I have made these through our church's humanitarian efforts, but I am no help where fabrics are concerned. They would give us the kits and we would take them home and make them (but the holder didn't snap closed like yours, we did a button and buttonhole, and the pads were separate items that you enclosed in the holder. Yours looks like all one piece--pad and holder combined). I know diaper flannel seemed to be the absorbent material, but that is all I know.

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  4. These sanitary pads are such a great idea!! I can't imagine trying to cope without the stuff we take for granted. I'm sorry no trip is organized for 2019 - I'm sure you'll figure something out.

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  5. It is amazing what you and others do in the ministries. Definitely something we take for granted, and means so much to them.

    Debbie

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  6. Hi Lori and anyone else who is interested: Just Google "Days for Girls" to get the website and to find a local group making these; there is a lot of information there. My sister has been involved in this and there are definitely restrictions on the type and designs of fabric, etc, due to cultural differences. But what a worthy cause! I'm sure we all can sympathize with these young girls; sending disposable supplies is not the answer, as they have no way to dispose of them! Thanks for making this known to your readers, Lori!

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    1. Thankyou Ginny for your suggestion. My friends and I are just about to start making pads for refugee ladies and welcome information about best materials. Lori- thankyou for sharing this post xx

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  7. I've been involved with Days for Girls for some time, and my service club is having a sew-in Saturday for Make a Difference Day. We're making serged liners that tuck into pockets in all cotton shields. Ours will go to a small village in Malawi. These kits can change the lives of these girls and women, allowing them to go to school, and to get and keep jobs. Thanks for getting involved in this worthy cause.

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  8. Yes to Days for Girls; https://www.daysforgirls.org/. The local group in Northern Virginia meets once a month and does an amazing sewing and kit(the snap cover in your picture, plus 7 pads, a bar of soap, 2 pairs panties, wash cloth, extra gallon bag for washing and instructions) assembly. Participants are from churches, sewing and quilting guilds, Girl Scouts and other groups. The kits go to partners in Africa. There is a goal to help communities there sew their own pads/pack.

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  9. If you know of anyone with at computerized longarm there is a free file you can get from the Facebook Page Quilted Dignity. I am going to stitch some of these out today for my church group. We are going to apply metal snaps. We may even coordinate an Undies Sunday for a panty drive.

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  10. This is the organization I donate money and sew for.
    https://www.daysforgirls.org
    My son has done a few volunteer trips to Aftrica and loved it. He can't wait to go back.

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  11. Lori, you are amazing! It was a wonderful weekend we all had together! Thank you so much for helping making it happen!! Also thank you for all your research already and pulling this off to get those sanitary pads sown for our girls in Côte d'Ivoire. ♡ Angelika

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  12. You are such a busy lady! Always so much going on over here.:)

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  13. Lori,
    As usual loved reading your blog today. You did a great job with what can be a difficult topic. Also showing an example is I think very helpful. It's smart to use a dark absorbing fabric as a light fabrics can stain and then perhaps be less likely to be used.
    Joann's fabrics in my area carries PUL fabric it is in a section all it's own and they have the plastic snaps and tool to attach them to the fabric.

    I am old but not old enough to know personally about what was used prior to disposable pads. My mother told me "tea towels" I hope she was saying pieces of fabric similar to tea towels just for that purpose.
    Colleen

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  14. I'd admire you mission work so much. Keep us informed about the new project for the girls. We had a speaker come from girls for days at my guild. Such a great project to help young women.

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  15. Lori, please be sure to post the materials best used to make these necessaries. I am sure we can come up with a sew day to help them out.

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